The Perfect Pinoy Resume (Part III)

Just in case you've landed here and haven't read the first two installments, you can start reading here. If not, then, you're welcome to proceed.

Step 12. Aesthetics. Your resume is something that reflects who you are. This means that it depends on how you style it how your prospective employer sees you. However, there are some standards to keep when doing your resume.

a. If you're trying to get into a company that works on design or architecture, and the like, then you can make a resume that is full of aesthetics. Lines and shapes might just make you land the job, if done right. You need to use whatever designing methods you can do, however, you must know what is excessive and what is lacking. Something that can impress, a clean but sophisticated resume can help you.


b. Otherwise, if you're trying to enter a company that is about health, accounting, and others, then, you need a clean and simple resume. No need for useless aesthetics. Usually, these companies would concentrate on the content, and not the design. You are trying to work in a company that likes clean and precise work, not good-looking ones, right?

c. FONT STYLE. This is a crucial one when it comes to constructing your document. Never use "fancy fonts", as they call it. Comic Sans MS is a big no-no when it comes to resumes. Try something simple but neat, like Verdana, Tahoma, and Century Gothic. These font styles are pleasing to the eye, neat, and are easy to read.

d. Font size. These employers need something to read and check easily - they are not making a thorough investigation or a book review. Meaning, keep the font size easy to read and understand. No one wants to use a magnifying glass to read something, or even spend more time trying to understand what is written on the resume. Remember that there are tens, hundreds, or even thousands of applicants that would like to fit in, and what the hiring manager would do is just try to scan your document. And if it's time consuming and bothersome to read that small-sized letters, then it might just land straight to the trash once it's picked up. Harsh, but true.

e. Font color. Definitely, a black-and-white resume is easier to read, than those which has the whole rainbow in their resume. You might want to avoid putting too much colors in your document - it's not a pamphlet, a manual, or an invitation, it's your document to being an employee. So if you're sending a document up that looks like a restaurant's menu or a birthday invitation, then it might just be denied.

Step 13. GRAMMAR. Yes, we're Filipinos, and English is not our native language. However, it's the universal language of business. Considering that most of these companies use English in their transactions and let's say, business in general, having the right skills in English would definitely help you in your application. Know the difference of your and you're, the proper use of the plural form, tenses, and punctuation. Consider these examples.

Career Objective:
To work in you're company and, helped in providing quality health care to patient's.

Career Objective:
To work in your company, and help in providing quality health care to patients.

If the first example lands in your resume, then it's kind of making job hunting hard for you. However, with proper application of grammar and your English skills, you might just arrive with the second.

So what if I didn't listen to my grammar lessons and didn't care about English in the first place my grammar teacher didn't teach us very well? Don't fret. You can always consult your English-inclined friends, colleagues, or even that grammar teacher that didn't teach you well. It's better if you can hand it to multiple persons that can refine and refine that document, until it becomes perfect. Just don't forget that small token of gratitude, because they've just help you land a job that makes more than that. :)

That's it. You've constructed your resume. For first timers, remember that you can update your resume as soon as something has come your way, like further studies, additional (long) work experience, and training. You can also tweak your resume whenever you're applying to a different type of work setting, like if you're first applying in a health insurance company, then another in an advertising type. Of course, if you're applying for a health insurance company, you would like to put your healthcare experiences first, right?

Just remember that landing a job is not something instant. It's definitely not easy as 1-2-3 or do-re-mi. Landing a job means that after screening for several potential candidates, they have chosen the best one, and that one is someone that, even in just that simple document, have poured their time and effort into. Good luck! Balato naman dyan! :)