The working life span of a productive individual is marked by job changes. Every move to a new organization begins with the crafting of a resume. The resume is what first introduces you to the new company. It reflects you; how organized you are, how educated, how correct for the job, how so-many-other-attributes that will kindle in the reader a desire to meet you in person. It is obvious, this piece of paper is not to be taken lightly.
So, what goes into making a good resume? Some essentials are listed here:
1. A resume should contain ALL information that is relevant to the job you are interested in. It is not a fact sheet of your life and hobbies; it is not necessary to include every little thing you have done to date.
2. The information in a resume should be in inverse chronological order with the most recent or current job coming first. Clearly mention name of the company you are/were working in with location (city, state) and name of your position including joining and leaving month, year.
3. In each job you have held in your professional life, there would be any number of responsibilities that you shouldered. It is judicious to describe these in a manner that conveys the scope of your work. It should not, however, bore the reader with obvious and inconsequential details, such as “Kept track of coming and going time of all staff; noted absence; maintained details in a separate register; and discussed with Boss at the end of the month.” Simply say: Provided managerial assistance with regard to staff attendance.
4. It is not necessary to include details such as Father’s Name; Gender; Marital Status; or the career graph of progenies!! Mailing address, phone, and email contacts may be added on top of the first page below the name; and date of birth, interests, and references (available on request) can be added to the end of the resume.
5. The type of job you are applying for can be mentioned on the first page, below the address bar. This could be “Sales and Marketing Professional,” “Software Engineer,” or “Retail Manager;” this can be in bigger font than the text.
6. Next, provide a summary of your skills that highlights your strengths. There is no need to mention what you are looking for; the hiring company is only interested in knowing what you can do for them. The question you are answering here is why they should consider hiring you.
7. This section is followed by a section on Experience (if you have work experience of more than five years) or Education (if you have graduated in the last five years.)
8. In Education section, provide name/s of college with location and name of degree/s (graduate and/or post graduate) received, including the year of completion. Also mention ranking or class position, if it is noteworthy; any awards or commendations received that may reflect leadership; or any other talent, academic or non-academic.
9. In Experience section, begin with current position and describe in detail your responsibilities, as well as any commendations you may have received. While most emphasis has to be given to the current position, the earlier positions should be elaborated upon as well but keeping in mind the requirements of the new job you are applying for. For example, an engineer who has completed an MBA in Finance and seeking a change of job into the management cadre of a finance company would do well to keep his engineering experience succinct and to the point and highlight all managerial aspects of previous work positions.
10. If there are more than four work positions, please keep the descriptions of the oldest very brief. But in case there was some work done in that old job that was unique and not done in later positions, do take care to describe it.
11. The end of the resume is for additional information, including any courses you may have completed to complement your work profile, your language skills, computer proficiency, date of birth, and lastly references.
12. It is advisable to mention ‘References: Available on request’ in the resume. The details of your references can be provided once the selection procedure has arrived to a stage where you are actively under consideration. At that point, before providing names and contacts of different persons, it is necessary to call these persons, tell them you are applying for a new job and inform them that someone from the new office may contact them to speak about you.
13. Last but not the least, try to keep the resume on a single page; no one has time to read more. The top half of page one is what is crucial. Only if it holds the reader’s interest will he go ahead; if not, it will be the dustbin for your resume.
14. Traditionally accepted fonts are Times New Roman; Trebuchet MS; Garamond; or Palantino Linotype. Font size should not be less that 10.5 and not above 11.5; 11 TNR is most used.
15. Use bullets and sub bullets to describe work profile; it also makes data organized and easy to read. Whether you justify text or not is your choice.
16. Always use active words and avoid superlatives and bombastic expressions. Categorized List of Action Verbs is available on http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/543/02/
17. Use one word to replace three; keep it brief without eliminating useful data.
18. Pay attention to green lines when typing on MS Word; make efforts to turn in an error-free copy: grammar wise as well as regarding spelling and punctuations.
19. The crafting of a resume is really simple if you keep these points in mind.
20. Study sample resumes on: http://www.sampleresumes.in/ before starting your own.
21. Common errors to avoid: http://www.perfectediting.com/resumetips/resume-mistakes.htm
22. Also look up:
Remember George Orwell’s elementary rules of writing:
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
Good wishes for your job hunt!
Steps
1. Write a draft where you list all educational credentials, including degrees received, name of college with location, awards received or other noteworthy facets of student life.
2. List professional details starting from first job, including all responsibilities taken.
3. Include any other relevant details such as continuing education, interests, publications.
4. Once all this is ready in front of you, you can now write the resume as per details provided in main text.
Tutorial Continues Below
Tips and Tactics
1. Keep in mind requirements of job you intend to apply for.
2. Keep the language simple with active verbs.
3. Remove extra information; write one word for three where posiible.
