Does my resume clearly structure my experiences and other achievements in a logical and conventional fashion?
What you want:
A structure that separates between
- Personal details
- Education
- Work Experience
- Extra-curricular experience
- Other (incl. languages, computer skills, interests, awards, certificates etc.)
Why you want the above:
This is the structure most used in resumes that get accepted for business courses or interviews.
What you should avoid:
- academic experience
- academic secondary activities
- other secondary activities
- internships
- work experience
- other experiences
Why you want to avoid the above:
This list is difficult for the recruiter to process, because she/he first has to invest time to understand the unconventional structure and then needs to look at multiple sections to check certain boxes (e.g., where is a potential academic semester abroad?). The more difficult it is for some to process your resume, the less time she or he will invest in it. And if they don’t find whatever makes you a uniquely strong candidate, you are out of luck.
What you also want to avoid:
- academic experience
- work and extra curricular experience
- other
Why you want to avoid the above:
This will make it easy for recruiters to miss key elements of your cv. People do not like to go through a list with more than 3-4 items, and if it is longer select a few. If they happen to pick the wrong ones, they might think you don’t have any relevant extra curricular experiences or miss the cool internship you completed. Moreover, recruiters want to check certain boxes: extracurricular experience, experience abroad, etc. Make it easy for them to check them without making them think too much!
Back to CV checklist