I've been searching for help on this on the forums, but haven't really found anything, so I'm hoping someone out there can help me!

I'm starting to write my resume (my work authorisation has come through - wooo! ) but I don't know to address my degree...I have a UK degree and don't really know what to do about my grade. Should I list my grade? or just say I have a BSc in my subject?

Any other tips for a US resume would be great (or website links!)
Many thanks!
Vanessa

Here is a resume template (format) you can use.

(and no, you can just say what degree/diploma you got--your employer won't usually be interested in your actual grades; if otherwise, they will ask for transcripts)

Hi Vanessa,
Congrats on your work authorization I used to work in the UK many years ago for Oxford University Press and I loved my job. I hated to leave it but I had to return to the US. Anyway, I said that to say this, speaking from experience (although it was a while back), there is a difference in what is required in a resume here in the US vs the UK. Some of the differences I have found are format and spelling. For instance the spelling of authorisation is correct in England and in the USA it is spelled authorization, even the way you write the date is different. I remember being pulled aside by my supervisor when I was in England and him saying to me "Pam you have got to watch the way you write your dates." I was writing the date July 6, 1984, 7/6/84 and he took that to mean June 7, 1984. Those are some of the minor things that you have to watch out for.

As for your degree....I can't remember exactly what BSc stands for, I believe it is Bachelor of Science degree. I also know you have A levels and O levels. If in fact you do have a university degree then you would put that down as a Bachelor of Sciene or Bachelor of Arts (also known as a BS or BA degree)in your subject. I wouldn't put your grade down.

A website that will help you create your resume is: www.monster.com
This is great website to help you create your resume. Finally, if you can write a resume that is one page long, great, if you can't, try not to make it over 2 pages max. Also a lot of the organizations will use computers to weed out resumes, and if there are no key words that relate to the position you are applying for that a computer they use for scanning your resume can pick up on, then your resume may not be seen at all and put into the discard file. However, if an organization actually has someone to screen your resume, they like to see a quick summary of your skills at first glance and they do not want to spend time going through pages of information to decide whether they should invite you for an interview.

I know I have said a lot, but I think these suggestions will help you not make mistakes too many people make when writing a resume.

Congrats once again to you and good luck

When I was speaking to a recruiter at an agency the other day they told me to omit all the things that aren't necessary (like date of birth, nationalilty etc). Keep it brief I think is the key! They also didn't like that I had my education at the top (I thought this was more useful as I only graduated last year and don't have a great deal of work experience) - they told me to put it at the end.

Good luck and congrats for the work auth!

If you don't mind me asking... what type of work are you applying for?

Right now I'm applying for education-related jobs and, back in Canada, I was told to put education at the top because in the education field, it's important for recruiters to know what my qualifications are right away. I'd imagined that Canadian and American resume styles wouldn't be too different, but who knows ...

pm a guy on here named erekose as he's pretty smart on this stuff. i believe he went thru the same thing too.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showuser=5558

yeh ive been trying to do the same thing so i can start applying for jobs. Like someone mentioned i have just graduated college, so i want to put my education 1st beause thats most relevant, is that acceptable here? Thats what we were told to do in the uk.

I just graduated last summer too, and I was told to put it at the bottom because (a) I wasn't applying for jobs in Physics (yuk! why would I want to...) and secondly because my recruiter said they like to see work experience first (this has been how it is on quite a few of the examples I found on the web). I think unless you're applying for jobs directly in your field or in education (like was mentioned above) you can put it at the end.

Good luck!

I'd put down the degree type Bachelors of Science (major if there is one, school and year graduated, no grade required. I worked in the employment field for about 5 years and wrote resumes on the side for a couple more after that. If you want to forward me your resume and have me review it, I'd be happy to help out.

I usually put the education section at the very bottom of the page. The reason for this is that employers want to know about your skills and experience. Most jobs have an educational requirement and employers typically scan a resume before rejecting or accepting it and at that point will note if the educational requirement is met. If they don't have an educational requirement, then they are going to be (again looking for your skills and experience). I ALWAYS mention any advanced degrees in the cover letter though, because they are important.