Resume Writing

One of the most important factors for landing a job is your resume. It is often the first impression that a potential employer has of you. Therefore your resume must capture the employers attention within 30 seconds. Remember your resume does not get you the job. It is the interview that gets you the job. The resume gets you the interview call.

What is a CV? Your CV is your marketing brochure through which the prospective employer decides whether he wants to see you for an interview or not. What is the purpose of a CV? The purpose of your CV is to fetch you an interview call. How to write a good CV? Include the relevant information. Your CV may require a little bit of modification according to the type of opening you are applying for. You may need to expose different facets of your personality and work experience for different openings. Prioritize the information A recruiter is not interested in knowing your father's name on opening up your CV. He would rather prefer to know about your educational background, if you are a fresher and your work experience, if you an experienced job seeker. Prioritize the information in the CV to maintain the attention of the recruiter. Emphasize at right place Learn to emphasize at right place in the CV. If you think, any of your particular achievements gives you a cutting edge over other job seekers for a particular opening, emphasize on it. For e.g. if you are a fresher and you have been a topper of your college or university, it is worth mentioning and emphasizing in the CV. Similarly, if you are an experienced worker and your particular achievement has been acknowledged by your employer, which you think can add more value to your CV while applying for a particular position, emphasize on it. Use more impactful words Use words which demonstrate your control over things. For e.g. managed, achieved, counseled.

Use figures Use some figures to show the extent of your activities and their impact. For e.g. Planned raw material requirements for 10 manufacturing units of the company, across 5 states. Don't be verbose Try to keep your CV precise and to the point. Don't fill it up with extra words. You might land up losing the recruiters attention. Don't dump the information A neat CV attracts the recruiter more than the one which has information dumped on it. Provide all the relevant information but in a neat and attractive manner. Check for spellings and grammar Try to keep your CV free of any spelling mistakes and bad grammar. They put the recruiter off. Key areas of a good CV While writing a CV you must first think, what is it that you want to communicate to the recruiter through your CV? Now, write your CV keeping your objective in mind. Following are the key areas which if well written catch the immediate attention of the employer. Executive/Career summary A well written, short and simple executive summary at the beginning of your CV will catch the immediate attention of the recruiter. Keep it short and to the point while trying to focus on your key strengths and achievements, relevant to the position. Work experience/ Educational background If you have a work experience, mention it after the executive summary in a chronologically descending manner with the job profile. If you are a fresher educational back ground should find this place in your CV. Mentioning achievements rather than responsibilities is more impactful. Mention about your achievements Mentioning achievements out of work also plays an important role. For e.g. Elected college vice president during graduation. This demonstrates your leadership quality.

Avoid using "I"," my" in your CV The recruiter knows well that you are talking about yourself in your CV. Avoid the use of words like I, my in your CV. It makes you look egomaniac. Here are a few tips to help you along the way in writing a Freshers Resume:

Be very clear of the objective for writing the resume. As once the objective has been decided you can structure your resume around it. Without an objective, a Freshers Resume will appear unfocussed. Remember your resume is marketing a brand called you. It is a tool that you could use to your benefit if it is crafted well. See that you enlist your features and benefits that they just cant be missed. Think of what makes you unique and definitely include that. Make sure that all the relevant information is there. Remember that the resume is to get you an interview and not a job. So dont go into details for everything otherwise what will you speak at the interview. Be clear and concise. Generate enough interest for you to be called for the interview. Bullet your sentences. That will make it easy for the reader to pick out the important information and will automatically make your sentences shorter. Resumes are usually meant to be scanned and not read in detail initially. So bullets will make the information easy on the eye. Use action and power words to add life and zing to your resume. Try to use as many numbers as possible. This will serve two purposes. One is it will make the information stand out from the rest of it and two is it will let the interviewer know that you are stating facts. Arrange the information chronologically. Let your strengths lead the list. See that all your strong points are showcased right upfront and cant be missed. Follow the inverted pyramid format. Review the advertisements posted and use the key words in your resume to match with what the employer is looking for. You must showcase to the employer your relevant skills and qualification to suit that particular position. Use technical jargons that is specific to the industry/career stream that you are applying for or words that are used to show your competencies. Highlight the positives. Play it smart. Put yourself in your readers shoes and visualize his reaction. If you feel it will not be the kind of reaction that you expect then keep out that bit of information. Focus on the duties that support the objective. Do not for sure include irrelevant data. Show what you know and how varied your knowledge base is. Highlight the skills you have picked up in different fields which could benefit you to multitask. See that your resume reads easily. Format it carefully, use an appropriate font which is no smaller than 10. Limit the length to not more than two pages. Ask someone to review your resume before you send it so that any flaws can be picked out and rectified. Also ask them to ask you questions based on your resume so you can practice answering convincingly.

Latest Trend in Resume Scanning: We all hear that the latest trend in the HR field is resume scanning. However, only one of the companies have begun to utilize this technology, and only on a limited basis. In addition to scanning each resume, they also maintain a paper copy to supplement the scanning system which still is fraught with problems. To enhance the "scan-ability" of your resume, Gay Cross of Mercantile, recommends the following:

Do not use line or borders Do not use bold print, italics, or underlining Use Large and clear typestyle Leave large margins all the way around the resume Do not use any color paper other than white or very light ivory. Be sure to center your name, address and phone at the top. Do not enter un-warranted information. Dont use high/big font size for textuals.

Resume Writing Dos and Donts

Do these things Include your full name - don't use nicknames or abbreviations Use a telephone number that you can always answer - use a cell phone if possible or make sure there is an answering machine at the listed phone number Use bullet points to highlight information - it is much easier for an employer to absorb relevant information while scanning your rsum Print your rsum and cover letter on high quality paper - when printing your rsum you should use paper with at least 50% cotton content Be concise and get to the point - say what you need to say and nothing more Use action words and descriptive phrases - be creative when trying to get your point across using as few words as possible Target your rsum - address your rsum to the position you are applying for to show that you are really interested in working for that company Focus on relevant facts only - list skills, accomplishments and personality traits you know the employer is looking for List quantitative support for statements made - back up your skills and experiences with real scenarios, facts and figures Begin statements with action verbs - action verbs demonstrate your importance to the achievement or experience being described

Don't do these things Have any grammatical errors - always have someone else proofread your rsum for errors and flow Have any spelling mistakes - always spell check your rsum, your contact's name, and the company's name Misrepresent your background or experience - employers oftentimes verify this information and can fire you if it is discovered that you were dishonest Use lengthy paragraphs - employers notoriously skip over paragraphs in rsums Use long sentences - just like paragraphs, the reader easily skips over long sentences Use personal pronouns - keep your rsum impersonal for a more professional image Forget to list basic skills - all employers want to see that you are a team player, take charge of situations and are reliable

RESUME SAMPLE 1

Amit Ghosh 789 Bazullah Road, T Nagar, Chennai Email: xxx@aol.com Phone: 91-44-42679987 OBJECTIVE: To secure a job in the IT industry where I can utilize my knowledge for the organizations growth EDUCATION B.Tech. Computer Science and Engineering, Anna University, Chennai (2001-2005) Thesis Title: Efficient use of software in offices Advisor: Anne DCoasta Summary: Improvement in the use of the software that is used in offices at the moment. This was published in Graphics India magazine in 2005 St. Xaviers School, Bangalore (Graduated 2000) Ranked 2nd in school in 12th C.B.S.E. Board Examination. PROJECT WORK (B. Tech)

Built a computer that could work on solar energy.

TRAINEESHIP EXPERIENCE

Research Assistant, TIFR, Mumbai (Aug Dec 2004): Helped the professors to research and collate information on various computer related topics. Project Trainee, ABC Networks, Bangalore: (Jan 2005-present): Work as a project trainee for this start-up company. Implemented new projects and participated in them. Tested the new software.

COMPUTER SKILLS

Software: SQL Server, Apache, CVS, Mathematica, Latex. Also, audio/video formats and codecs. Languages: C/C++, STL, Python, Javascript/C# Platforms: Linux, FreeBSD, Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000.

ACADEMIC AWARDS

Best B.Tech thesis 2004. Dept of Computer Science. IISC Bangalore Silver Medalist at the International Mathematical Olympiad at school. Ranked 10th in IIT Joint Entrance Examination 2000.

TRAININGS / CERTIFICATIONS

A six month course in C, C++ and Java from the NIIT A certification in multi-media and animation from ARENA Communication skills workshops conducted by the British Council, Chennai

REFERENCES

Will be furnished when asked for.

RESUME SAMPLE 2

Palani Kumar
# 512/B, 16th Main, 26th B-Cross, 6th Block, Valsaravakkam, Chennai Email : palani_kumar@yahoo.com Contact no : +91-9881234567

CAREER OBJECTIVE:
Seeking a position to utilize my skills and abilities in the Information Technology industry that offers professional growth while being resourceful, innovative and flexible.

EDUCATION QUALIFICATION:
B.TECH in Electronics and Communication engineering (2006-2010) from SRM University with 78% aggregate. Intermediate: Board of Intermediate Education 73.4% aggregate. A.I.S.S.E from CBSE board with 76% aggregate. SOFTWARE PROFICIENCY: Languages DBMS Packages Front End Operating Systems : C, C++ : Oracle 8i : VB 6.0 : MS DOS, Windows98, NT, 2000 & XP

 Web Designing

: JAVA, HTML, XML

ACHIEVEMENTS:
Stood First in Inter College Group Discussions. Topic: The effect of cinema on the present generation Participated in Electrosoft-2009, a national level event on paper presentation. Participated in college and school level debate and essay competition and received applauds

PROJECT PROFILE: Project: Real Time Clock using Microcontroller AT 89C51, IC DS 1307 and I2C bidirectional bus.
DESCRIPTION: The DS1307 is a low powerful binary coded decimal (BCD) clock/calendar
plus 56 bytes of NV SRAM. Address and data are transferred serially through an I2C birectional bus. The Clock/Calendar provides seconds, minute, hours, day, date, month and year information. The end of the month date is automatically adjusted for months fewer than 31days including corrections for leap year. The clock operates in either the 24-clock or 12-hour format with AM/PM indicator. The DS 1307 has a built in power sense circuit that detects power failures and automatically switches to the battery supply.

PERSONAL SKILLS: Comprehensive problem solving abilities, excellent verbal and written communication skills, ability to deal with people diplomatically, willingness to learn, team facilitator and hard worker. EXTRA CURRICULAR: Badminton Champion in Inter school competitions. (2004) Captain of school cricket team. Event organizer in all school and college annual day functions and other technical events.

PERSONAL PROFILE:
Fathers Name Nationality Date of Birth Hobbies : : : : K. Anandan Indian 21 Sep 1989 Making new Friends, Travelling, Collecting coins

Languages Known

Tamil, English and Hindi

Place: Chennai

(Palani Kumar)