RESUME

 RESUME: 1.1

 What your résumé should cover:

1. Your Details
2. Education Background: include, school and college.
3. Work Experiences: include internships, work experiences if any
4. Skills: you can mention your online research ability, your proficiency in a foreign language or any Indian languages, computer skills, cross cultural sensitivity and why, organizational skills, etc.
5. Credits: include all awards won; curricular and extra / co–curricular

What your résumé should leave out:

1. Details – a résumé should be brief and concise; leave details for the interview
2. Personal life stories
3. Bad grammar – make sure you have your résumé checked by your peers before submission
4. Vulgarity and abusive language
5. Hobbies – these can be included if you have won accolades / awards for them otherwise let them be

Make Sure:

1. If you have no work experience, your résumé SHOULD NOT be more than a single page
2. Grammar, spelling and punctuation are correct.
3. Send a cover letter along with your résumé
4. Do not attach / send photographs.
5. Carry extra copies of your résumé with you.

RESUME: 1.2

[Tips by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)]

Here’s what employers think about resumes, cover letters and thank you notes, according to a survey released by the Society for Human Resource Management. 

i. Two-thirds of hirers want chronological resumes listing your work history and education in reverse order. Four in 10 like bulleted formats. 

ii. Nearly nine in 10 want your resume tailored to the job or industry. No one size fits all.

iii. About one-third of government hirers said it’s a mistake to lack a cover letter, but only one-fifth of private-industry hirers would miss it.

iv. A good cover letter, if welcome, emphasises how you fit the job requirements and tells why you want to work in a certain organisation.

v. If you were fired or laid off, nearly eight in 10 hirers think you should explain that in a job interview.

vi. Gaps in your work history? About half said you don’t need to draw attention to or hide them. Just state facts, just the way they stand.

vii. Sixty-eight per cent of hirers prefer to get resumes through their websites. Email, job boards, postal mail and applicant tracking systems are less preferred.

viii. Human resource professionals said they spent less than five minutes per resume to decide whether an applicant proceeded further.

ix. Heavy use of applicant screening software means your resume must include key words from the job posting.

x. The biggest resume mistakes are grammatical and spelling errors and missing job history details or dates.

xi. Six in 10 think a thank you note is important after an interview. Make sure you send it. Half prefer emailed notes.

xii. As always, try to use personal contacts to discern what your target employer prefers. Opinions differ from organisation to organisation. There is no one way.

RESUME: 1.3

[Cover Letter Writing Skills]

While writing a cover letter the most important thing to keep in mind is the KISS rule: Keep It Simple Stupid. It always works!

A cover letter is meant to give a brief about you and your accomplishments and should make the interviewer want to read your résumé. Here are a few pointers to write a good cover letter:

1. Keep the letter short

2. Always address the letter properly; make sure your ‘To’ and ‘From’ addresses are correct.

3. Make sure you have the prefixes right. Is the person concerned a ‘Miss’ or ‘Mrs’; for a lady, if confused stick to ‘Ms.’ If you are not sure of the gender, then it is safest to write ‘Mr./Ms.’

4. Begin the body of the letter with a short note on your college and if it has achieved any laurels. E.g., “I am currently in the final year of ABC College. ABC college has been voted among the top 50 engineering colleges in the country and I am part of its XYZ course…”. . Even if it hasn’t, mention the name and where it is located.

5. The next note should be about where you heard about the company and why you would like to work for them (again in brief)

6. Finally end with telling then a couple of points as to why you suit the position and mention that résumé will support this.

7. Finally end the letter with a thank you and also with a ‘looking forward’ note, E.g., “I look forward to hearing from you soon.” And with “Best Regards/ Sincerely”. Finally sign / type your name.

It is very important that you do not sound verbose in your cover letter. Do not try to give your entire personal or professional data; your résumé is meant to do that. So good luck and start typing!

RESUME: 1.4

[TOP 3 TIPS FROM THE INDUSTRY EXPERTS]

"Creating a customised CV for every job position that you wish to apply to is a necessity. Remember, there is no standard resume for all job roles! Simply copy pasting the contents of the same CV in every job application can be disastrous. Making a resume requires one to put in time and rest assured it is worth the effort. Also take feedback from friends and family on the contents that you plan to put in. Such feedback will not only give you invaluable perspective, but also help weed out the extraneous matter. Often the small things in a CV make a big difference. Providing juvenile email ids, including unnecessarily flamboyant statements, putting in irrelevant facts and mentioning your weaknesses in the resume are a strict no-no. You are what your CV represents. Think it through!"

~ Damayanti Bhattacharya, CEO, IIT-Bombay Alumni Association

"A person's achievements and accomplishments form a critical part of his/her resume. Try to communicate the extent of your knowledge and experience clearly in a specific and relevant manner. Portray your willingness to join the organisation. Most importantly, everything that you intend to put on your CV must be justifiable. Do not even attempt to misrepresent your qualifications, experience or even hobbies. You'll be caught. Always review the CV for spelling, grammar and formatting errors. The presentation of information in the CV is also critical. Keep the header simple and clean, with as little information as necessary. A personal email address, a home address and a mobile number is all the contact information you need to put in."

~ Ritesh Goel, Founder, HR Reflections

"Be clear about your professional goals and objectives before you attempt to write your CV. Formulate these objectives in a simple, yet well-worded manner. Having appropriate professional and personal references is another important aspect to bear in mind before writing a CV. Usually, giving a brief synopsis of the roles and responsibilities discharged in previous jobs will help the recruiter understand your skills set and abilities. For a fresher, focusing on projects that one has completed as part of the academic curriculum or otherwise is necessary. Additionally, the emphasis must be on the quality of work done, rather than just the number of projects handled. Be sure to keep the format consistent in the body of the CV. It is a bad idea to have varied font sizes, styles and colours. Remember, there is no hard and fast rule to CV formatting. Just try to keep it clean, yet visually appealing! Usually, laying out the resume in a way that your unique strengths are highlighted is the best approach.”

~ Subhashini Naikar, PDLC