Application Guidelines English version

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Career Services, room T5-36 PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam Phone: +31-(0)10-408 20 10 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.rsm.nl/students/careerservices

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HOW TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU WANT?................................................................................................. 3 PURPOSE OF A CV.............................................................................................................................................. 3 The preparation .............................................................................................................................................. 4 The parts ............................................................................................................................................................. 4 The lay-out of your CV ................................................................................................................................ 7 THE APPLICATION LETTER ........................................................................................................................... 8 CHECKLIST 1........................................................................................................................................................10 CHECKLIST 2........................................................................................................................................................10 FREQUENTLY ASKED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS................................................................................11 LIST OF SYNONYMS.........................................................................................................................................14 ACTION WORD LIST ........................................................................................................................................15 Example Curriculum Vitae ...........................................................................................................................17 Example Application Letter.........................................................................................................................19

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HOW TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU WANT? Before you start writing a CV and motivation letter, we advise you to spend some time on self-assessment and career investigation. A successful job- or internship search depends on your ability to formulate preferences and to identify your skills, talents, potential and motivation. Below, a few tricks to get more insight and help you make your choice: o

Write down all your ideas! Nothing more fugitive than a brilliant idea...

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Summarise your favourite subjects and/or study courses, projects or books.

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Look for interesting articles in newspapers and magazines: Find information on financial and economic pages, read magazines on (international) management and look on the Internet.

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Visit libraries and other places (Career Services) where information on companies can be found. Write or call companies for information and annual reports.

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Collect job ads that appeal to you during a few weeks, without looking at the requirements like work experience, education etc.. By sorting them later on, you will get quite a good picture of your preferences and interests. Ask a friend or relative to discuss this with you.

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Attend career fora, company presentations and any other places where you can get directly in contact with companies and network. Register for the Erasmus Recruitment Days (www.erasmusrecruitmentdays.nl). Build up a network that you can contact the moment you start to ‘search’.

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Talk to people (friends, alumni or relatives) who have jobs in the company of your choice. Find out about: the job-content; what are they doing all day; what are the responsibilities; what is the career perspective etc. etc.

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Prepare your profile on a digital business environment and start building up your network. Examples are www.linkedin.com or www.xing.com or www.plaxo.com.

PURPOSE OF A CV A CV is very important in your job- or internship-search. It is your first “marketing tool”. o

With your CV you give a recruiter the FIRST IMPRESSION. Remember; You can only make it once! Go for decent quality A4 paper, a modern typeface, attractive layout. Plenty of white space makes people want to read it. Densely-packed, unparagraphed text does the opposite.

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With a good CV you can distinguish yourself from fellow applicants.

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Recruiters (and companies who provide internships) use CV’s to make a selection and they use it as a basic document for their interview questions.

Once you have established your career objective, you are ready to write your CV. For best results, we suggest that you use the following process:

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The preparation o

Before you start writing your CV, you would do well to make a list of your courses, projects, work experience, your interests and skills. Ask people who know you well whether they have any suggestions.

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Try to establish what the requirements are for your future work area(s) / internship. You can use the above mentioned job ads to find out what these critical core skills for your career focus are.

For example: if you are interested in management consulting, you should realise that analytical capacity, intelligence, maturity, corporate experience and communicative skills are decisive factors for successful job performance. o

Let your CV show that you meet the set requirements. In the absence of work experience, you should try to mention activities with similar experiences; such as summer- or side jobs, projects or managerial activities – possibly within the university.

For example: - Analytical capacity: name complex problems that you solved during your study. - Work experience (consultant): mention a lot of projects / part-time jobs in which you, independently or in a team, fulfilled the role of ‘consultant’. - Intelligence: study results, but also interests such as (playing higher league) chess or bridge. o

If you have little or no full-time work experience, your education, extra-curricular and personal achievements are particularly important. Part-time and summer jobs are significant ways to demonstrate acquired knowledge and skills. Use all these experiences to differentiate yourself from other candidates. Use each of these areas to create an image of a talented achiever who stands out (even on paper) from other candidates. If your CV fails in this effort, you will not be invited for interviews and you may never get the chance to “sell yourself” in person.

The parts Your CV should summarize your (pre-) university education, work experience, personal achievements and skills. Only mention the RELEVANT facts, and do this in an ACHRONOLOGICAL order (from recent to past) and in an ORDERLY manner. Use the space sensibly. Allocate space in strict accordance with the importance of the information. Your degree, for example, should receive more coverage than your A-levels (VWO-courses). Don’t bury the best parts of your CV by hiding them at the bottom of the page or in the middle of a lengthy paragraph. Decide what’s important and give it some prominence.

Personal details Name: Save the interviewer the embarrassment of picking the wrong name out of Christian names. Confine the Christian names to a combination of your initials and the name by which you are generally known. Present address: study-address or exchange-address

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Permanent address: Because the CV may be used after a longer period of time make sure that this address is valid for a longer period; use for instant the address of your parents. You don’t want to miss opportunities while companies are not able to reach you! Email: Make sure you have a business-like e-mail address; so no ‘studmuffin@... or daisydee@... . If you mention your email address, make sure you check it regularly.

The education section This section should include a list of universities and colleges you have attended, degrees earned, concentrations/specialisations/majors and academic honors and high schools. 1. 2.

3. 4. 5.

6.

List the university, followed by town and country (if at all in different countries) Do not abbreviate your degrees earned, but e.g.: o Master of Science in… o Bachelor of Arts in … o Master in Law Be specific about which field(s) of studies you focus(ed) on. Describe honors, scholarships or awards. If applicable, mention your exchange period. o University of Michigan, School of Business Administration, Ann Arbor, Michigan USA – exchange student In the Netherlands it is not necessary to mention grades or results. If the CV is to be used internationally you must realize that each country uses a different system. Needless to say that you never mention negative results like exam failures etc.

Projects You may include special (study-related) projects. This is a way to express your career focus and to show you have some “work-experience” in that field, e.g. in writing a business plan, the Bachelor thesis, possible (international) internships/company projects etc.

The work experience section Prioritize your experiences. Decide which ones you will include on your CV (and consequently may be asked to discuss in an interview). If you summarize too many experiences on your CV, you run the risk that the most critical ones will be overlooked. The experience section of your CV should summarize significant full-time and part-time work. You may include your summer jobs. Your description of work experience should be achievement-oriented. The following recommendations can help you with this section: 1. Provide relevant details. Include job title, company name and location, dates of employment, followed by a statement of responsibilities and accomplishments using action verbs. 2. Emphasize achievements versus writing mini job-descriptions. Prospective employers want to know what you have done! Avoid technical jargon, stress accomplishments. Think of: o An activity that yu accomplished as an individual or team member, that entailed problem-solving or progress. o The positive result of your efforts – cost reduction, increase of profit or subscription numbers, etc. 3. Support your career goal. Your work experience section should directly relate to your career goal by highlighting relevant skills. e.g. If you are pursuing a position in productmanagement, then your experience should demonstrate prior leadership, analytical skills and creativity. Emphasizing skills requires that you understand the critical success factors in the field you have chosen.

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4. Use active rather than passive language. “Created direct-mail marketing campaign..” versus “responsible for all direct mail marketing….”

Extra-curricular activities Here you can include all activities, apart from your educational and work experience which you are still doing or have done, which helps presenting as clear a picture of you as possible. If you lack significant work experience, you may be able to present organisational achievements which demonstrate skills relevant to your career objective. Think of (managerial) activities you have done for study associations, student associations, sporting clubs etc. Also the organising of study trips is something you can mention here. Mention briefly any publications you have written if they are not relevant for the job you are aiming at. If the publications are relevant to your career objective, be more specific.

Other sections Languages Example: Dutch native, English excellent, French fair, German fair, Spanish basic IT Example: Basic, Fortran, Pascal, MS Office Business courses Only mention those company events for which you have to be selected / that are relevant and for which the content is of significant level / participation in other events such as debating clubs etc. Example: - Attended a number of courses of communication skill workshops - Attended courses for the development of skills in personal selling and account management Interests Besides mentioning your sports activities, you could show that you have specific branch or function related interests, such as keeping up with stock exchange news, or reading the Marketing Journal. Extra Some of your achievements may have been awarded with an honour or prize. Be sure to mention that in the correct section. Here you can include all facts you think would help a recruiter to complete the picture of you. Example: in case you want to work in a country, and you have a different nationality, but you are married to or living with a native, or you have a work permit, say so! If applicable, mention your “military service” in this section and give some details about it. If you do/did not have to go into military service, leave it out.

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References are not usually listed. You can use the phrase “references available upon request”. Do not mention grades or GMAT scores unless asked for.

The lay-out of your CV o

Pay a lot of attention to the lay-out of your CV. You can easily manipulate the reader. Try several lay-outs to find out how you can present yourself in the best way. Look at the examples to see what a difference it can make! And make use of the options ‘Bold’, ‘Underlined’ and ‘Italic’ to emphasize parts.

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In general it is better to start with the most recent experience. Try which way fits the best. Experiment with your page lay-out. Give more important parts more ‘space’ and the best place. And emphasize those in ‘bold’. The titles of the different sections in your CV, such as “Work experience”, “Education” etc do NOT have to be emphasized, so should not be bigger or in capital or in bold.

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Type your CV, use a laserprinter and good paper quality. A photo may be relevant but don’t go for gimmicks, elaborate designs or fancy typefaces. If you send it by e-mail, you can also make it a pdf so you are sure that everything stays in place, even when a recruiter prints it out.

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Beware of spelling mistakes, errors and faults!

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Be sure you use the same font and font size throughout. You can fe type your name in a larger font.

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An American CV is only one page, the European CV can be two pages. In an American CV your achievements are extremely important. Try and research the ‘ways of the country’ but it is okay to see by the lay-out of your CV and letter that you are from another part of the world.

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Always send a CV with a letter of application.

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You can always register for a CV session with Career Services for help and personal advice.

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THE APPLICATION LETTER When you are applying for an internship, thesis assignment or job, you will have to motivate that application and ‘sell’ yourself. Remember: Aesthetics; type on good paper, one page only. The letter of application is not a summary of the content of the CV. You can refer to your CV to show the reader you have some of the required qualifications. Use simple, straightforward language, short paragraphs and sentences. Use the letter to highlight the key points of the CV but don’t use the same words or phrases. Use jargon sparingly and accurately. Avoid the hard sell and use personal style – especially with smaller companies. Start your letter with your own name and address, then place and date, then addressee. Even if you send the letter by e-mail, the lay-out should be that of a ‘real’ letter. A good application/motivation letter consists of the following parts (paragraphs): Salutation Send the letter to the person who makes the hiring decision; personalise the letter. This is not the case, if you send the letter through Career Services; use a general salutation: Dear Madam, Sir,. If you send an (open) application and there is no name in the advertisement, you can call the company and ask them who the right addressee is. Preferably not someone from HR, but the manager of the department where you would like to do your internship/work. Example: Dear Ms. Lewis; Dear Mr. de Vries, Introduction Introduce yourself briefly, possibly with study and master programme and state the purpose of the letter. Example: I am a student in Business Administration, Marketing Management and I am looking for an organisation to write my thesis. Or: With this letter, I would like to state my interest for a thesis assignment within your organisation. I study Business and specialize in Strategic Management. Or: I read with interest your advertisement in the NRC of last Saturday, in which you invite entrepreneurial advisors to apply to your company. Why this company? Motivation for company and proposition internship/thesis assignment/job Explain why you are interested in working for this employer (be concrete) and specify your reasons for desiring this type of work. Look on the Internet, in annual reports and brochures to show you have gained some knowledge on the firm. If you want to do an internship or write your thesis, mention the research topic in the letter or add a separate (research) proposal. Be as specific as possible, so don’t say ‘I’m looking for an internship on the field of strategic management’, as this is too vague and too broad. By coming up with a concrete proposal, you may give the company an idea and create an internship for yourself! Besides, you prove that you are capable of coming up with ideas, and that you are aware of the new developments in this field or this branch. Example:

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The presentation of your company at the Erasmus Recruitment Days attracted my attention. The dynamic character of your organisation, shown by the flat company structure in which each individual gets a lot of responsibility, appeals to me. Also, I was impressed with the enthusiasm of the staff I met. But what made me determined to apply was your absolute commitment to training and development, which, as I have learnt from my degree, are the prerequisites of a growing business. At the presentation I learned that you offer internships to students. For my internship, I would like to conduct research on the differences between British and French consumers’ buying habits. As a British/French firm, this research will be very relevant for you. Why you? In this paragraph you should ‘sell’ yourself. Why do you think you will be suitable for this internship or job? First, think about the knowledge and skills you need for carrying out the assignment, for example: communicative -, team-, analytical skills, intercultural awareness, independence, leadership skills, etc. Then, try to prove that you possess these skills by referring to your CV. So, never write: ‘I am a strong communicator’, but explain why think you are. Example: As you can see from my enclosed CV, I have gained knowledge and experience on market research. During my degree, I have chosen options in both marketing and market research. As well as having relevant knowledge and experience to conduct this research, I believe I possess the personal qualities that you are looking for. I have shown imagination, creativity and entrepreneurship, especially when trying to stimulate bored French business executives and sell canoeing to sceptical students. I am a good communicator and have seized every opportunity to give presentations both inside and outside University. I have the analytical skills you seek, demonstrated by a good Maths A level, relevant undergraduate courses and a demanding and responsible vacation job. Finally, I have shown myself to be motivated by business and want to be part of a successful international organisation. In the enclosed CV you will find an enumeration of my activities. Closing Mention the period you will be available. Preferably, conclude your letter in an ‘active’ way, so mention – only if possible - that you will contact them yourself. In that way, the initiative will remain with you, and you will be able to act yourself rather than wait until the telephone rings! However, this depends on your own preferences. Example: I am available from July for approximately 6 months. I will contact you in two weeks to hear your reply/ I look forward to hearing from you soon. Yours sincerely, …

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CHECKLIST 1 What recruiters look for in a CV (in general): 1. Managerial/leadership behaviour; achievements and potential; management and team leadership experience 2. Are personal values related to corporate values 3. A level of knowledge and skills needed to perform to a standard high enough to indicate future promotion 4. Basic prudence in making earlier career development decisions (as evidenced by making subsequent achievements etc) 5. Level of functions, responsibilities 6. Current commitment to a career direction internally. Significant changes in career focus (f.e. changes of school) should not be glossed over but dealt with convincingly in the CV and/or at the interview-stage for which a persuasive response scenario must be prepared. 7. Easy readability – being able to identify relevant information at a glance.

CHECKLIST 2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Are there any typing or spelling errors (check twice)? Are all statements easily understood? Is writing style consequently used and direct? Are paragraphs and sentences short and to the point? Have redundancies and repetitions been eliminated? Does each position demonstrate easily understood accomplishments? Are all major relevant time periods covered? Has all unnecessary information been eliminated? Does your CV present the best possible picture of you?

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FREQUENTLY ASKED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS You have made it. You have received an invitation to an interview. Below frequently asked questions with an indication of the direction of your answer. With these questions, you can prepare yourself. Realise that credibility is everything and that the partner in the conversation always asks himself: “What’s in it for me?” Question 1 Tell us something about yourself. Be careful not to overreact to this opening question. The 4 main starting points would be: youth, education, career and current workplace(s); think of parttime jobs and student or study associations. Question 2 What do you know about this organisation? You should be able to take up any aspect of the organisation; market position, philosophy, culture, etc. Do not give the impression you know everything. Question 3 Why do you want to work/intern here? A good answer to this question shows that you have done your homework. Look for leads on what you know about the organisation, the new developments you have heard of and the culture. Question 4 What can you offer us that others do not have? Why would we hire you? With this question, you have the opportunity to demonstrate all your strong points. Mention your capacities, achievements, successful projects, results, your ability to prioritize, recognize problems, offer solutions etc. Think of appropriate examples from your own experiences beforehand! Question 5 What do you find appealing about this job/internship and what less so? Mention three or four appealing aspects and one (minor) aspect that is of less interest to you. Question 6 What do you find most important in your job/internship? Concentrate on the profile of the vacancy/internship, but aim at your own realistic capabilities. Question 7 What do you know about the vacancy/internship? Keep your answer short and go with what is in the official profile. If you are not sure, ask counterquestions. Question 8 How long do you think it will take you to settle into the job? Be realistic and say you will hold your own from day one. To really learn the ropes completely will take between 6 months and a year. Question 9 How long do you plan to stay with us? Say you are interested in a long-term employment, as long as you fee challenged and you both feel results are satisfactory.

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Question 10 You are actually over-educated for this job. How do you feel about that? For a credible answer, emphasize one or more personal long-term goals that you think you can achieve in this function. Question 11 Are you able to cope with this task? Good starting points are “result” and “setting of tasks”. Give examples: tasks that you have successfully executed during your work experience. Question 12 What trends do you feel are important for an organisation such as this? To show you have done your homework well, talk about two or three (economic, technical or other) trends. Question 13 How do you feel when an uncertain situation arises? Everyone feels ill at ease in uncertain situations and you should feel free to admit that. You are also putting yourself in such a situation, just by applying for jobs/internships? Question 14 What are your strengths in personality and character? You can answer this on the basis of a strengths/weaknesses analysis that you can prepare beforehand. Do not exaggerate, you can support the answer non-verbally. Question 15 What remuneration/salary do you have in mind? This is one of the hardest parts of the conversation. The answer to the question should be postponed as long as possible. Give a diplomatic answer. Indicate margins (between so and so much). Ask for the salary of comparable jobs within the organisation. Ask friends, read articles, look it up. Question 16 What is your long-term goal? Limit yourself as much as possible, to the goals of the function you are applying for. It is no use to look further ahead than a few years and that is how long you should want to remain in the current function. It is however important that you attach value to personal growth. Question 17 How successful would you say you have been so far? Say you are satisfied with your own development but do not paint an exaggerated positive picture. Question 18 Have you ever failed in study or work? What happened? Answer this honestly. Try and formulate as positively as you can what happened, what you learned from it and how you would solve such an issue now. Other examples of questions to prepare for: o o o o o

What are your long-range and short-range goals and objectives; when and why did you establish these goals; and how are you preparing to achieve them? What specific goals, other than those related to your occupation, have you established for yourself in the next ten years? What do you see yourself doing five years from now? Which is more important to you: the money or the type of work? What do you consider to be your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

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o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

How would you describe yourself? How do you think a friend or professor who knows you well would describe you? What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort? What qualifications do you have that make you think that you will be successful in your career? What do you think it takes to be successful in a company such as ours? In what ways do you think you can make a contribution to our company? What two or three accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction? Why? Describe your most rewarding business school experience? What led you to choose your specialisation in study? What subjects in college or business school did you like best? Why? What subjects did you like least? Why? What changes would you make in the business school? Why? Why did you decide to seek a position with this company? Will you relocate? Does relocation bother you? Are you willing to travel? What major problem have you encountered and how did you deal with it? What have you learned from your mistakes? What have you liked most (least) in your previous work experience? (work experience can mean fulltime, part-time or internship) Tell me about yourself. What were the three (five) most important events (decisions) of your life? What decisions have you most regretted? Why? Are you a leader, an entrepreneur, creative? Why do you say you are? (be prepared to give examples) How are you doing in your present job search? You have five minutes to describe the most relevant and specific items in your background which show that you are uniquely qualified for this job. Prepare several important points you want the interviewer to remember after you have left, to stress them in a short, concise statement.

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LIST OF SYNONYMS carry out discharge execute pursue fulfill perform practice exercise undertake transact assume accomplish achieve attain assist dispatch expediate co-operate maintain promote manage handle deal with represent operate oversee designate engineer execute supervise conduct engage in regulate check direct administer authorize entitle delegate empower qualify invest endow result obtain secure implement execute

take charge develop orginate create derive cause effect generate bring about result in give rise to design devise make build construct synthsize form prepare organize sponsor prompt point out indicate exhibit display reveal demonstrate show credit with

continue keep up remain resume perservere persist adhere to authority command charter domain scope field control jusrisdicton commission province circle in charg of job situation position post status footing appointment capacity occupation calling profession career

assign to

responsible liable accountable answerable account for plan design project proposal scheme outline map model program way method means system policy procedure emphasis stress accentuate feature promote elevated raised ability aptitude capability

adopt use utilize employ apply mobilize exert restore revive specialize in

business undertaking pursuit venture affair concern interest matter negotiations transactions

earn merit

company concern enterprise

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enforce cooperate collaborate contribute to support participate share collaborate coordinate synchrosize combine pool take part in contribute

exceed excel supass better top progress advance

establishment institution corporation firm organization

effective forceful potent valid strong vigorous productive influential dynamic

ACTION WORD LIST accomplished achieved acquired acted adapted administrated advanced advised allocated analyzed applied appointed appraised approved arranged assembled assessed assigned assissted attained attended audited balanced bought broadened budgeted built calculated centralized changed checked clarified collaborated

composed computed communicated conceived concluded condensed conducted constructed consuited contracted contributed controlled converted conveyed coordinated corrected counseled created dealt with

eliminated employed encouraged enforced enlisted ensured equiped established estimated evaluated examined exceeded executed exercised expanded expedited experimented extended extracted

identified illustrated implemented improved increased influenced informed initiatief innovated inspected installed instructed integrated interpreted interviewed introduced invented invested investigated

decentralized decided defined delivered demonstrated designated designed determined developed diagnosed directed discovered destributed documented doubled

faciliated finalized financed forecasted formed formulated founded fulfilled generated governed guaranteed guided

judged

handled

led lectured liquidated listed located made maintained managed marketed mediated merged minimized

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collated combined compared completed negotiated notified observed obtained opened operated organized originated overhauled oversaw outlined participated performed persuaded pinpointed planned prepared prescribed presented prevented processed procured produced programmed promoted proposed proved provided published purchased qualified questioned raised realized received recommended

duplicated earned edited reduced refined reinforced related reorganized reported represented researched resolved restored retrieved reviewed revised scheduled secured selected served settled set up shaped showed simplified sold solved sponsored staffed standardized started streamlined strengthened structured studied summerized supplied supported supervised surveyed systematized

headed helped hired hypothesized tested totaled tracked traded trained transformed translated tripled

modernized modified monitored motivated

undertook unified united updated upgrated used utilized verbalized verified widened withstand won worked wrote

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Example Curriculum Vitae

Name Address Telephone E-mail Date of birth Gender Nationality

Anton B. van den Berg Oudlaan 50 3062 AP Rotterdam, the Netherlands +31 (0)6 12 34 56 78 [email protected] 18 February 1978 (not when writing to USA) Male (not when writing to USA) Dutch

Education 2007 – present

Master of Science in Business Administration Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Specialisation Management of Innovation Courses ao: Theory of Innovation Management, Project Management Stakeholders Management of Innovation, Innovation and Services Master thesis: “Innovation within the commercial services sector” Average grade 8/10

01/2008- 06/2008

MSc Master Exchange Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milan - Italy Courses ao:

2004 – 2007

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University

1998 – 2004

Pre-university secondary education VWO … Final exams in 8 subjects ao: …… Average grade 8/10

Study projects 11/2008 – 04/2009 Master thesis “Innovation within the commercial services sector” (what) Research into the ….. (how) Used techniques to examine…. Carried out a qualitative study into…., demonstrating that…. (result) The result was…. The recommendations were followed and are currently being implemented 06/2007 – 09/2007 Internship Business Development (function/department) Name of firm Research into…. Studied…. Using the techniques…. 02/2003 – 04/2003 Practical Internship for course Stakeholder Management of Innovation - for L’Oreal research into the…. - for Heineken business plan for the… department

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Work experience 07/2008 – 11/2008 Researcher Name of firm, Utrecht (Present the following information, using active sentences: how, type of research, techniques used, number of interviews, results if applicable): Qualitative and quantitative research into innovation within the financial services sector

01/2007 – 10/2007 Student assistant Logistics Department Erasmus University Rotterdam (Describe your principal duties, using active sentences)

Extracurricular activities 2007 – present

Secretary, vice president Name of association/club (number of members, size of board) - responsible for internal and external communications supervising various committees (e.g. Internet committee, yearbook, club magazine) - creating new membership database - chairing meetings

2005 – 2006

Board member, responsible for PR and sponsoring Name of students society or sporting club (Describe principal duties, accomplishments, e.g.:) - realised target of 40,000 EUR in sponsorship money - organising fairs - developing PR material, such as:

04/2005 – 07/2005 Organising committee, (function/role) BSc Study trip to Vietnam (Describe principal duties, accomplishments, e.g.:)

Additional information Workshops/ Seminars

In-house days, business courses, management games

IT

MS Word and Excel, SPSS

Languages

Dutch – native, English – good, French – basic

Interests

Interests, leisure activities, sports

Driving license

B

References

Available upon request

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Example Application Letter

Your name Street Postal code + City

Name of firm Attn. Mr (or Ms) A.B. van den Berg (HR / person mentioned in advertisement) PO Box 12 1234 AB Rotterdam Subject: job vacancy number, or application for job title Rotterdam, 14 December 2009 Dear Ms Van den Berg, Introduction - specify position - state date and source - if applicable: refer to telephone conversation / meeting / workshop / job fair Motivation: Why that company? - for the position - for the firm/the organization Sales pitch: Why you? Display your suitability by means of: - education / courses / subjects / Bachelor or Master thesis / practicals / study projects - work experience / administrative posts / committee work / side jobs / volunteer work - personal qualities / skills Conclusion - if applicable: availability - hint at an invitation for a job interview Yours sincerely or With kind regards,

Signature

Enclosed: Curriculum Vitae (2 pages)

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