Hi, I'm still a student and I'm just asking in advance for my resume in the future.

I finished SPM in 2009 and I took a 1-year-crash-course A Levels in Jan 2010. My results for A Levels was bad and in Jan 2011 I enrolled in a university course which does not require A Levels but only SPM qualifications (American Degree Program).

So in my future resume, can I leave my A Levels out or do I still need to include it?

If you already have a few years' worth of experience, there's really little need to be so detailed on your degree course structure etc. Just state uni, course, specialization (if any), duration and CGPA (if you think it's going to help). But just be prepared to give further detailed info on your course structure. Maybe you can prepare a separate document and bring it along during interviews, just in case.

By the time you finish your course (I'm assuming in 2-4 years' time) you wouldn't need to state that you did A levels. You can just state your university course and leave the A levels part out. But in the meantime, if you need a resume (for internships for example) you may have to include it because otherwise you'll have a gap in your 'timeline'. Anyway, not all interviewers are that meticulous in examining what you have done since high school but as a rule of thumb, the more challenging/sought after a position is, the more detailed the questions.

My advice is to make sure that your results in your current course is excellent and you won't ever have to worry about your A-levels results.

How Malysian resume is different from general European style resume? If I'm planning to apply for a job in an international company do I have to prepare local version or European version? Any experiences? Thanks a lot!

You can always check a resume builder for help with current resume formats for different countries. But the principles will remain the same:
- ensure that your cv is clear and concise,
- use good English (good companies simply shelve cvs with grammatical errors. Get a friend to help you with your English, or send your cv to a proofreader. You can try: www.english-proofreaders.com
- address the hiring needs of the company (a one-size-fits-all cv does not impress)
- be positive; highlight your strengths

Is it strongly encouraged to ask for recommendation letter from current boss before quit? Erm, how to ask for the letter anyway?

Recommendation letters and testimonials are two different things. Ask for a recommendation letter if possible; it strengthens your future job applications. Ask your immediate superior if it's possible for him/her to write a recommendation letter for you. If he/she is a busy individual, prepare a draft recommendation letter before discussing with him/her so that when he/she gives you the excuse, "I am too busy", you can suggest your draft recommendation letter to him/her. This should work well in initiating the discussion of what should be written or included in the recommendation letter.

However, if you cannot secure a recommendation letter, ask for a testimonial. Most companies have a standardised template for the testimonial and as a bare minimum, the testimonial should state your scope of work, your employment period, and your starting and ending positions as well as the circumstances in which you quit (resigned on own accord, fired, retrenched, etc).

Hope this helps.

But, I only work for one year. Is it really okay to ask for testimonial/recommendation letter?

Cheh. You waste my energy type so long. Say earlier mah. Most companies won't give you recommendation letter/testimonial if you don't work for at least one year.

thanks

I have only one professional job worth mentioning and it was 15 months work. I just want to ask, is it alright if I put my duties in point form? Because I did a lot of work and all of them worth mentioning, I guess.
Are those bullet numberings normal?

Erm...It helps if you try open your mouth? Have you tried?

Regards, Joey

Nice share man! im going to take note~

hi just wanna ask

how many pages are resumes in malaysia? i used to work in an ibank, we are strict with a one-pager resume

is it any different here in malaysia? 2 or 3 pages perhaps?

thanks

I dont see anything wrong with one page resume. Back in the 80s, I believe I was the only person that do resume in 1 page and it always managed to get an interview.

usually 1 or 2 pages is enough/normal, but mine is 4 pages. lucky still able to get the dream jobs. it depends on interviewer/hr requirement, but better don't do like me 4 or 5 pages of resume. its bad moved sometime.

Hello all.

It is much better to address the person by name, but in the case of newspaper ads, in which no name is mentioned, how do I go about doing it?

Is it ok to just write 'Dear Sir/Madam' ?

Or will something like 'Dearest Esteemed Sir/Madam' a bit too much?

The book "Cover Letters for Dummies" recommends addressing the person by name where you can. It suggests calling up the company and making enquiries to find out who the HIRING MANAGER is (note: not the HR Manager or HR personnel who's in charge of filtering OUT candidates). However, in instances where you cannot find out the name of the hiring manager, just put "Dear Hiring Manager".

"Dear Sir/Madam" is a bit old fashioned and smacks a bit of sexism. Some women may get offended when you address them as "Madam" last and put "Sir" first, or they may get offended simply because they prefer people calling them "Ms". If you put "Dear Madam/Sir", the same problem may arise.

Unless you're writing to an archaic company filled with stuffy British aristrocrats who still think the world is in the 1970s to 1980s, you should never open with such a pretentious line as "Dearest Esteemed Sir/Madam". It's 2012, move on with the times!

You may have found the job by now I suppose

Anyway I would like to share my experience.

CV for European job application is completely different from Malaysian job application. Most European employers expect to see highlights of past experience/ achievements in previous job/ education such as project or assignments instead of results which are generally not very important as long as your degree is above 2.2, so listing down all subjects with score is not necessary. Try to outline as many work/ academic achievement as possible in the 1st page while keeping the 2nd page filled with your skills and additional information such as ability to speak multiple language, ready to relocate.. etc

One big different is you dont put down your photo at the top right corner, not necessary to state your nationality, sex or age (at least that's what I realised)

Myself was struggling to get Malaysian employers impressed with my CV (assuming mine was completely different from what most Msian employers expect, no photo, no results stated clearly etc.. ) but the interesting part is I received good responds while job hunting in the UK and was invited to interviews very quickly right after having my CV posted to some job websites and very lucky man I have been offered a few jobs from different companies in the UK and Shanghai even before I finish my degree. It took me a while to decide and finally made a decision few weeks ago

I am still no good in preparing CV for Msian job application I suppose (no respond at all from malaysia job application after over 20 attempts what a shame )

Anyway I am more than happy to give any help I could to help out whoever is currently looking for job in the UK. Cheers

This post has been edited by SunofaBeach: May 21 2012, 06:22 AM

Hi I'm currently applying for another job. Is it ok to not have any referees in my CV? Cuz the only referee I have is the mentor from my college which I used when applying for my 1st job(current job)

If you could get anyone from your current job to be your referees would be good