Resumé

Self-Declarations on Résumés

Consider the following assertions from résumés that I reviewed recently:

• “Ambitious, career oriented, uniquely qualified, results-driven professional with outstanding academic preparation and exceptional industrial experience in applied research and design.”
• “Extremely strong, aggressive, self-sufficient writer with excellent technical skills and ability to learn new technologies quickly.”

The trouble with these statements is that they amount to unoriginal self-declarations. It is as though these candidates put on a crown and proclaimed themselves the kings and queens of the land of have-everything-an-employer-needs-skills. Most candidates do not realize such jargon can, in fact, be a turn-off.

Show than Tell

A résumé is, in essence, a documentation of your achievements and recognitions. Your résumé should not explicitly declare such characteristics as hard-working, entrepreneurial, self-starting, etc. Instead, your résumé should describe your accomplishments in such a way that a reader infers these skills in you.

Admittedly, describing your accomplishments to imply you are a “hard worker,” “self-starter,” or “team player” is difficult.

• To present yourself as “hard-working,” describe your part-time employment, serving as captain of the soccer team, leading a student club. Mention your high GPA and academic projects.
• To present yourself as “results-driven,” show how your projects contributed to your organization’s goals and bottom line: include phrases like, “saved 10% costs,” or “improved capacity by 18%,” etc.

Avoid proclamations, jargon and clichéd superlatives. Write your résumé to include more than a mere assemblage of personal particulars. Help the reader connect to you through your résumé and get a picture of your personality, unique skills and characteristics.

The terms résumé or curriculum vitae (CV) are near-synonyms and often used interchangeably. The sense of these terms, however, may differ in certain geographies.

Usage in North America

In North America, there is a difference between the terms résumé and curriculum vitae in terms of the target audience, purpose and length.

The term résumé refers to a concise summary of a candidate’s credentials for the purpose of seeking employment in industry or the non-profit sector. A résumé, therefore, primarily summarizes the candidate’s educational background and professional experience. The preferred length of a resume is one or two pages.

A curriculum vitae is a more exhaustive record of a candidate’s qualifications and achievements primarily for seeking positions in academia and research. A curriculum vitae may include publications, fellowships and scholarships, invited lectures and talks, research grants and patents secured, etc. Some curriculum vitae contain personal details as well. Generally, there is no page-limit on a curriculum vitae. For an example, see the curriculum vitae of Donald Knuth, computer science pioneer and Professor Emeritus at Stanford University.

Usage in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth

In the United Kingdom and members of the Commonwealth, the term curriculum vitae is used for seeking employment in industry, the non-profit sector, academia or research. The term résumé is not traditionally used. The format and length of the curriculum vitae depends on the target of the curriculum vitae (industry/not-for-profit or research/academia) as in North America.

Usage in Other Countries

In some countries–India and Australia, for example–the terms résumé and curriculum vitae may be used interchangeably. In India, the term ‘bio-data’ refers to a résumé as well.

Choice between Résumé and Curriculum Vitae

Write your résumé or curriculum vitae to suit the preferred style and format of your target audience (industry or academia) irrespective of what the document is termed.

Do not include the word ‘Résumé’ or phrase ‘Curriculum Vitae’ at the top of your document — use the valuable space to enhance your document either by adding further details of your accomplishments or by increasing white space around various sections of your résumé to make it more visually appealing.

Further Reading

• The One-page Résumé Rule
• Fonts and Text Size for Résumés

The Microsoft 70-410 exam is the first part of a series of three different tests that evaluate the knowledge and skills required to employ the core Windows Server 2012 infrastructure in an accessible enterprise environment. By passing this certification exam, the candidates show their ability to configure and implement the basic services of Windows Server 2012 such as networking services and Active Directory. When the students pass the other two tests in addition to Microsoft 70-410, it means that they have the knowledge and skills required to implement, maintain, provision, and manage the infrastructure and services in a Windows Server 2012 environment.

Highlights of the Microsoft 70-410 Exam

Examsnap.com , Installing & Configuring Windows Server 2012, was first published in 2012. The exam is a part of the fulfillment for the MCSA and MCSE certifications. It is designed for the IT professionals and it is focused on the Windows Server 2012 technology. The candidates have the opportunity to write thistest in English, French, Chinese (Simplified), Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, or German.

The Microsoft 70-410 certification exam is made up of around 40-60 questions. However, the exact number is not revealed. There are different types of questions that you can expect in thistest. They include case study, multiple choice, multiple response, the best answer, active screen, build list, hot area, drag and drop, short answer, review screen, mark review, and repeated answer choices. Find more details on the official Microsoft webpage. You don’t have to wait for long to get your result for the exam. If you do not pass the test, you can retake it after 14 days of the failed attempt. It is important to note that you will pay the exam fee in order to write the exam once again.

To schedule the exam, the students are required to register through Pearson VUE. This is the official administrator of the Microsoft tests. You should first register for a Microsoft account because its details will be required for your registration at Pearson VUE. Follow the prompting to complete your exam registration. You will be required to pay the exam fee, which is $165. It is important to check the actual fee in your country of residence as this price is for the residents of the United States. After your registration, you have to go through the website to locate the Pearson VUE testing center that is close to you. When you have done this, then, it is time to schedule your Microsoft 70-410 test. Go ahead to schedule it based on your convenience. It is important that you choose a date that you know you will be available for the exam as cancelling your test has some repercussions.

Before you attempt this certification test, it is recommended that you go through the exam policies and FAQs. This will equip you with the knowledge of how to take Microsoft 70-410 and prevent you from getting into trouble at any point of writing it.

Skills Evaluated in the Microsoft 70-410 Exam

This Microsoft test evaluates some specific skills. They are grouped into a set of exam topics that the candidates are expected to learn and understand. By developing competence in these themes, the individual has an increased chance of success in the certification test. There is the highlight of the exam topics below:

• Installation and configuration of servers—15-20%
• Configuring Hyper-V—15-20%
• Deploying core network services—15-20%
• Configuration of Server roles & features—15-20%
• Creation of Group Policy—15-20%
• Installing and administering Active Directory—15-20%

It is essential to mention that the percentage related to each of these topics indicate the weight of questions that can be expected. Besides, note that each of the areas has their own list of subtopics that break down the topic into more detailed information. With this, you can fully understand what it is all about and what you need to learn better. It is also important to mention that the topics, as given by Microsoft and as highlighted above, are only general guidelines for the 70-410 exam. There might be some other areas that will appear during your test but they are not included in the list. This means you should go the extra mile to study topics that are related to the subject. Note that Microsoft reserves the right to change the themes without any prior notice. For this reason, you should check the certification webpage before you start preparing for your exam to know what the current contents are.

Preparation Hacks for the Microsoft 70-410 Exam

There are different resources that are available for your exam preparation. To get started, you should consider the Microsoft Virtual Academy. This is the official learning platform for any Microsoft tests. Here, you will be able to access numerous free online training tools to help you develop competence in the exam contents. Some of them available on the site and they include presentations, videos, and a host of other contents and information covering numerous Microsoft technologies. You will find video resources on dozens of topics of the test. You will also find numerous articles on Windows Server 2012 that you can use to enhance your knowledge.

In addition to the official platform, there are some other reputable websites that offer training resources for the 70-410 certification exam. Examsnap is the bestone, and it is highly recommended. The site offers numerous training materials, including video courses, practice tests, PDF files, exam dumps, and a lot of other study tools. You can also use the exam simulator available on the platform for your preparation. This will help you take practice questions in a real exam scenario and you can develop your skills and knowledge prior to the test.

Conclusion

To make your preparation more effective, go to the official website and read about the Microsoft 70-410 certification exam. Pay attention to various study platforms and take enough time for learning.

A number of résumés list two or three professional references. Others may contain a variation of the phrase “References available upon request.”

Neither is necessary. Here are four reasons.

1. References are pertinent only during the later part of the job-search process: after a potential employer has interviewed you and desires to check others’ impressions of you prior to extending you a job-offer.
2. As a candidate, you would want to be the first person to describe yourself to the potential employer. You would not like the employer to contact your references beforehand and form an opinion of you ahead of your interview.
3. If you post your résumé online (on your college’s career website or at a job-search site such as monster.com,) you would not want to make public your references’ contact information.
4. Employers understand that you will give them a list of references when asked for.

Best Practice on Résumé References

Listing references is not the best use of space on a one-page résumé. Eliminate the list of references or the “available upon request” phrase from your résumé.

Instead, on a separate sheet of paper, prepare a list of two or three professional references. For each reference, include name, contact information and a phrase about the nature of your relationship with the reference. Bring this sheet to your interview and present it when the potential employer asks for references.

Use the valuable space to enhance your résumé either by adding further details of your accomplishments or by increasing white space around various sections of your résumé to make it more visually appealing.

Your résumé is your personal advertisement. The purpose of a résumé, therefore, is to sell you, not to describe you. In order to grab a recruiter’s interest and create a positive impression within a few seconds, your résumé should be comprehensive and tidy.

One-page résumés are appropriate for college candidates (entry-level candidates, to be more specific,) and candidates with less than ten years of work experience. Such candidates rarely have substantial accomplishments to justify a résumé of more than a page in length.

More-experienced candidates may use two pages to describe their accomplishments. Even here, one-page résumés are recommended. Recruiters will survey the second page only if the contents of the first page are appealing.

A one-page résumé acknowledges the importance of a recruiter’s time. A two-page résumé is a sign of disregard.

Compact your Résumé

Follow these guidelines to consolidate your résumé content into one page.

• Comprehension is crucial. Recruiters hate wordy résumés. They first glance through the organization of a résumé and quickly skim over particulars in key sections. A strong, comprehensive presentation is consequently appealing.
• Avoid a tell-it-all résumé. Avoid the common mistake of providing too many details. Leave some details for discussion in a potential interview.
• Restrict accomplishments under each position held to two or three bullet points only. Weed out unimportant details. Use phrases if necessary.
• Do not cram. Do not reduce page margins and font-sizes or eliminate white space. Résumés crowded with information are hard to read.

Conclusion

A one-page résumé is usually long enough to present all the essential information concisely and captivatingly. It can easily engage a recruiter and convince him/her that your background merits further consideration.