The resume is perhaps the single most important document used across industry and academia for short-listing candidates for both generic and specialized roles. It hence becomes the first entry point to any career journey. However one would be surprised at how easily many candidates squander this first opportunity and fail to land a step in the door. Hence here we are listing out the ten cardinal points you should keep in mind to build an impressive resume.
1. Keep it short silly
It is not uncommon to come across resumes that run into multiple pages. You must keep in mind that the person evaluating the resume is perhaps sitting with a bundle of resumes and hence might miss the significant content written on the last paragraph of the third page. Industry standards vary but a single page resume is often the most palatable and will get the job done in most cases. In case you feel a one pager is not able to do justice to your case you may extend it to a maximum of two pages. Anything more than that will probably do more harm than good.
2. One size doesn’t fit all
It is often observed that candidates use the same resume to apply across profiles and organisations. You must understand that different roles have different drivers and addressing them correctly can give you a much needed edge. No I am not asking you to do a window dressing but a little tailoring will always help. Prepare a specific resume for each function if not for each role and ensure that your resume doesn’t look bland.
3. Prioritize
One of the most important traits that recruiters look forward to in candidates is the ability to prioritize important information/tasks over the others. Hence your choice of content becomes a mirror to the recruiter to assess whether you can prioritize the more salient features of your profile over the others. Hence drop the irrelevant information that might act as dead weight in your case.
4. Summarize
“Delegate: FICCI event (Future of IT)” does the job as much as “I was selected as one of the participants for the inter-college event held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry for innovative ideas for the future of IT”. Well you get the point don’t you.
5. Segments
There is no rulebook that says that there are only certain headers that should be present in the resume. Hence if you have little to show for work experience as a fresher you can very well go ahead and drop the section instead of putting up a skeletal segment.
6. Open with a bang
Your header is your banner. It is used to announce your most important skill-set or achievement or the one statement that encapsulates your fitment for this position. Hence you must use it judiciously and avoid using generic statements.
7. Grammar and Punctuation
This one can turn out to be a deal killer and nip your upcoming opportunity in the bud. There is simply no scope for grammatical errors on the one page that is the most important professional document you will ever use. Use a simple grammar check on any text editor and if possible get your resume peer reviewed before you send it across.
8. Don’t falsify information
It might often get very tempting to tweak a minor point here and there in pursuit of your dream role only to live a nightmare later on. With thorough background checks being the norm in todays workplace you are best served limiting yourself to verifiable facts and figures that you can confidently discuss and defend.
9. Format
This is an area where you will often see opinions divided. To set the record straight there is nothing limiting about a plain black and white copy with points jotted down one below the other. Infact some organisations might restrict you to that. However going ahead with some graphics will not be deemed blasphemy either and depending on the profile you are applying for it may well be encouraged.
10. Contact Information
A resume is no good if it doesn’t have the candidates contact details. Also keep in mind that an organisation would rarely contact you over post so it boils down to the e-mail and the phone number. Also keep in mind that the shortlisting might happen six months down the lane for a different profile with a different person who happened to glance at a copy of your resume on the web portal. Hence keep your primary email and the permanent phone number on the resume so that you don’t miss out on that golden opportunity.
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