Writing a résumé

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Action verbs and clichésVocabulary
7. 7Check your understandingReading comprehension
8. 8A sample résumé: Nina'sReading
9. 9Listen: a recruiter's tipsListening comprehension
10. 10Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
11. 11What does it mean?Grammar exercise
12. 12Nina's LinkedIn profileGrammar exercise
13. 13Present perfect or past simple?Grammar rule
14. 14Choose the right formGrammar exercise
15. 15Yuki's message to a recruiterGrammar exercise
16. 16Say it naturallySpeaking practice
17. 17Résumé coachSpeaking practice
18. 18Let's discussDiscussion
19. 19Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: find the mistakeGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: your LinkedIn profileDiscussion

Words

• achievement/əˈtʃiːvmənt/

  something good that you did through effort or skill

• bullet point/ˈbʊlɪt pɔɪnt/

  a short line in a list, with a small dot (•) in front of it

• keyword/ˈkiːwɜːrd/

  an important word that people use to search for something

• ATS/ˌeɪ tiː ˈes/

  applicant tracking system: software that companies use to collect, sort and search job applications

• tailor/ˈteɪlər/

  to change something so that it fits a particular person, job or purpose (also a noun: a person who makes clothes)

• chronological/ˌkrɑːnəˈlɑːdʒɪkl/

  in the order in which things happened (reverse-chronological: the most recent first)

• duty/ˈduːti/

  a task that is part of your job (duties: all the things your job asks you to do)

• cliché/kliːˈʃeɪ/

  a phrase that people use so often that it no longer means much

• gap/ɡæp/

  a time when you did not work, for example between two jobs (a gap in your résumé)

• stand out/ˌstænd ˈaʊt/

  to be easy to notice, because it is better or different

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about résumés.

1. When did you last update your résumé or CV? What did you change?
2. Have you ever read other people's résumés, for example to hire someone? What did you notice?
3. What is one thing you have done at work that you are proud of?

Grammar rule

Present perfect or past simple?

	Present perfect (have / has + past participle)	Past simple
Use it for	a job or situation that started in the past and is still true now	a job or situation that is finished
Time words	for + how long: for six months, for twelve years · since + the start: since 2015, since May, since I left college	from … to: from 2010 to 2016 · in 2018 · two years ago · for + how long (now finished): for three years
Examples	He has been a pilot for twelve years. We have had this office since 2015.	She taught math from 2010 to 2016. She ran her own bakery for three years.
Questions	How long have you been a pilot?	When did they open the store?

A résumé uses dates (2019–2023, March 2023–present). When you talk or write in full sentences, in an interview, a cover letter or a LinkedIn profile, the dates become tenses: "2022–present" → I have worked here since 2022. "2014–2018" → I worked there from 2014 to 2018.

With work, live and study, the present perfect continuous is also common and means the same here: I've been working here since 2022.

Not I work here since 2022 or I am a manager for two years: for something that is still true, use the present perfect. And not She has left the company last year: with a finished time (last year, in 2019, from … to, ago), use the past simple. Questions with When…? ask about a finished time too, so they take the past simple.