Now that we know what we are aiming for, it's time to gather all the information we need to create our prezumé.
You might already have an extensive LinkedIn profile. That's fantastic, because then you are half way there. If you already have a written résumé, dig it up and use that as a basis. If you have nothing yet, just move on.
Usually a résumé is a complete overview of your career so far, including your personal information, special interests, and other things that are relevant to share with your future employer.
Before you choose what to put in your prezumé and what to leave out, it's best to collect all the information. If you change your goal in the future, you can still use that document as a basis because it's complete. It might take some time to write down everything, but it's worthwhile and if you keep it up to date, it will be useful for the rest of your life.
An overview of common contents of a résumé is given in the following list:
- Personal data and contact details: List your full name, gender, date of birth, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and relevant social media pages LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
- Education: Starting with the most recent, list the name of the program, name of the school, and the year of graduation. Add trainings and courses as well.
- Work experience: Starting with the most recent, list the job title, company, city, and year of employment.
- Interesting projects you worked on: These could be school projects or business projects. If they are of special meaning for your talents, add them to your résumé.
- Skills: List software skills, management skills, social skills, languages you speak/read/write, and other relevant skills.
- Special interests: Include personal interests such as hobbies, volunteering, and traveling.
Put all the information in a digital document. If you need examples, just search the Internet for résumé and you'll find lots of examples.
Although you've your written résumé ready, you're not finished yet. Now, you are going to collect your visual material, so consider the following:
- A professional photo of yourself.
- If you're a designer, collect proof of your work in the form of photographs, graphics, illustrations, and videos. Build your digital portfolio.
- Proof of your most interesting and relevant projects, such as documents, screen shots, pictures, and videos.
- Collect high-resolution logos of companies where you've worked, especially if they are well-known companies; the logos will look nice in your prezumé.