What is a Resume (also
spelled résumé or resumé)?
Resume is a word borrowed from French language. Its meaning,
as its French origin implies, is “summary”. Thus, a resume is basically a
summary of a person’s education, skills, experience, etc which are relevant for
seeking a job or for the purpose for which it is written. The word resume and
CV (Curriculum Vitae) are interchangeably used but both have different style
and purpose.
Bio-data is altogether a different document, generally more
relevant for social purpose. Though resume has varied uses for various persons,
it is mainly used by a person for seeking a job or, on the other end, for
“finding” (“hunting” in recruiters’ lingo) the applicants by the employers
through digital media/Applicant Tracking System. The applicant can send the
resume to its “audience” by various mode (delivering personally, through mail,
uploading in email/website of the employers, recruitment agencies, etc).
The
resume is generally attached with a Covering Letter when sent through
non-digital media. The present write-up deals with a resume for seeking a job
through digital media.
Importance of a well
written Resume:
Your resume is as important as a personal interview as its
reading conjures up your image in the mind of the employer. Other things being equal, a person who has
provided a well written resume is more likely to get interview call than his
counterpart whose resume is not well written. Looking to the employer’s
perspective, well written resumes help them narrow down the list of probable
interviewees. The job seekers are obsessed with idea of improving their
visibility in job market through uploading / mass emailing their resumes but
not so much careful about writing a good resume.
How to write a good
resume:
There is no standard style and format for resume in which you
can fill up the data and draw your resume. You would find various “ready to
use” styles and formats and select one as per their choice and can take little
bit latitude to accommodate your own circumstances. Considering these aspects,
following points should be borne in mind while writing the resume:
Putting an Executive Summary comprising of 3 – 4 lines is also desirable, particularly when you are seeking highly paid jobs.
1. Objective: Write the objective of
your seeking a job in simple language (refrain from using flowery language and
stuffing too many ideals and goals).
2. Education – In chronological Order(it
is advisable to present this data in a table similar to the following one):
Std/Dip/ Certi
/Degree
|
Board/ Uni /Org.
|
Year
|
% or Grade Secured
|
Remarks
|
SSC
|
||||
HSC
|
||||
Certi/Dip*
|
||||
Graduation#
|
||||
Post Grad.$
|
(* specify, e.g. Dip in Digital Marketing, Dip
in CAD, # BCA/B.Com, etc, $ MCA, MA, etc
as the case may be).
4. Languages Known:
5. Date of Birth (can be skipped but desirable
to include)
6. Experience (in reverse
chronological order- start with current job):
Write about experience relevant to
the job sought. Include following information in the details on experience:
Designation, Company/Organisation,
Your Role, Period (From ……… to…..…), Duration (in years).
Note: If there is a gap in Education
or Experience (particularly a long one), give explanation for the same.
7. Skills relevant to the job sought
8.
Awards /Certificate/Trophies Won/Felicitation Received:
Write about the above (as a student
or as an employee).
9. Reason for leaving the present job
(if you are employed):
If you have good reason to leave your
present job, give it in a convincing manner.
10. Hobbies: Write your hobbies which
may be relevant to your job or may not be.
11. Other points to be borne in mind:
·
Length
of the resume – preferably one page.
·
Softcopy
format– as per the format (MS Word, pdf, HTML, etc) specified by the employer or the website
·
Do
not use unfamiliar abbreviation/acronyms. Write their full forms.
·
Avoid
spelling or grammatical errors. If required, seek help of expert.
·
Format
the resume properly (Margin, Line spacing, Font type, Font size, alignment of
the table and contents in table, etc)
·
Keep
in mind to use such keywords which can easily be found up by Applicant Tracking
System or other softwares /tools used to process the resumes. Some recruiters
deploy sophisticated software to assess the compatibility of a candidate by key
words and the context in which they are used. It is advisable to devote some
time to find out such keywords and its ranking from digital resources, though
the logic of ranking a “search” is complex. Mind well, getting noticed is first
step towards getting hired.
·
Do
not write that I do not now so and so things.
·
If
not specifically asked for, do not give personal details e.g. Religion, Caste,
Marital Status, etc.
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