Job Discussion Forums

[Mark-O]

In a slightly different vain to Nomadder's post about online resumes, how did you decide to formulate your CV? What I mean by this is did you write your CV in a way that you would present to an employer in your home country or not?

Members of the 'Japan' forum advocate the formulation of a much more 'stripped-down' resume for the benefit of Japanese employers. This includes a lack of long, technical words and the use of very basic language etc. I plan to teach in Asia, more specifically Hong Kong, and was wondering whether I would need to produce something similar, or a more embellished, fuller resume?

Please could anyone advise on this?

[anthyp]

It's funny, back in the States it's all about dressing it up and making it look better than it is ... but here they tell you not to go overboard because

1) employers won't understand it if you do;
2) they only care about one or two details on your resume anyway.

I went the short and sweet route and had no problem getting numerous offers. I don't think they care about anything except whether you have a BA and TEFL. Embellishing it probably wouldn't make much of a difference unless you're applying to one of the top schools in the land.

[guest of Japan]

I got both my jobs in Japan with a western style resume. Of course, I probably didn't get quite a few because of it.

[guest of Japan]

Oh yeah,

I just helped my wife write her resume in English to land a job with an international company in Japan. It had to be flowery.

Obviously, her resume is not related to teaching, but it certainly shows the irony of getting a job as an English teacher.