For Candidates
Kishurim’s Advice to Job Seekers
Preparing your resume
Your resume reflects your level of professionalism. The wording and formatting of your resume testifies to your level of seriousness and thoroughness. A scant resume gives your potential employer a wrong impression of the type of employee you might be.
Remember: Your resume is your calling card. Make sure it is attractive. Have someone else review it. Take a few days to fine-tune it. It is well worth the effort.
The preferred resume format in Israel is the traditional chronological resume format.
Your resume should ideally fit onto one page; maximum two. Use bold fonts for important information and compatible fonts for accompanying information. Use bullets or asterisks to highlight important facts.
Exercise your graphic creativity by contrasting dates, headings and titles with bold and/or italics.
Resumes should be clear and concise. Use parallel construction, state the facts, and don’t tell stories. Ensure that your resume does not look like a standard downloaded format from the internet.
Chronological Format Resume
Your resume should include the following information:
Contact Information
Name, address, phone number and e-mail address at the top of the page in a clear and bold font.
Optional
Career objective, either by position or industry. Ensure that your job objective is relevant to your background and experience.
Employment History
Present position should be cited first and former positions in reverse chronological order. Each position should include the dates worked and responsibilities required. Honors or citations should be mentioned.
Education
Names of academic institutions attended with relevant dates cited in reverse chronological order. Grade-point averages should be noted. Awards or citations should be mentioned.
Military or National Service
Dates, type of service and army level attained at date of discharge.
Publications
If more than three, should be included in an appendix.
Affiliations and Memberships
Professional or volunteer positions outside of paid employment position.
Skills
Language skills, verbal and written. Computer proficiencies. Other.
Personal information
Date & place of birth and family status (optional, but considered non-professional in the US).
References
Sufficient at initial resume submission to write: References will be furnished upon request.
What to leave out of your resume
- Diplomas and certification documentation
- Reasons for leaving previous positions
- Previous salaries and present salary expectations
- Names and contact information of references
- Abbreviations unclear to laymen
Make sure your resume does not have any spelling or grammatical mistakes!
The Cover Letter
Your resume provides the facts. Your cover letter sets a personal tone between you and the potential employer. It will interest him/her more than the resume, because it is the real “you” talking. Your cover letter should not exceed three or four paragraphs. It should state why you are interested in the proposed position and why you think you are appropriate for it. Ask the potential employer, in a non-demanding professional and dignified manner, to call you in for a personal interview. The cover letter should be convincing, but not aggressively so. Make sure it is specifically tailored to the position for which you are applying. Your cover letter should not be a copy of a mass mailing that you have sent to all potential employers. Make the potential employer feel that he/she is the only one you are interested in working for and the only one you have applied to.
Submitting your resume
Resumes should be submitted via e-mail. Prior to sending your resume print it out to ensure that there are no problems with your graphics. Do not include any heavy downloads. Ensure that your file and software are virus-free.
At the interview
- Be punctual. This means not arriving too early as well.
- Make sure you are dressed professionally. Bring a copy of your resume and relevant documentation that illustrates the type of work you do.
- Close your cellular phone.
- Research in advance the potential employer.
- Listen to the interviewer. Look him/her in the eye. Answer his/her questions.
- Ask intelligent questions about the company and the position.
- Do not malign or bad-mouth former employers.
- Thank the interviewer for his/her time and interest.
After the interview
Follow up with an email showing your interest in the position is acceptable. Phone calls are unacceptable, unless instructed to do so.
Take both acceptance and rejection professionally and graciously.
Suppress your excitement as well as your disappointment. There is always a “tomorrow”. Your professional reaction will be remembered at future opportunities.
Make sure to specially thank your referral for his/her initiative.
Upon assuming your new position, notify and thank your network of contacts and those who provided your references. You may need them in the future.
At the interview
- Be punctual. This means not arriving too early as well.
- Make sure you are dressed professionally. Bring a copy of your resume and relevant documentation that illustrates the type of work you do.
- Close your cellular phone.
- Research in advance the potential employer.
- Listen to the interviewer. Look him/her in the eye. Answer his/her questions.
- Ask intelligent questions about the company and the position.
- Do not malign or bad-mouth former employers.
- Thank the interviewer for his/her time and interest.
After the interview
Follow up with an email showing your interest in the position is acceptable. Phone calls are unacceptable, unless instructed to do so.
Take both acceptance and rejection professionally and graciously.
Suppress your excitement as well as your disappointment.
There is always a “tomorrow”. Your professional reaction will be remembered at future opportunities. Make sure to specially thank your referral for his/her initiative.
Upon assuming your new position, notify and thank your network of contacts and those who provided your references. You may need them in the future.