Writing a decent CV

Among the many useful things waiting for me in my RSS feeds when I got back from holiday, there was a link to a post on Lifehacker explaining how to Avoid These 10 Resume Annoyances. You want to get the job, write a decent resume (aka curriculum vitae).

They are actually refering to an article on AOL which explains 10 Ways Your Resume Irks Hiring Managers:

#1 Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors

In another life, I was a "hiring manager" myself, employing people to work as English teachers. You spelled "English" without a capital letter on the CV you sent me? I trashed it immediately.

#10 A lack of professionalism [including] childish e-mail addresses

That's one I see a lot in my current occupation -- ie. e-mail address that were probably funny when you were at college, but aren't going to impress the Director of Studies (DoS) in the average language school, like cuteblonde@wherever.com or mrbig@whatever, for example. You've got one like that? Get yourself a new one!

Include a good photo
One thing I strongly disagree with in the AOL article: I think you definitely should include a (decent) photograph of yourself. If you get as far as an interview, don't expect a job offer on the spot. In a fortnight's time, the DoS is not going to remember everyone on his/her shortlist. That's what the photo is for!

Don't look like a mad axeman/woman!

See also:

>> Revamp your resume (Lifehacker.com)
>> Writing a good CV (celta-course.com)