Your resume: certifications near the top

A resume has one job: to make someone decide, in seconds, that you are worth reading properly.

What it needs

• Name and contact. A phone number with WhatsApp and a professional email address.
• Location. Town or region. Commuting between north and south Trinidad is a real consideration.
• Certifications. Put these where they will be seen.
• Experience. Employer, role, dates and what you actually did.
• Education. CSEC, CAPE, technical qualifications, degrees.

Why certifications go near the top

In an economy anchored on energy and heavy industry, safety tickets and technical certifications are frequently threshold requirements. A recruiter scanning for a specific ticket needs to find it fast.

List them with expiry dates where relevant — an expired certification is worse than none, because it suggests it was not maintained.

What to leave out

Full identification numbers, marital status, number of children, date of birth. None of it helps.

Different markets read differently

Energy and industry: certifications, safety record, specific equipment and systems you have worked with.

Corporate Port of Spain: formal layout, often automated screening. Simple format, and use the vacancy's own wording.

BPO: communication skills, customer-facing experience, and stated shift availability.

Describe the work, not the title

"Maintenance Technician" says little. "Carried out preventive maintenance on rotating equipment at a Point Lisas ammonia plant, worked to permit-to-work systems and logged faults in SAP" says a great deal more.

Use numbers where you have them.

One page is usually enough

Unless you have more than ten years of history, one well-used page beats three half-filled ones.

Keep it current

A complete profile means employers find you in their searches, even when you are not actively looking. And certifications change — keep those updated first.