Your resume, or CV if you like, is the window through which any prospective employer gets a peek into your skills and capabilities. It is an advertisement (for you) that precedes you everywhere you go for an interview. It even gets to places where you are not invited (if its not attractive enough). Shouldnt you put more creativity and effort into writing a resume that is attractive, interesting and worth considering for the company?
The reason your CV should be catchy and interesting is that any employer gets hundreds of enquiries and resumes for a job. It certainly wont be possible or viable to interview each and every candidate. So the employers screen out a big number of candidates based on the CV alone. So now that you know how important your resume is, let us discuss the actual writing of a good resume.
General Instructions
If you are a student and are looking for your first job, there will be a career advice center in your college probably. They will offer you great advice on how to write an impressive resume. Make use of the service.
A resume should never be hand-written. Always use a word processor to type your resume and have it printed on a good quality paper. Going through a couple of resumes for ideas is a good idea. But don not make the mistake of copying the entire format of any resume. Employers do not like carbon copy resumes. Create a resume that is your own and different from the rest.
Use bullets wherever possible and also have a proper border. Do not forget to use the spell check facility before getting the printout.
What To Include
Personal Details: Your name, address, phone number, email id, DOB, web page etc come under this heading. Usually the employer can make out from your name whether you are male or female, but if you have a name that doesnt give away your sex, it might be a good idea to mention Male/Female too.
Education: Start with the most recent or current course, degree or diploma.include specializations and subject options you have chosen in each year. Also give your aggregate percentage of marks in each year. If you have any research, project or theses work to your credit, it would be great to mention that here. HSC and SSC percentages along with the name of the education board should be mentioned. Do not forget to mention the subjects chosen in SSC.
Work Experience: Once again, begin with the most recent. Just writing the title of position held is not enough. Write about what you actually did on the job along with key duties and responsibilities. Give the name of employer, title and job details for every job held. Any special achievements made at these jobs may also be mentioned here.
Interests: Employers want to hire people who have leadership skills and are team players. So if you interest in any activities/sports that exhibit these traits, it would come in handy here. Volunteer work may also be mentioned here.
Skills: Skills like shorthand, IT skills, driving, language skills etc are also considered important by employers. So dont forget to mention any such skills that you may possess.
References: Most employers ask for references today. So give two names for their reference. Preferably, you should include one person from your place of study and one person from your place of work. If either of these is not possible, you can also include the name of an older family friend who has known you for quite some time. Make sure that the people you mention in this section are willing to give you a good reference. Also give their phone numbers against their names.
Length
Your resume should be as short as possible. It should certainly not go beyond two page of size A4. Do not include unnecessary details that lengthen the resume without adding anything worth mention.
Objective
Some resumes also include a personal mission/objective statement at the top. It can be a 2-3 sentence statement that shows your skills, interests, hopes and plans. It should be such that the reader feels motivated to read the rest of your resume.
Hopefully all our memsaabs find useful information in this article on how to write an impressive resume.
