C.V. / Resume for Gulf Countries
What is a Resume/Curriculum Vitae?
- A CV / Resume represents who you are and what you can offer so that the employer can assess you within a few seconds. Generally, a CV refers to a multi-page document showing details of your academic and professional achievements. You can use the heading as ‘Resume’ if the document is limited to 1-2 pages. Resume in Latin also means ‘Course of Life’. The core content of the CV should be constructed in such a way that the employer can easily scan and understand about you in just a few seconds; nowadays through online platforms.
How to make a professional CV/Resume ?
In order to land a good job in the GCC countries, there are quite a few things to keep in mind while preparing a CV.
- The first thing to do is to check for spelling mistakes. Wrong spellings especially in the headlines can ruin the first impression.
- The appearance of your resume is very important for getting a good first impression during the first 5-10 seconds of observation by the employers. It is not necessary to make pages very colorful with company logos shades and gradations. It should be simple, easy to read and aesthetic. If you follow the specifications you’ll have an interview in no time, but get it wrong, and you may face rejection after rejection. Every CV is different as you want to show why your set of skills makes you suitable for the position you’re applying for at that moment, but all follow a similar structure.
- Even though many templates are available on the internet, it is desirable to make a resume yourself based on your qualification and experience. Use MS Word, Adobe InDesign and convert to pdf so that file can be viewed in all platform to retain the same layout. Most employers receive your resume in a digital format, so choose a san serif font like Verdana – 9 point and black color to body text for more readability. You can use a different font type for your headings like Copperplate Gothic – Bold and blue colored is more pleasing to the eye.
The following details need to be presented in the order given below under the subheading.
- 1. Name and Contact details: Name should be bold 12 points followed by your mobile number and email address all left aligned with colons in the same level. That is enough. No need to put details of your home address as it is a waste of valuable space. A passport size photograph adjusted to the height of 4 cm should be placed on the right or left corner without distortion.
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- 2. Personal profile: A personal profile or career objective is express yourself what you’re all about and what you can offer to a company and what is your total years of service in Gulf countries and home country. Sample format is given below:
- “ Seeking a suitable position as Chef where my past experience and knowledge would be fully utilized in a career opportunity and to reach great heights. As a self-motivated person, I do have the intention to serve any esteemed organization with utmost sincerity that offers challenges to accomplish missions to build up a career as a professional based on my 12 years of experience in U.A.E. and 2 years from the Philippines.
- The employer should be able to understand the field specialized and the years of experience among the international community and in the home country. Based on your education and work experience what you can offer for a new company can be listed in brief.
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- 3. Education: Name of the course, Name of Board/ University, place and year. If you are a graduate, there is no need to enter all details of Secondary and Higher Secondary school details. No tabular columns. If you are Gulf educated, you can mention the name of the school as more preference is given for such job seekers.
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- 4. Experience: You have to present the list of experience in reverse chronological order. Name of Company (Bold) place and date in one line. Next line with Designation followed by Duties and Responsibilities present in left alignment with bullets. You can use powerful verbs in past tense to emphasize your duties. Not desirable to make a long list copy pasted from google. Use your own words based on your experience.
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- Personal Traits: An opportunity to let the employer know about you special personality and aptitude. Some good examples are ‘ Ability to work in a group, good interpersonal communication, responsible and self-motivated, friendly, honest and social with pleasing manners and so on.
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- 6. Passport and Visa Details: Being an expatriate it is desirable to put the passport details so that your employer is able to know the details like passport number, date of issue, date of expiry and the visa status (a) Resident Visa or Tourist Visa.
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- 7. Driving License: If you are going to apply for the post of a driver or salesman cum driver you should give the details like number, type of vehicle, (Light Vehicle, Bus, etc) place of issue etc.
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- 8. Personal Details: Details like your date of birth, sex, marital status, nationality, languages, hobbies, computer skills etc can be given under this sub heading.
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- 9. Reference: If available you can put the name and contact details so that an employer able to get details of your performance and other details from the old company you worked.
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- 10. Declaration: Finally you need to declare that all information given above are true and correct.
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- Formatting and spacing guidelines :
1. Body text : Font Verdana 9 pt black colour, alignment left – good looking easily readable in digital format.
2. Sub Heads : Copper gothic bold – blue colour
3. Take care colons given in the contact details should be in the same vertical level, need tab setting
4. Bullets need to be in the same level – need tab setting
5. Leading: the term refers to the space between lines. Need to adjust leading to move the body text as per the requirement. Average value is 14-16 pt.
6. Your resume can be up to 1-2 pages.
7. Page margin can be 2-3 cms
8. Take care of paragraph spacing – desirable to add white space.
9. Proofreading: Take care to avoid all possible spelling mistakes – use spell check programme to minimize mistakes.
10. Save the file in pdf format so that you can retain the same layout so you can be sure that employers will see your CV as you intended.
11. Desirable to include a photo of yourself on your CV so the employer can identify and do a partial assessment. The photo needs to be sharp formal, well cropped with height not more than 4 cms height.
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- Conclusion: If the content and layout is brief, systematic and good no doubt it will make a great first impression and secure yourself an interview.
If you are in need of our service please send the details with a passport size photo using the downloadable Adobe Acrobat compatible PDF form to +971 55 9610529 or fotongraphics@gmail.com
Offer price 25 Dhs only.