5 Easy Ways to Figure Out What You Want to Do in Semi-Retirement

5 Easy Ways to Figure Out What You Want to Do in Semi-Retirement Its not so easy to find the time to focus on the future  when youre working a full-time job. But even if you can only spare a few hours a month, here are  five simple things you can do now to plan for  your second act: 1) Start a reinvention notebook. Treat yourself to a notebook where you can record second-act ideas as they come to you. That way, whenever you  find a  smart idea, or stumble upon a resource you’d like to explore in the future, you’ll  know where to find it when you need it. TIP: It doesn’t matter what type of notebook you use. A good old-fashioned college rule spiral notebook works as well as a fancy silk-covered journal. 2) Actively seek-out second-act stories.  Theres nothing more motivating than reading or hearing about other people who have reinvented themselves for semi-retirement. Even if the subject of the story is doing something very different from what you plan on doing, there are always valuable takeaways that apply to your situation.  Fortunately, there are a growing number of books, websites and magazines that are publishing inspirational second-act stories. You can find some of my favorites in these posts: 100+ Great Second-Act Career Resources  and  Do What You Love: 50+ Second-Act Stories. TIP:  When you find a site you like, be sure to sign-up for their free e- newsletters. That way, youll have a ready supply of inspiration automatically delivered to your inbox. 3) Do one small thing every few months to test out a new idea. Chances are you have at  least one or two ideas brewing about things youd like to do in retirement. Rather than just thinking about them, try to do one small thing every few months to test out that idea.  Think about selling your jewelry online? Sign up for a workshop on how to be an e-tailer. Interested in transitioning into an encore career where you do something to advance the greater good? Volunteer to serve on the board of your favorite local charity. Think about teaching? Look into possibilities for teaching one course as an adjunct at your local community college. TIP:  By testing out your ideas slowly over time, youll be in a much better position to hit the ground running  after you retire. 4) Brainstorm ideas with a group of like-minded friends.  By the time you’re over 50, you not only know a lot of people, you know a lot of people who know a lot of people, ideas and resources. Tap into that potent brainstorming force by throwing an idea party.  I first learned of the “idea party” from career counselor Barbara Sher,  who  defines an idea party as “a potluck dinner where you invite people into your home for the express purpose of sitting down with a plate of good food and brainstorming on your particular problem.” It can be an enjoyable way to  brainstorm ideas, connect to resources and think about options you might never consider on your own. TIP: Its best to invite  6-8 people at a time to encourage robust conversation. Try to get a mix of personalities and backgrounds if possible. 5) Take a break after leaving your full-time job. I know you might be surprised to read this but I often urge clients to take time off before  they finalize their next-act plans. When youre engrossed in the day-to-day stresses of your work responsibilities, it’s difficult to focus on whats next. Taking a  few months to do nothing after leaving your job  gives you a chance to clear your mind and break away from your old routine.   TIP:  Its interesting to note that a 2014 Merrill Lynch survey  found 52% of recent retirees said they took time off after retiring to recharge and refresh. So, give yourself permission to do nothing and just enjoy life.  You’ll be amazed at how the time away will allow you to assess your situation with fresh eyes and a new appreciation of the possibilities. Related articles that you might also enjoy: 6 Ways to Make Money From the Sharing Economy in Retirement 9 Ways to Profit From Your Professional Expertise in Retirement 5 Ways to Find Second-Act Career Options 4 Ways to Build a Meaningful Second Act, Even During a Crisis Want to Turn a Hobby into a Semi-Retirement Biz? 7 Key Questions to Consider

How to Ensure a Recruiter Reads Your CV

How to Ensure a Recruiter Reads Your CV When preparing your CV, how much time do you spend thinking about the person who might end up reading it? How much time do you spend considering who you want that person to be and whether they will in fact bother to read it? As a recruiter I currently spend anywhere between 50% and 75% of my time resourcing for the “perfect” candidate. Most of that time is allocated for pre-screening candidates who look suitable on paper since this is the stage that leads to being able to present qualified candidates to the end employer. And so, when sifting through the CVs that I have received, I need to be as efficient as possible so as to maximise the time spent on that critical next stage. What this means in practice is that I reject (in other words delete) any CV that does not demonstrate what I feel is the minimum standard required for that candidate to be considered a serious jobseeker who is worthy of more than a cursory skim-read. As an independent local recruiter whose success relies completely on the trust that I have built up with my clients I cannot afford to take risks with the candidates I present. They become a reflection of my business. That is not to say that I do not consider candidates who may not have all of the skills and experience that I am looking for â€" on the contrary, having strong relationships with my clients allows me to convince them to sometimes overlook one or more of those prerequisites on the basis that the candidate makes up for it via their work ethic, approach, attitude, character, etc. But if you can’t even spell your last job title correctly, do you really expect me to become your ambassador and risk my professional reputation for you?! Not all about the CV Furthermore, it doesn’t just come down to a minimum standard of CV. Things like your geographic location and salary expectation need to be in the general ballpark of those specified on the job you are applying for. If you are taking the scattergun approach to your job search â€" emailing your CV to any and all jobs that you see posted that day â€" you risk alienating any recruiter that receives your application. And persistent offending means a high chance that, no matter how relevant your skills might be to another role that they are recruiting for, you have already been “deleted”. Minimum standard And so to my minimum standard for a CV that will at least be read. The following list is not exhaustive, and it is certainly only one person’s opinion, but it might be helpful the next time you are thinking about putting your resume together: Spelling:  correct spelling shows that a bare minimum of attention to detail has been paid. Use a spellchecker if necessary â€" that alone shows that you care about what you’re doing. Language:  make sure that your language is clear and concise, well-constructed and grammatically correct. Even where much of your CV will be written in bullet-point format you still need to demonstrate a basic awareness of sentence structure and ultimately make sure you are communicating your message in the best way possible. Contact Details:  I know it will probably sound unbelievable but I have seen so many CVs without any way of contacting the candidate. As well as this being, well, rather counter-productive given the purpose of one’s CV, it also shows further lack of attention to detail. Formatting:  use simple and clear formatting that means when a recruiter removes your contact details they don’t also have to start redoing your entire CV. When it comes to Font choose something contemporary like Calibri or Arial rather than Times Roman which can appear a little outdated. Finally, if you want to present your CV in pdf form you should also include a copy in Word so that your recruiter can make the aforementioned edits. CV arrangement My preference is as follows: Name Contact Details Profile: a summary of your core skills/experience (focusing on those skills that you particularly want to utilise in your next role) and what kind of role you are looking for/most suited for. Also talk about your “softer” skills to show what you are like as an employee â€" e.g. team player, energetic, focused, entrepreneurial â€" again focusing on those attributes that you want your next employer to notice and, more importantly, need! Employment History:  current/most recent first and including month and year for each job. Education Other Skills/Qualifications: if having other skills â€" e.g. languages, IT â€" is relevant to your job search include them here. Interests: only include things that you genuinely enjoy doing outside of work and, even better, things that enhance your overall desirability as a candidate â€" e.g. marathon runner (shows stamina and commitment), charity fundraiser/volunteer. Avoid anything that is too personal. Conclusion In conclusion it comes down to this: if you put very little thought into how you present yourself on paper and how relevant your application is to the job you have applied for, why should I as a busy recruiter put any time or consideration into helping you find ANY job, let alone the one you have applied for? Author: Liz Southwick is the Owner and Director of an independent recruitment agency and has been working in the recruitment arena for the last 12 years.  Her passion for people means that she cares about the result, not just the bottom line. She is passionate about getting recruitment right!

How To Write A White Paper That Doesnt Suck - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How To Write A White Paper That Doesnt Suck - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Your White Papers are a marketing asset that is meant to build trust and generate leads. Your web visitors provide you with their contact details and in return they receive valuable information. Someone is offering you a relationship of trust, they are providing to you information about themselves and in return have an expectation: a quality White Paper that informs. If you fail to deliver, you are breaking the initial bonds of trust, which may not be reparable damage to the potential relationship. In order to write a great White Paper you need to have three pieces of knowledge/skill: Product Knowledge Industry Knowledge Writing Skills Product knowledge Youve got to know your product, at least enough to understand its use cases in various industries. Youve got to be able to tie your product back to your White Paper topic and do it subtly near the end of the white paper and (sometimes) in your opening paragraph. Industry knowledge In order to understand how your product is different from others on the market you need to have industry and competitive knowledge. There is only one thing worse to me from a marketing standpoint (the worst to come) than a White Paper where I could replace the vendors name with any other vendors name and still have a perfectly relevant White Paper. Writing skills There is nothing worse than a White Paper that was written by someone who lacks basic writing skills. If you cant write, go take a class, every community college has basic writing courses that can help you get your skills up to par. Your white paper Make sure your White Paper doesnt suck and it can be a treasure trove of new leads for your business. If it isnt up to snuff, itll break the bonds of trust before theyre even formed with your prospects. Author: Nick Inglis is the Founder/CEO of LeftGen Information Management Group (InformedIM, SolveIM, ClearIM AgentIM), an expert on enterprise software, and is the author of the AIIM SharePoint Governance Toolkit. Nick has worked with companies as diverse as Ernst Young, Shell and Canon. Nick is a SharePointM, ECMs, E20m, IMCP. Nick is a keynote speaker on the topics of SharePoint, Information Management and Collaborative Technologies.

Do Recruiters Need to Be on Twitter

Do Recruiters Need to Be on Twitter We know how important social recruiting is in this  current digital climate. You need great people in your organisation, so why wouldnt you  tap up the ginormous  talent pool flooding public social media platforms? Even the likes of Instagram and Slack are being coined as candidate sourcing tools, alongside market leaders LinkedIn and Facebook. But what about Twitter? Twitter. Its the social network that offers real-time updates and requires brevity,  but no longer appears to be growing, at least not at the same speed of its rivals. Whats been happening in the Twitter HQ and should you be investing time and resources into making it part of  your  recruitment marketing and sourcing strategies? Ive had a chat with  James Tozer of The Economist  to get his take. Have a listen to the interview on iTunes, SoundCloud or keep reading for a summary. Firstly, tell us about The Economist and what you do there please? Sure thing. So The Economist, obviously most famous for its print newspaper,  has  been producing one for about 170 years now.  In recent years, in the last 20 years, the paper has been supplemented by online coverage which has been much more broad and covers a whole range of topics from culture, sports, religion, lifestyle, loads of different things. I was employed as a digital analyst and a data analyst to look at how our content is being read online, and on apps and by social media. And its been really interesting because since Ive been here, theres been a very noticeable change and an acceleration in the amount of resources and attention the papers been looking at its online presence.  Im part of an ever expanding data team that looks at how our content is performing. Whats Twitter all about and why do people use it? Twitter was founded in 2006,  a couple years after Facebook, but in that era, and in some ways, Twitters initial proposition was close to Facebook in that it was a way of people to connect with one another and share information about their lives. But, in some ways its very different from Facebook. It has a very different proposition in the sense that Facebook very quickly became like a locker of things that exist in your life, it was a  personal record of all your photos, of your holidays, of your life experiences and a way of sharing those things with your friends. Twitter became more of a soap box, here you would share your opinions, and sort of narrate what you were thinking about. Big issues at any given time and obviously there was a degree of overlap. People share photos and talk about their daily lives on Twitter and they also use Facebook statuses to talk about how theyre feeling about, about big issues at any given time, but theres very much the sense I think early on that Twitter became more of a platform whereas Facebook became a social network. And Twitter accordingly got this reputation and image as being a bit wonkish, as being sort of the people who are particularly interested in sort of, you know, policy or  technology. What challenges is Twitter faced with at the moment? When we talk about evolution  its really interesting if you look at, you know, again if you compare with Facebook because its the obvious comparison. When you look at their early uptake of monthly active users and they both for the first five or six years of their existence had a very straight upwards line in terms of every quarter, theyre gaining more and more users. And then what seems to happen to Twitter, well, it was very clear, what happens to Twitter at the start of 2015 it just levels off. Twitters seems to have reached this natural ceiling of 300 million monthly users, and it cant seem to get beyond that. Its sort of found its maximum audience. Whereas Facebook has continued to grow and it looks like its going  get to two billion at some point. And I think one of the reasons why Twitter reached this critical mass, but never managed to get beyond it is as you say, you know, one of the problems is trolls. Another problem is generally speaking I think the user experience on Twitter was not as friendly or as accessible to people as the one on Facebook was because, you have these problems with trolls. You have these problems with loads of junk. Accounts that were clearly bots or spam. And also it was because Twitter had no algorithm or no way of rating content. If you were just a standard person who wasnt famous or wasnt involved in a news organization or whatever, and you were just on there to share your opinions, it was like shouting into a thunderstorm because there was just so much content for it being put out by publishers and celebrities, and you know, youd get drowned out as a personal user on Twitter which is why I think , lots of people would try it for the first time. You know, send a couple of tweets, realize that no one was paying any attention to them and hit the road and never used it again. Whereas on Facebook, the opposite happened because it was entirely based around personal interactions. As soon as you started posted things on there, your friends would engage with you, and so there was a real reason to keep coming. So, I think that was Twitters real problem and it continues to be its biggest problem; just from a usage point of view its not easily accessible. And you really have to work to get into it and to feel like youre getting value out of it. Whereas on Facebook immediately youll link with friends and everything you do is seen by your friends. And I think if that was the core problem with Twitter, is that it wasnt good at holding on to people that then sparked a whole load of bigger problems, corporate problems. The fact that they cant grow anymore, that theyre really startling to grow has obviously led to massive turmoil. At the corporate level, Jack Dorsey has come back as the CEO in order to try to drive the company forward but that hasnt been enormously or obviously successful yet. They had a very high turnover in terms of management stuff. Last year there were a lot of very senior people leaving. The share price has stagnated. So I mean really, its a case of that core usage problem spiraling down into a massive existential problem for Twitter about, whats going happen to it now? It cant get any bigger. Does that mean its going to  shrink or go away or whats going to  happen to it? And I think not many people have a very clear answer to that. I dont think there is a clear answer yet. So yeah, so I think thats the main problem and things have sort of spiraled off from it. When we talk about threats to Twitter from other platforms, I still think theres not been a platform thats been developed yet that can rival Twitter in terms of its qualities as a soap box, or a platform for expressing opinions because obviously there are things like, in terms of sort of throw away comments that you share with your friends. Snapchat has really cornered that so that Twitter is no longer the place you go to share an update in 20 words or whatever. Snapchat is now there for that. Instagram has obviously taken over this corner of the web for sharing quick photos along with Snapchat. Messenger is there. Facebook Messenger is there for small personal interactions but I dont think theres any platform yet that has been able to rival Twitter for laying out your opinions and commenting about big events that are going on. So even though it has this user experience problem, I still think of broader image of whats going to happen to it over the next couple of years, its safe from the threat of being replaced by something completely. What can Twitter  do to turn its  fortune around? I think usability and UX are really important because as Ive said, it works as a soap box. Its a good way for influential people, like Donald Trump is a classic example of someone whos used Twitter very effectively of getting up and saying what they want to say. But the problem is for ordinary people what you say gets lost and so what you need is to have a better system, like what you say gets seen and engaged with by other people in your circle. You know, friends and other ordinary people because otherwise theres no point of you putting it out there. And I think one of the things that Twitter has started to do which suggests that it might be able to turn its problems around and seems like a very sensible innovation is an algorithm on the feed which is obviously, one of the very basic tenets of Twitter was that there was no algorithm. And it was just a live feed and it just updated as it went. And Facebook was the algorithm platform so if you wanted curated stuff, you went to Facebook. And if you just wanted a live scroll of what was going on, you went to Twitter. But because Twitter has put an algorithm on, it means that when you log back in what pops up at the top of your feed is a sort of while youre away feature, which tends to include people that you are friends with, rather than a deluge of updates from a media company that youve followed. And so that means that you have a better idea of what your peers and colleagues are talking about and you can then engage with that. One of the things youll see now in your feed is tweets that other people close to you have liked and that you might be interested in. So theres a lot more curation going on which is I think is giving people a much better user experience and means that if youre new to the platform and you show up for the first time, you no longer get this feel ing of sort of being a lone voice in the desert. There are people listening to you and you feel more engaged with the platform. And I think there are loads of people who have used Twitter before for the first time, come on to it, had an awful user experience, left and they might never be recovered. But for new people coming to Twitter for the first time, I get the sense that its going  be a more accessible experience for them and theyre not going  be as turned off by it. And I think working around that and working around having a highly curated, enjoyable, relatable experience on Twitter will be the way that they can serve and possibly start to grow their user base again. Should marketers start to dial down their investment into Twitter before it turns into the next Google+ like ghost town? Sure, I think the problem with Google+ is that I mean it was a ghost town from the beginning. Everyone signed in, but no one did anything with it. Whereas Twitter at least, people have always done stuff on Twitter. Theres always been a critical mass of stuff happening. So, I dont think Twitter is going to  disappear entirely. One of the really interesting things that weve seen from a data perspective is that, at The Economist our following on Twitter is growing all of the time, but actually, the number of people seeing any individual tweet is shrinking. So theres two possible reasons for that. The first is that no one is logging in anymore and so your tweets just arent being seen by anyone. But the second, is that lots of people are logging in but because Twitter has introduced algorithmic element only certain users are seeing your tweets, or the personal tweets of people they know being prioritized at the top of their feed and so they only occasionally get down to the tweets being pushed up by larger accounts, by publishers or by brands, those things being pushed down the feed. And if that is the case, then what it suggests to me is that any given post that you put on Twitter is going to  get less attention than before, which means that, you need to adjust your expectations accordingly. If youre putting out say a couple hundred posts a week and you used to gain, X number of impressions and Y number of referrals to your website. You should probably expect those numbers to go down because your tweets are getting seen by fewer people. And, you need to manage that accordingly . You need to make sure that if youre paying money behind a branded campaign you know youre going to  expect slightly smaller returns because your tweets being seen by fewer people. But on the other hand, while thats true in the short-term, the brands posting on Twitter might see less return on any given posts they put out. In the long-term if this curation element means that more people are joining Twitter and retaining their accounts, then its going be good for the brands and publishers right, because there will  be a bigger audience there and even if any given tweets are being seen by fewer people, having a bigger audience means that you can potentially reach more people. In short, I think marketers should be prepared for a little bit of short-term pain perhaps in terms of the potential reach theyre getting from their campaigns, but if Twitter can use these changes to increase the following, I think in the long-term its possible that Twitter will start to pick up again. Its current trajectory doesnt suggest that its gonna turn into a sort of empty platform like Google+ or MySpace. Follow James on Twitter @JCDTozer.

New Year. Time to Revitalize Your Personal Brand - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

New Year. Time to Revitalize Your Personal Brand Many people like to make resolutions for the New Year. Some decide to change behaviors to improve their physical health. Why not spend some time resolving to improve your career health? You may be planning to dive into a job search in earnest in the New Year. Or maybe youre already in the thick of it. But even if job search is not on the horizon, you never know when your job may be pulled out from under you. You need to always be at-the-ready, knowing your brand and unique value to the kinds of employers you want to work for. No job is permanent these days. Unfortunately, a pink slip can come along at any time, and there you are, in a job search, scrambling to pull it all together. Theres no time like the present to get cracking on preparing yourself, just in case. If you havent worked on defining your personal brand for job search, get to work. If youve already done the targeting, company research, and personal branding work, maybe its time to refine your brand or re-brand, to keep it up to date with the value you offer the employers youre targeting now. These questions will help you determine if you need to adjust your branding: What’s my brand reputation about these days? Have I become the go to person for new areas of expertise? What is my promise of value in the marketplace today? What ROI do I offer my target employers? What differentiates the value I offer from my current job-seeking competitors? For a wealth of advice on how and when to refresh your personal brand, check out my post from two years ago, Brand New Year. New Personal Brand? Related posts: Going To Create Your Personal Brand? Nope, You Already Have One How Strong is Your Executive Brand Online for Job Search? Personal Branding Really Matters in Executive Hiring Photo by SuperDewa 00 0

New Year. Time to Revitalize Your Personal Brand - Executive Career Brandâ„¢

New Year. Time to Revitalize Your Personal Brand Many people like to make resolutions for the New Year. Some decide to change behaviors to improve their physical health. Why not spend some time resolving to improve your career health? You may be planning to dive into a job search in earnest in the New Year. Or maybe youre already in the thick of it. But even if job search is not on the horizon, you never know when your job may be pulled out from under you. You need to always be at-the-ready, knowing your brand and unique value to the kinds of employers you want to work for. No job is permanent these days. Unfortunately, a pink slip can come along at any time, and there you are, in a job search, scrambling to pull it all together. Theres no time like the present to get cracking on preparing yourself, just in case. If you havent worked on defining your personal brand for job search, get to work. If youve already done the targeting, company research, and personal branding work, maybe its time to refine your brand or re-brand, to keep it up to date with the value you offer the employers youre targeting now. These questions will help you determine if you need to adjust your branding: What’s my brand reputation about these days? Have I become the go to person for new areas of expertise? What is my promise of value in the marketplace today? What ROI do I offer my target employers? What differentiates the value I offer from my current job-seeking competitors? For a wealth of advice on how and when to refresh your personal brand, check out my post from two years ago, Brand New Year. New Personal Brand? Related posts: Going To Create Your Personal Brand? Nope, You Already Have One How Strong is Your Executive Brand Online for Job Search? Personal Branding Really Matters in Executive Hiring Photo by SuperDewa 00 0

10 Questions You Can Expect in an Interview - CareerAlley

10 Questions You Can Expect in an Interview - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. There can be vague and confusing questions asked during aninterview that throw you off when you are trying to be at your best during and interview for key positions, such as management consulting, strategy consulting or investment banking jobs. These questions make you realize how much easier it was to answer those tough-sounding technical questions you were asked during your first few job interviews. At least you knew whether you were right or wrong and after the interview youd know how well you fared. With situational interviews, most candidates have a big question mark about their performance and how it would be perceived by their interviewers. What are situational interview questions? These are questions designed to make you think, analyze a given situation and arrive upon the best-possible decision. Thus it is meant to probe into your behavioral / thought process. These questions allow the interviewer to find out certain aspects of your personality, decision-making and working style in general. The questions could be in the area of inter-personal skills, analytical ability, capacity to work under pressure, multi-tasking skills or cover many other aspects. Why do companies ask situational interview questions? Your resume contains a listing of all the important projects handled, various roles played by you, your milestones that youd like your future employer to know. Its good if you can pick up tips on how to write a good resume as you may also be asked questions related to your resume. Now, at this stage, your recruiter is not just interested in knowing your achievements but also wants to find out how well you can work towards overcoming challenges and meeting your targets. They can also extrapolate these inputs to get a feel for how you would perform when you are faced with challenges youve never come across before. Sample situational interview questions Here are some examples of situational interview questions. Have you faced a situation wherein you had a conflict with a difficult colleague? How did you handle the situation? Have you ever been self-motivated to accomplish your goals? How do you take criticism? Think of a situation when you were criticized. What was your reaction? Describe a situation where you were unable to deliver. How did you manage and what did you learn? Have you faced a situation where your decision or opinion was different from the majority as you were not convinced about it? What did you do in that situation? Give us an example of a situation where you had to take a difficult decision based on very little data. Do you think you had a work-life balance in your previous job? If yes, how did you achieve it? Have you been faced with having to think beyond the conventional approach while solving a problem or taking decisions? Have you ever handled multiple projects or tasks, each of them equally important, having stringent deadlines? Can you think of a time when you went beyond your area of technical expertise and proved your skills on the non-technical side? How to answer situational interview questions? For each question that you encounter, dont feel tempted to get started with an immediate response. Instead take some time to ask yourself these additional questions: What is the interviewer really trying to get out of this question? What kind of skills would I need to mention to assure the recruiter that I have what it takes to be a perfect fit in the new role? How can I answer this question with real-life events, rather than sounding vague or diplomatic? Once youre done with your thinking, answer systematically so that the interviewer gets convinced that in addition to the other skills, you also have clarity of thought and good communication skills. Career Tip of the Day:10 Great Interview Tips Suggested Reading:The Simple Steps to A Better Job Interview All You Need To Know To Get The Job! (Landing Your Dream Job Series) We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey Google+ what where job title, keywords or company city, state or zip jobs by What's next? Ready to take action? Choose the right tools to help you build your career. Looking for related topics? Find out how to nail the interview and get hired. Subscribe and make meaningful progress on your career. It’s about time you focused on your career. Get Educated Contact Us Advertise Copyright 2020 CareerAlley. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy + Disclosure home popular resources subscribe search

Format For Writing a Resume/CV for Hire - What Format Should You Use?

Format For Writing a Resume/CV for Hire - What Format Should You Use?It's hard to find a decent format for writing a resume/cv. Most companies will be using Microsoft Word or Adobe Reader format. This is okay for a resume, but what about an employer who asks for a CV?A CV is basically a document that holds all of the details and instructions for an employee to follow when it comes to applying for a job. In order to apply, the applicant must provide some basic information. These things could include your name, contact information, why you want to be hired, etc.A good format for writing a resume or CV for hire that can be found on the internet is an Adobe Reader format. This is because it makes the process go smoother for both parties, so this is a format you should definitely consider when designing your resume.If you're going to be submitting your resume/CV to a company, you'll need to know what the company will be looking for in order to get a hold of you. This is why it's best to w rite it in Microsoft Word format. This way you can add other files to it.To add a file to the document, you'll need to place it in the File menu, then click Save As, then select the type of file you'd like to include. If you have some extra files in your computer, make sure you save them in the same location as your Word document.Employers will likely be using the Microsoft Word format when they are formatting the resume. However, employers aren't always that familiar with Adobe Reader, which is why using Adobe Reader is a good format for writing a resume/cv.When the file is saved, the document will look exactly the same as if you had just done it yourself. Plus, it will make your resume look professional.The best format for writing a resume or CV for hire that you can find online is a PDF document. This way it will have the best formatting possible, as well as making it easier for employers to read.