When describing your job on a resumé, do you use the -ing form of the word, the present tense or the past tense?

It should be 1st person simple present. The easy way for candidates to remember this is for them to remember the invisible "I" before each bullet point... [I] Manage quality improvement processes; [I] Oversee day-to-day operations of office, etc. That invisible "I" seems to be understood by candidates when they write in the past tense for older positions but for some reason they often seem confused when writing in the present tense. The same rules apply: the proper tenses are simple present tense and simple past tense. Employers know job descriptions.They don't know what their candidates accomplished in the job. 

Visit us at www.scarlettcareerservices.com to receive a free resume critique. 

    

A Lesson On Dressing For A Successful Interview

  It's easy enough these days to do the research needed to find out what people in a particular organization or type of organization typically wear to work.

A client who had worked in a small law firm that had a fairly relaxed dress code was pursuing his first role in a big firm. He told me that he spent time in the foyer of the building in which the firm he wanted to work to check out the people going out for lunch (the firm occupied several floors of the building). He noted the kinds of shoes, suits, shirts, ties, haircuts. That way, he already looked like one of them when he arrived for this interview.



But it really is those little things -- like white socks, or a poorly formatted resume, or calling the interviewer by the wrong name, or being a few minutes late -- that usually tip the scale.

Of course, there is a line where you have to say "this is who I am and if it doesn't work here, then neither should I" -- as someone with tattoos, I do not encourage people to pretend to be something they are not in an interview -- after all, you will have to work there every day, and a job where you have to hide your true self is rarely worth it. 

Ask SCS:Adding the Pursuing Course to Resume

I’ve already completed my B.E. in Aeronautical & have been working since April 2011. Now (this January 2013) I joined a MBA (Project & Operations) Course Part Time and I would like to know whether it would be good enough to highlight it in my resume. Or will the HR think it as a distraction that I am trying to hold on to the studies and put the resume to hold.

If at all I am adding it to the Resume,

how to make it look or how do I put it.
Should it go before the degree or after it.
how do i define the Course period (presently pursuing or just 2015)

SCS Says: I recommend that you add it above your education section. You can entitle it, "Post-Graduate Studies" and then list the course and the name of the school.  

Rule of thumb is that valuable information for the employer is always included and useless information is omitted.

Experience or Education on top of your resume?

When reading resumes, I scan the resume. Do the dates line up perfectly? Is an applicant skipping anything? Make it neat, succinct, use concrete examples. A well written cover letter will do much more for you than a resume in my book. I am also much more likely to read someone's resume if they have an objective. It tells me a lot when they know what they are looking for. If you have to write an objective for each resume you submit to each company, you would be doing yourself a huge favor. Every company wants to hire people that want to work for them. If you can structure your objective as to why you want to work for their organization, it will make a difference.

I recommend putting whichever you have more of on top. If you're a recent graduate with not so much experience then education should go on top. But if you've had many years of experience, that should go on top.