RESUME TIPS

THE ART OF RESUME WRITING

A resume has to be compact in style and organised in presentation; It is not an autobiography. Therefore, it is important to identify relevant details from the heap of information. Academic qualification, professional experience and current job description are of primary importance.

Resume has to be simple and lucid in appearance. Avoid high-sounding and formal language. Do not fill it with ins and outs of work life. Give a chronological pattern in case of a continuous career. Go as per skill-sets, if otherwise.

Here are a few pointers to drafting a resume:

Name and address: Write the first and the last names without indicating marital status. The contact address must have residence telephone, fax and e-mail and not office numbers. Specify if somebody else's facilities are being used.

Work experience: List the assignments beginning with the latest. The challenges faced must reveal your forte. Divide the experience in each organisation in to tenures and list the accomplishments in a way that brings out the managerial expertise picked up by you while on the job.

Education: Give the academic qualifications especially if you are from prestigious institutions and have had an exemplary academic record. Briefly mention scholarships and medals. This is at the junior level. At the senior level, give the details of professional qualifications attained.

Personal information: This is optional. Do not go over board on hobbies. This gives an impression that personal interests supersede the professional ones.

Additional information: Details that might be relevant to employment objectives but do not fit in any category are to be given in this.

Focus on the following:

• Depth and range of work experience
• Variety of projects undertaken
• Proven skills
• Type of companies worked for
• Current job profile

Strictly avoid:

• Reasons for leaving the current job -you can talk about it in the interview only when asked.
• False information on the resume, you are likely to get caught.
• Personal beliefs on communal and political, racial and gender issues.
• Present and expected salary details
• Spelling and grammar mistakes
• Verbose style

Program Your Resume

The good old paper resume is a trustworthy ally in any job search process. You can check its contents over and over again to ensure that everything is all right. You are certain that it will reach the employer with the same contents.

With electronic resumes, however, you cannot be so certain, for they are quite unpredictable. For all you know, they may end up on the employer's system as a tangled web of pictures, graphics, and undecipherable characters. You are blissfully unaware of what has happened, and are pleased with your neatly formatted work of art.

What can you do to minimise such mishaps? Just minimise the beautification. Those of you who have spent a lot of time in doing exactly this, worry not! You can use this formatting for the paper version. The beautified resume can be sent as a word attachment to employers who accept them in such a form. However, when pasting into your e-mail or into a form on the company's website, formatting is out!

Some Tips on Formatting :

• Don't use tabs, as they don't appear properly on e-mail. Your resume ends up looking scrambled and the alignment disappears.
• Left alignment is perhaps the best and simple solution to your formatting problems. Your resume appears professional and neat.
• There is no need to use special fonts or font size. Irrespective of how you format your file, the font is likely to be the same for all of the text. The reason is that text font is generally determined by the employer's e-mail reader.

How do you differentiate different sections in your file? You can use capital letters or hard returns ("enter" key on your keyboard). Capitals are easily translated in e-mail, while hard returns provide spacing between paragraphs. You can use capitals to indicate the titles and sub-headings.

"Pop" Up

A multitude of companies advertise openings on the net. The jobseeker may feel that there are several companies, which accept resumes by e-mail. In reality, however, the response rate for such applications is dismal.

You can however, beat the system to some extent by using the right keywords. With the right arsenal of keywords, your resume can pop up on the employer's screen. How does this happen? Most of the job sites allow employer to search for resumes based on their requirements. Based on the search word used, a list of resumes is displayed, as in any other search process. For your resume to appear in such a list, it must contain the keyword used.

Keywords are the common words, which may be used by an employer to search for resumes. How do you identify the keywords? The best answer would be the advertisement. Include as many words from the advertisement in your resume as you can, blending them meaningfully with the body of the resume.
More importantly, be honest to yourself. Do not include terms and words, which are not true to you! With the right combination of keywords, you may just grab the employer's attention. So, just go ahead and put in the magical word!

A Résumé that Talks Turkey

Whenever you see good potential opportunities what do you do? Incorporate subtle changes to your existing resumé and send it to the employer? Its time we got out of the conventional way of writing a resumé. A brief, concise resumé that is not contradictory is what is needed. A resumé reflects what you have accomplished so far. Make your resumé in accordance with the job profile you are applying for. Companies invest quite an amount in recruiting people and would expect a detailed resumé profiling all that they are looking for.

It is not very interesting to go through a four-page resumé no matter how many achievements you have to your credit. Nobody will tolerate a CV more than three pages long!

Tips for an effective resume

• 'Resumé or 'Curriculum Vitae' nicely centred at the top of the first page. (What else can it be!)
• Do not begin any statement with the word 'I'
• Avoid using bright, eye-catching paper - red, pink, yellow, or green or a quaint font to print your resumé. It does not look attractive!
• Do not tape or staple the resumé to the inside of the envelope so that it won't `fall out.' It can be very irritating!
• Ensure the inclusion of address and telephone number on your resumé, and in case of a change of address do mention so but not by writing on the resumé or on the back of the envelope.
• A clear, descriptive resumé puts you across as a good communicator. Be specific in what you need to tell to your potential employer.
• A resumé is not just a document of credentials, it is the most powerful channel between you and your potential employer.
• It should tell him everything that you want him to know about you without making it sound dull.
• A resumé should cover everything about yourself that is relevant to the job on offer and just touch upon your skills in other areas.

As a professional you will be responsible for strategic decisions and activities, and it is imperative that your resume reflects this. Ensure that your resumé has the readability factor and is information packed.