Positions of responsibility

If you do not have a lot of work experience, this section will show employers your potential.

5. SkillsBe positive about your ability – never undersell your experience.

6. InterestsStress any significant achievements related to your interests.

Referees

Current students and recent graduates should choose an academic referee and a personal one (this could be an employer).

Get your referees permission first and tell them what you are applying for and what you would like them to stress in a reference.

Read the advice and look at Helen Brown's CV. Following the guidelines, prepare your own CV.

Curriculum vitae

Personal Details
Put your most recent studies first	Helen Brown Date of birth 3.11.1978	Address 99 Newlands Park London SE30 8UJ Tel: 0171 25650
Education
Don't go too far back in time or leave any gaps	1997-present Degree in French and Film Studies, University of London Degree performance to date: 2.1 Specialist subjects: British Cinema. 1992 -1997 Royal Latin School, Aylesbury 4 A Levels: French (B), German (C), English (B), Film studies (A) 7 GCSEs: French (A), German (A), English (A), History (B), Art (A), Maths (B), Economics (B)
Work experience
Put your most recent experience first	Information Officer, Futuroscope, France Responsible for dealing with enquiries in a busy office, responding, to 2.000 enquiries a week. This demonstrated my ability to retain a professional approach and a sense of humour while working under pressure.
Give more detail about more relevant experience	Customer Services Assistant Provided support for customer enquiries. Dealing with customers' complaints demonstrated my ability to remain calm under pressure. Explaining complex issues simply and clearly helped me to develop my communication skills.
Positions of responsibility
Miss this section out if you haven't had a position of responsibility	In my final year at school, I helped organize a careers fair for all final year students.
Don't just list your interests - add a few details	Skills	Good working knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel Spreadsheets Working knowledge of French and Italian Current clean driving licence
	Interests	Travel: I have travelled extensively and independently in Europe. Music: I play the guitar in a semi-professional band and have done a number of 'gigs' for school and student clubs.
Give two referees	Referees	Hamish Roberts (Tutor at University of London) 17 Woodland Avenue Oxford OX117GGR	Richard Gayle (Customer Services Manager/DAT) 31 Pleasant Street London SE18 3LSR

Text D

THE LETTER OF APPLICATION

The letter of application (also called the covering letter) can be as important as the CV in that it often provides the first direct contact between a candidate and an employer. If this letter is not well written and presented, it will make a poor impression. The letter of application normally contains three or more paragraphs in which you should:

· confirm that you wish to apply and say where you learned about the job

· say why you are interested in the position and relate your interests to those of the company

· show what you can contribute to the job by highlighting your most relevant skills and experience

· indicate your willingness to attend an interview (and possibly state when you would be free to attend)

Complete Laura Winston's letter of application using the following verbs:

contact discuss employed welcome involved

apply enjoy notice advertised matches

		Laura Winston 52 Hanover Street Edinburgh EH2 5LM Scotland UK 8th January
Helen Scott Patagonia GMBH Reitmorstrasse 50 8000 Munich 22 Germany
Dear Ms Scott, I am writing to 1_________for the position of Public Affairs Associate which was 2 _________ last week in the International Herald Tribune.   Although I am presently 3_____________ by a non-profit making organization, it has always been my intention to work in a commercial environment. I would particularly 4____________ the chance to work for your company and as you will 5_________ on my enclosed curriculum vitae, the job you are offering 6_________ both my personal and professional interests. My work experience has familiarized me with many of the challenges7 ___________ in public relations today. I am sure that this, together with my understanding of the needs and expectations of sport and nature enthusiasts, would be extremely relevant to the position. Moreover, as my mother is German, I am fluent in this language and would definitely 8 __________ working in a German-speaking environment. I would be pleased to 9___________ my curriculum vitae with you in more detail at an interview. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to10___________ me if you require further information. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely, Laura Winston

Тext E

RESUME

An excellent resume may help you get the job of your dreams and a poor resume may mean a lost opportunity.

Since this is the first piece of information a company will receive about you, it is critically important that your resume be well-written.

It should be presented at the beginning of any interview that you have with a company. Ideally, resume should not be longer than one page.

The contents of a resume can be categorized as: 1) PERSONAL INFORMATION (address and telephone number), 2) JOB OBJECTIVE 3) EDUCATION, 4) EXPERIENCE, 5) SKILLS, 6) EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES, 7) REFERENCES.

The resume begins with PERSONAL INFORMATION, name, address, telephone number centered at the top page.

After your address, a statement of intent or JOB OBJECTIVE should be written. It should not be too general, e.g: «To obtain a managerial position in a Western company».

Think about your job search and career goals carefully, write them down in a way that shows you have given this much thought.

For example: «Objective: To obtain a position in telecommunication that will allow me to use my knowledge of engineering and take advantage of my desire to work in sales».

Notice that your desire to have a well-paid job is not included in this statement. A focus on money in your resume's first sentence will not make the best impression anywhere in the world, not just in Russia.

After the statement of intent, describe your EDUCATION.

List the universities, institutes and colleges you have attended in reverse chronological order.

Any studying you have done abroad should be included and courses that you have taken that are relevant.

•If you graduated with honors, you should definitely include this. A «red diploma» can be called «graduated with high honors» in English. Do not include your high school.

• Your working EXPERIENCE is the next section. List your experience starting with your most recent place of employment and work backwards. Spell out the exact dates of employment, your position, and the name of the company you worked for.

Provide information about your responsibilities, emphasizing important activities by listing the most relevant to your objective. Do not use complete sentences! List your responsibilities in short statements that do not include the words «my» or «I».

Following experience, you should list your special SKILLS. These include your language skills, computer abilities, and any other talent that relates to your statement of intent.

When describing your language abilities, it is best to be honest about assessing your level «Fluent English», «native Russian», «intermediate German», and «beginning French» are all ways to describe your language abilities. EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES should be included in the next section.

Student or professional organizations you belong to, travel, sports and hobbies should be listed here.

Do not list «reading» or «writing» as an activity. It is assumed most people with a higher education do these things regularly. The last section of your resume is the REFERENCE section. List at least two people, not related to you, who can describe your qualification for the job.

Their names, titles, places of work, and telephone numbers should be included. If you do not have space on your resume for this, write «Available upon request». You will then be expected to give this information to a prospective employer if it is requested.

The style and format of a resume are extremely important. Your resume must be typed, preferably on a computer in order to format it most effectively. A neat and well-written resume with no spelling mistakes will give an employer the impression that you are accurate and take care of details.

A resume will not get you a job. An interview with a company will get you a job. In order to have the opportunity of interviewing with a company you should send your resume with a cover letter.

I. Match a word in A with its synonym in B:

A	B
1. to obtain	a) wish
2. objective	b) possibility
3. desire	c) to begin
4. tо start	d) to supply
5. space	e) to receive
6. opportunity	f) goal
7. to provide	g) place

II. Fill in the gaps with suitable prepositions:

a) upon b) to с) in d) at e) of f) with(2) g) for h) on i) about

1. Special skills include your language skills, computer abilities, and any other talent that relates ... your statement of intent.

2. Extracurricular activities should be included ... the next section.

3. It is assumed most people ... a higher education do these things regularly.

4. List... least two people, not related to you, who can describe your qualification for the job.

5. A neat and well - written resume with no spelling mistakes will give an employer the impression that you are accurate and take care ... details.

6. If you don't have space on your resume for this, write «available ... request».

7. The resume begins ... personal information, name, address, telephone number centered at the top page.

8. It is best to be honest... assessing your level.

9. Give the full name of the company you worked ....

10. The resume should be typed ... a computer.

III. Give Russian equivalents to the following English words and word combinations:

1. a well-paid job	a) заканчивать с отличием
2. to make the best impression	b) языковые умения
3. in reverse chronological order	c) заявление о намерении
4. job search	d) оценивать уровень
5. to graduate with high honors	e) производить самое лучшее впечатление
6. recent place of employment	f) сопроводительное письмо
7. statement of intent	g) в обратном хронологическом порядке
8. language skills	h) поиск работы
9. cover letter	i) хорошо оплачиваемая работа
10. to assess one’s level	j) последнее место работы

IV. Match the words with their definitions:

1. resume	a) the activity outside the regular course of work or studies at a school or college.
2. reference	b) the ability to do smth well
3. experience	c) a brief account of smb’s previous career, usually submitted with an application for a job
4. extracurricular activity	d) the process of gaining knowledge or skill over a period of time through seeing and doing rather than through studying
5. skill	e) a written statement about smb’s character or abilities, especially when they are applying for a new job

V. Are these statements true or false? Correct the false ones with the right information from the text.

1. The resume begins with personal information, name, address, telephone number centered at the top page.

2. A focus on money in your resume’s first sentence will make the best impression on the employer.

3. While writing about your working experience you should start with your first place of employment.

4. You should list your responsibilities in short statements that do not include the words my or

I.

5. Information about your studying in high school should be included in a resume.

6. Your resume must be typed, preferably on a computer in order to format it most effectively.

7. While describing your education you should list universities, institutes and colleges you have attended in direct chronological order.

VI. Arrange the information according to its sequence in the resume:

1. A statement of intent.

2. Describe your education.

3. Personal information, name, address, telephone number.

4. List your special skills.

5. Extracurricular activities.

6. Your working experience.

7. Reference section.