Previous Experience and Education

Your previous employment is of great interest to a new employer. Your employment history shouldn’t read like a ‘shopping list’ - a few weeks at one job, a couple of months with another company. An acceptable alternative would be to leave out some of the less relevant positions you’ve held. However, Don’t Lie – you will be found out!

List your previous achievements and accomplishments, rather than responsibilities and tasks undertaken. Highlight your success.

Your education history should be included too, highlighting qualifications relevant to the job you’re pursuing. Remember, your resume should be individually tailored to the post you’re applying for.

Decide whether to list employment and education histories by chronology* or experience* – and stick to it!

Don’t, at any stage, go overboard on detail. The recruiter may well have dozens of applications to sift through and they just haven’t the time to read pages of information thoroughly. Your application can be rejected purely on the basis of your resume – stand out from the crowd – for the right reasons!

Try to limit your resume to one or two pages. You can save further information about yourself for the interview, in fact introducing new aspects of your personality or skill-base at an interview, can actually be a bonus.

Always proofread your resume.

Proofread it again. Positions can be won and lost on poor grammar, bad spelling or incorrect use of language alone. Have someone else read through it, two heads are better than one.

Finally – don’t lie! We’ve said it before, but it’s important enough to be repeated.


*Download examples of Chronological and Functional resumes by ‘right clicking’ on the links, selecting ‘save as’ and choosing where to store them on your computer.