|
Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
MindlessFudge
Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 40
|
 Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 11:01 pm Post subject: Resume / CV Advice |
 |
|
I have read the many posts on this site regarding resumes and all the advice they have to offer. While they have been helpful, I am interested in having someone, particularly an English conversation school employer, review my resume and help me edit it so that it is attractive to conversation schools.
While I do have a resume constructed, I necessarily wish to streamline it for when I begin looking for work in Japan in six weeks.
Again, I have read many of the posts on how to build resumes, but that does not beat having someone personally look it over and offer their advice, especially if that person is experienced in reviewing this sort of resume.
I would be immensely grateful to anyone who could help me with this. If anyone would like to assist me, please let me know and we could make arrangements to exchange email/contact information.
I thank everyone for their consideration.
best,
-MindlessFudge |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 11:18 pm Post subject: example resume |
|
|
While Japan may ask for a slightly different format, we keep a link on our site for creating a general resume for teaching abroad. Perhaps someone in the Japan forums would be happy to correct it for sensitivities over there.
http://www.innovative-english.com/resumeguide.htm |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
|
| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 1:01 am Post subject: Re: example resume |
|
|
| Guy Courchesne wrote: |
While Japan may ask for a slightly different format, we keep a link on our site for creating a general resume for teaching abroad. Perhaps someone in the Japan forums would be happy to correct it for sensitivities over there.
http://www.innovative-english.com/resumeguide.htm |
Fudge,
I read a lot of CVs for people looking for jobs in Japan (and by extension, Asian non-western countries) and have a checklist of points that I recommend people watch out for when writing a CV for jobs here.
Have a look over these points before you send your resume to me. I will be happy to look at it but am fairly busy at the moment and dont have time right now to proofread a 'raw' resume.
1. A CV is a work and education record. It is not a sales pitch of all your achievements and every prize you have won. Keep the CV simple and to the point and relevant to what the employer needs to know. Rid the CV of clutter and irrelevant detail. They need and want to know where and when you when you went to school, and your highest academic qualification/degree. A degree is needed for immigration/visa purposes, not your employer, so you can get a work visa. Your employer is simply the sponsor of your work visa. You can have a degree in basket weaving and Archaeology and still get a visa to work here
2. Do not assume the reader is a native speaker of English or even that the native speaker are Americans. A Japanese employer may know some English, but they may be intermediate level or lower. They are not stupid but any CV filled with jargon, cliches, big words will get trashed. Keep sentences simple and to the point. Dont talk down to them or be patronising but keep language simple. Write your resume as though the reader has a 6th grade education. Some people write things like "seeking gainful and stimulating employment in a Japanese language institution as an instructor of English" when 'getting a job at an English language school in Japan' is much easier for them to understand.
Glenski mentioned this somewhere else, but avoid using romanised Japanese words in an English language CV to sound clever or show how much you know about Japan. Using words such as "gaijin" in an English sentence instead of foreigner is tacky and will do more harm than good.
3. Avoid abbreviations of US states and degrees e.g TX, NY, MSc. Write out degrees in full e.g. Bachelor of Arts. Masters of Science. MBA is not really considered a Masters degree here, pretty meaningless for getting a teaching job at a university for example. Dont assume they know where in the US you are from or what OH stands for. GPAs, AA and Honors degrees will be Greek to a Japanese employer too.
4. You will not use computers or the Internet in a conversation school, so listing all the Word computer software you can use is a waste of space. You wont go near a computer in a lesson.
5. Knowing some languages is useful, from the point of view that you know how difficult it is to study a foreign language, learning vocabulary and grammar. Japanese is not used in the classroom here and employers dont expect you to know or use any Japanese. You can say you are learning but it will not be a big factor in your getting hired here. You will use the language when dealing with shopkeepers, landlady and being able to read your phone bill. Students pay big money to hear you speak English, not listen to your broken Japanese and most schools will ban the use of Japanese by foreign teachers.
6. Leave off goals and objectives from your CV. G & O are in the future, not the past, and short term goals can change within a short time . You could become homesick, quit your job in 3 months and fly home again. Only write on your CV what has happened to you, not what you think will happen.
7. Having a Masters or a CELTA qualification can sometimes be counter-productive and make you seem overqualified, or more qualified than the (foreign) person interviewing you. You then become a threat to them as you are more qualified to teach than them. You are not being paid to re-invent the wheel or run the school for them so dont overblow or exaggerate your abilities. Tailor your CV to what they are asking you to do and what the job is. Teaching or working at a conversation school is not rocket science, but be careful not to qualify yourself out of the running by appearing overqualified. Too much education can sometimes be a bad thing.
8. You can mention hobbies and interests but IMO they are a little irrelevant to getting a job here. They are paying you to teach English conversation, not learn about manga and Japanese culture or learn Japanese. they want someone who is punctual, and wont quit because of home sickness, can handle adversity and a fairly heavy work schedule of 6 or 7 classes a day. Remember why they are hiring you. Avoid mentioning coming to visit your Japanese girlfriend or boyfriend. They are not runnning a dating agency, and they dont care about your personal life. They are paying you to WORK as a language teacher.
9. Keep the CV to one or two pages, maximum. Employers here are very busy, maybe have a lot of resumes to read and have no time to wade through details of every past job you had and look for your job history is on page 5.
10. Keep past job descriptions to a minimum. Just say when, where and how long you worked, and perhaps a job title. Someone with management experience and hiring people may get bored with a lowly teacher position, so the less you tell them the better, unless they ask. Most of your past work experience in your own country will be irrelevant to what you do in Japan, and vice versa.
11. If you include a photo make sure it is a professional passport type photo with clear head -shoulders shot, and no cameo poses taken at the beach. Teaching in Japan is a professional type job working in an office atmosphere, wearing a suit, at least try to act like one.
12. You can include references (email is probably best) but its unlikely they will contact or phone them if they live overseas
13. One thing I always impress on people when applying for jobs here is to get away from "whats in it for me" by asking about salary and holidays and accomodation and plane fare etc, rather seek to impress upon employers what you bring to the table, what you have to offer the school and students. Dont act like you are Gods gift to teaching and you are doing them a favor by hiring you. You are just one in a long line of people applying for jobs here.
14. Make yourself stand out from the crowd by giving them a reason to hire you. The guy have a stack of 20 resumes in front of him and will look for something that stands out.
15. If you include a phone number tell them the best time to call you at home. Afternoon in Japan is 4 a.m. in New York.
� |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
