40% of hiring decision is based on personality – Tony Beshara, author of “Unbeatable Resumes”
Resume plays an important role in a candidate’s and working professionals life. You should first focus on Resume Making techniques.
Mastering the art of writing a resume (i.e Resume Making) is the need of the hour. Being well qualified does not guarantee you a good job until and unless you know how to present yourself before the employer. The Resume making program conducted at Attitude School will help you make the perfect resume according to your qualifications so that you stand out in the crowd.
Getting visibility is the need of the hour. A power packed resume helps you in presenting your best self in front of the employer. The program is an eye opener for students and guides them on how to utilize their time for making a great resume.
Resume Making: Important points to keep in mind while writing your resume.
- A good resume will not fetch you a job but will certainly get you the recruiter’s attention
- Make separate resume for all job interviews. Tailor make your resume for a specific position
- A recruiter has to go through thousands of resume, for your resume to stand out and get selected it should be interesting, well written and neatly presented
- A resume is your advertisement about yourself to win an interview
- A resume will grab the interview, but it is your skills which will help you clear the interview
- Write about your qualities and the work which you did. Proofread your resume to avoid grammatical errors (Which, that, who, whom etc) and spelling mistakes
- Use bullet points to write about your experience, educational background. Do not write long paragraphs
- Word size should be 12 so that it is readable. You can use the font Times Roman, Liberation Serif, and Aerial
- Connect your skills to the present vacancy
- Avoid negativity in your resume
- Describe your personal achievements
- You can include voluntary work you did in your resume. It is an experience. If you are yet to receive your degree just mention the title and the estimated date for completion
- Do not stuff your resume with information which is not needed like religion, food and political preferences
- Don’t lie in your resume. Nowadays companies go for reference checks and if you get caught it will tarnish your image as well as credibility in the market
- Get your resume checked by someone else so that you are aware of errors you missed
- The length of your resume should not exceed two pages. The shorter the better. No one has time to read 4-5 pages resume
- Get your resume printed by a good printer. Avoid printers which leave a mark. Laser Printers are favorable
- Keep your resume updated. It is your unique selling proposition
- No scattered information. You should not project yourself as an indecisive person but someone who can take decisions. One year you did MBA and then opted for something else goes negative against you. Things should connect and fall in place
- Improve legibility of your resume by means of paragraphs. It should be readable. Do not stuff your resume with too many words
- No Technical words or jargons in your resume. The person going through may not have an idea of what you want to convey
- Make your own resume. Apply your creativity
- No fancy letters, words or design in your resume. It looks very unprofessional
- Write different resumes for different job openings. Do not send the same resume to all the employers. Write objectives according to the need of the job
- List your educational qualifications in reverse chronological order. Listing the latest first. If you have done any advanced training then mention that.
- Include your hobbies. It shows your qualities as a creative person.
- There should be uniformity and consistency in the use of Italics, boldface, capital letters and underlining in your resume. For example, if one degree is bold face all degrees should be the bold face. It should be visually appealing.
- Your name, address, phone number and email id should be at the top of the first page
- Highlight Strengths and de-emphasize weakness
- Mention a telephone number which gets answered. If you are writing your landline number do not forget to write your STD code.
- Make your resume easy to read by using a margin at the top and at the bottom
- Use white or ivory colored papers. Do not use colored papers
- If you make a photocopy of your resume, make sure the photocopies are clean and clear with no dark shades.
- Avoid unnecessary details such as age, height, marital status, etc.
- Do not include something which is controversial.
- Avoid attaching your snap until specifically asked for.
- Don’t forget to sign your resume. This is the most common mistake by fresh candidates out of college.
Resume Making is essential, but common sense should prevail everywhere.
There are 4 types of resumes (Resume Making)
1) Chronological Resume:
It is the traditional structure of resume. It focuses on the experience section. There is no major section for skills and accomplishments. This structure is good for those who are staying in the same profession and not looking for a career change. It is used by people in law field. The main highlights are objective and summary section.
The disadvantage is it is difficult to highlight what you do best. It is not appropriate for someone looking for a career change. Applicants job history is placed in reverse chronological order with the most recent jobs placed at the top of the list.
The chronological resume is good when your current job experience is relevant to the job you are applying for and you want to stay in a similar career path. Potential employers can see your job history.
When not to use a chronological resume – If you are a fresher looking for a job change then the chronological resume will highlight your lack of experience.
If you are entering the workforce after a break, the resume will highlight it.
A job history full of briefly held jobs will show you in instability.
2) Functional Resume:
It highlights skills and achievements. The biggest disadvantage is you seem jack of all trades. This resume highlights skills and helps the interviewer know how your skills relate to the current job. The functional format can be mixed with the chronological format to create a combination resume.
3) Combined Resume:
It is a mixture of both Chronological and Functional Resume.
It is simply a functional resume with brief employment history added. Skills and accomplishments are listed first and the employment history follows. Your Work experience and talents both are highlighted.
4) Electronic Resume:
It is a resume which can be sent over email or through the internet.
So now you know the basics of Resume Making. Go ahead and make the world acceptable resumes that speaks for yourself.
Further Reading: