How to write your resume
Curriculum Vitae
The abbreviation CV stands for the Latin words “Curriculum Vitae”, meaning “the course of one’s life (or career). It gives an overview over your past education and experiences and should be seen as a ‘personal marketing tool’, which you use to convince future employers. In Northern America, the term 'resume' is used instead of CV.
How to write your CV for the Hutong School internship purpose
Sending your CV is the first step in applying for an internship, and it may determine your success in the process. Remember that your CV will not be only analyzed by the Hutong School HR team but also by Hutong School partner companies interested in hiring you. For this reason we decided to put together some useful hints and tips regarding your CV so that you can improve your own document.
What should your CV contain?
1) Your personal picture (preferably quite formal, small size and not a leisure picture)
2) Personal data
Should include: your name, nationality, contact address, phone number (including national code), e-mail (current and active!), date of birth, and any additional personal information that you consider important.
3) Work experience
Every relevant work experience that you have undertaken (e.g. summer jobs, temporary, half-time, full-time works etc.). The variety of your experiences widens the range of potential internships. Make sure you write the following information: the period of employment, your position, company's name (if it is not known world wide, draft in a few words, what business the company deals with) and elaborate a bit on the main tasks you had to perform.
4) Education
Include here information about your universities and high school (their official name and locations). Indicate here every academic achievement/award, student exchanges abroad etc. If your grades were high, you may write them down (but remember to note, out of which scale your grades are, since there are many different systems worldwide). Don’t mention your primary school background, as this is irrelevant. Only mention secondary school if you have not completed a Bachelor yet. For any unfamiliar references, you should provide the complete wording and a short explanation, e.g. D.U.T. (Diplome Universitaire de Technologie) - two-year university programme in commercial studies. Put everything in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent experience.
5) Other experiences
Here you can mention your activities in student organizations, youth clubs, associations etc. The fact that you can combine school/university duties with non-school/university activities is a plus and shows you are dynamic, active and widely interested.
6) Foreign languages
Mention your mother tongue, followed by any foreign languages you’ve studied before, including a level of fluency. If you have learned some Chinese before, elaborate a bit and add where you’ve learnt Chinese and how many hours.
7) Computer skills
Mention the programs you are familiar with, specifying in more detail if this could be relevant for your job.
8) Trainings/separate courses
If you have attended any trainings or courses that developed your skills, you may list them here along with any additional information, such as their length and organizer's name.
9) Hobbies and interests (optional)
It is recommended that you include this section here provided you have really remarkable hobbies/interests, since they might reveal some of your personal characteristics. Some employers pay great attention to this, others don’t care.
10) References
If you have any references of previous employers or professors, it is recommended that you include them in your CV, e.g. in an appendix.
Some extra CV writing tips:
1) Visually your CV should be attractive and pleasing to the eye. Use bold letters for headings and separate each section clearly so that all information can be found very quickly.
2) Try to avoid specific terminology and abbreviations that recruiters and employers outside of your home country will not understand.
3) If you decide to treat your experience chronologically, maintain the same chronological order in every section. It is recommended that you start with the most recent experience, since this usually is the most relevant one.
4) Avoid spelling/grammar mistakes. Spelling mistakes will give the future employer the impression that you are careless.
5) Your CV should never be longer than 2 pages long, and preferably even only one page long. Don’t try to be exhaustive, and only elaborate on relevant and important experiences. HR managers read tons of CVs every day, so don’t think they will read every single word. Make sure they notice the relevant parts.
How to prepare for a job interview
Due to geographical restrictions, a phone interview is often the only chance you will have to get to know a company apart from our job description and their website. This is a dual task as firstly, it is important for you to make a good impression on the interviewer and secondly, you need to extract information about the job to make your final decision whether or not to do an internship with them.
Be prepared
Make sure that you get as much information as possible on the company that you will be talking to. This is fairly easy in the case of corporations and most SMEs as they will usually have a comprehensive website. If no website is available, get information on the business area and the relevant market if possible.
Make sure that you clarify anything that is unclear on the job description form. It is very important for you to find out what the internship is about, what concrete jobs you will do and what responsibilities you will have. The following questions act as a guideline and should be asked unless the information can be found elsewhere, e.g. on the company’s website:
• At what stage of development has the company arrived at so far?
(number of employees, turnover, notable clients, market share)
• What is the potential for the company’s future development?
• What will my tasks be in detail? (description of a working day, work in a team or individually, any particular responsibilities)
• Is there a dress code?
• Do I have to bring a laptop?
• Will my job include interaction with clients/customers?
The best strategy for a job interview is to prepare well. In this way you can be sure to impress and get the information that is important to you. And when you end up getting the job, all the research you have done will surely pay off..
Now that you are ready, what are you waiting for?
