A resume is the most important weapon of a job seeker! It is through this document that you introduce yourself to a prospective employer, even before the first meeting. Hence, it demands careful, skillful and detailed consideration. A competently built resume grabs the attention of the employer by creating an optimum impression. While framing a resume, you must always consider the fact that you are not the only person applying for a post — many others with similar qualification and background are also targeting the same. Hence, your resume must hold some special features that can distinguish it from the others and help make an impact on the employer. Remember, the recruiting person has to go through a number of resumes — he cannot be expected to read every resume in detail. Hence, make it crisp. You have less than 30 seconds to prove your worth and if you fail in accomplishing this, your resume would be just one of the several received and rejection won’t be too far off. To avoid such a disaster, familiarity with the do’s and don’ts of resume is required and the following article helps you avoid mistakes by giving important tips!
Things To Consider While Writing A Resume
Do's:
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Make your resume brief. Instead of elaborating high school education and basic graduation, focus on achievements and experience.
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Make sure that the recruiting person is able to go through the important points of your resume in a single glance. Highlighting the keywords is necessary.
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It is better to list major qualifications and achievements under separate headings to ensure attention of the employer.
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A resume should be highly focused and key words rich. For example, if you are applying for the post of a finance analyst, you can add key words like strategic planning, trend analysis, etc to get attention.
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Using action verbs like achieved, evaluated, formulated and so on are preferred to weaker verbs like tried, hope, assisted etc.
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Opt for a different and catchy style rather than the usual copied templates so as to personalize your resume but be careful to follow an accepted standard.
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Experiences should be listed in a reverse chronological order — starting from the recent one and going backwards — and must be mentioned before the qualifications.
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Categorize the resume under different headings like skills, qualifications, achievements, experiences, interests and so on. This automatically gives the employers an opportunity to browse through the document easily.
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Make sure that skills related to the job in question are listed on top followed by less important ones. Different skill-sets like technical, computer and analytical can be categorized under the main heading called ‘skills’. This is done for convenience sake.
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All the points should be bulleted and headings bold. You can use underlines to emphasize on important points like awards and achievements.
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Include a cover letter and “objective” in your resume to make it look more focused.
Don’ts:
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At any point in the resume, never lie about what you have mentioned. Lies are generally discovered when companies do a background check and such situations are trouble redefined for you as a job seeker.
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Too much usage of personal pronouns such as I, me, my, etc is not considered good.
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Including personal details like age, sex, marital status etc. in your resume is now a redundant practice and is even considered unprofessional. Even adding a photograph to the resume, unless asked for, is not a good idea — just your name and contact details are enough.
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Never over-emphasize your personal details and hobbies. A brief idea in about two lines can be given. This section does not help in getting a job; it simply lengthens your resume.
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There is no need to elaborate on your social activities in your resume. If you wish to include them, give a brief note preferably in the cover letter and nothing more.
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Never present your resume casually. This includes staying away from decorating it with floral designs or even using different coloured inks etc. Don’t include unnecessary pointers like reasons for leaving your previous job unless specifically asked for.
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Never start your resume with references. They are considered as the conclusive section. In fact, never give details about referees unless asked for.
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Making your resume self-contradictory is a career suicide! Presenting your case well and portraying the right amount of correct information is what is required.
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It is not appropriate to use abbreviations and acronyms such as 2WIMC instead of “To Whomsoever It May Concern”, as it makes your resume vague.
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Don’t use slangs such as “couple of” and “wanna” etc. in your resume. Never forget that it is a professional document and has some rules attached to it.
Creating a faultless resume is not an easy task. You have to dedicate considerable time to sort out the relevant and irrelevant data and construct a resume that inculcates all the above tips and do's and don’ts.
