KIFL Airline FA English Interview Fri 09:20-10:55 - more about resumes: action verbs

Hello all,

Here are some more notes about resumes to add to what I've shown you in class. I hope these will help you, and if you have anything to show me or have questions, please ask me in class next Friday.

I will write about some more notes on cover letters, emails and file attachment letters in a separate post.

For resumes, remember that most employers don't read resumes clearly, but still expect you to have correct formatting and spelling.

So the key to good resume writing is to write about your qualifications, skills and abilities in short lines with the kinds of words that carry the most information.

So you don't have to use pronouns about yourself, alone or as part of a group (like I, my or we) or ones that are used directly about another person (such as you).

But action verbs will be important. Look at the list of action verbs in the chart on the resume template I gave you in class. Some of them you might not know; look them up in your dictionaries. But here might be some very useful verbs for the kinds of resumes you have:

assist (手伝う) for example: Assisted ground staff personnel in their duties.

challenge (挑戦する): Challenged the TOEIC in December 2011. Improved score by 60 points.

*NOTE: If you don't have a high TOEIC score, but still improved your score greatly from the time you took it before, then it may be okay to say that you improved the score without writing it. But if you have improved your score and are over 650 or so, then write the score down! With scores or at least 650 or more - write them.

qualify (資格を取る): Qualified for Infini certification in December 2011.

undertake (企てる): Undertook internship with EasyJet from December 2011 to present.

**NOTE: even some common verbs can become important as action verbs.

participate (参加する): Participated in KIFL2010 conference in Tokyo.

teach: Taught cram school students in English, math and history at Kanda Juku.

There are many action verbs that you can use, but these might be the most useful for you.

I will post more as we go along. See you all in class Friday!