Educational background information
Antichronological
Clear
Relevant to the job you are applying to
In Part 2 of our blog, we talked about the personal information / work experience. For your educational background we 'll be following the same steps:
Antichronological
clear
Relevant to the job you are applying to
Use an antichronological order and try to specify possible uncertainties.
Remember: Your work experience is more important than your educational background.
In case you had only one job so far- or maybe right now you are looking for your first real job- try not to fill half a page with your studies and only one line with working experience.
Think about internships you did or part time jobs during your studies.
Try to give important details and add them to your professional experience rather than education.
If you want you can add grades.
It is the same here: the more work experience you have the less important are your academic records.
In case you are extremely proud of certain achievements you can mention them.
However, there is no use of adding your High School Grade when you have passed with a C or D.
Additional qualifations
Here you should list everything else of interest that you can offer:
- internal or external training,
- exams you have passed,
- courses you have taken,
- prizes won,
- etc.
Languages can be a powerful tool, especially when it comes to international companies and positions.
In case you can offer profound knowledge of one or the other language you should mention it even when you do not have obtained a certain certificate.
But be careful, you might be tested during the interview so just add skills and talents you really have.
Giving false information is not a good base for a business or any other relationship.
Personal interests - hobbies
What gives you that little extra?
Besides your professional and academic record you can always win some extra credit with your personal interests.
Especially when you want to enter the bike market you should definitely add your interest here (I wonder why so many people don’t do that).
A good product manager is someone who has spent many hours on their bike,
A good sales person often is someone who knows all the important details out of own experience, or by having a wide network he can discuss experiences with.
Show your interests - Keep LinkedIn up to date!
Show your reader you personally are deeply interested in the position by showing the relevance of how you spend your free time.
Don't list all of your 30 hobbies when only 5 are relevant for the open position though.
We often look for talents via LinkedIn and sometimes have a hard time finding the right people because nobody follows the manufacterer of their bike, their bike gear or favourite team.
Make it easier on us and on yourself for making that next career move by showing what you stand for!
Next time we'll share some specifics for the German job market, as well as some templates for you to get started!
