Resume - A Showcase Of Your Skills
A resume is the first and the most important step in the process
of job seeking. A resume consists of a brief account of your
qualifications and experience. It basically showcases your
skills and experience. The whole idea of a resume is to put you
in such a light that the prospective employer finds you perfect
for the job.
A resume should contain personal details such as name, address,
telephone number, email ID and date of birth. Educational
details are next. An important thing you should keep in mind is
to start from the latest information and then move backwards.
Start from your recent education and mention the subjects
studied at your college, school, courses, etc. Similarly, start
from the latest job responsibilities you are holding. Mention
your job profile and what all you learned at the job instead of
simply mentioning the job-title and employer. It is not
necessary to write exact dates, a simple mention of months and
years is sufficient. There are various formats you can work with.
The chronological format includes a job-by-job listing of your
experience. It proves effective for the people who have careers
moving in the upward direction. Another format is the functional
format in which you highlight key skills and knowledge. It
widens the scope of people who have been changing jobs often, as
they can talk about responsibilities, projects and skills learnt
from each job. Then you can also use a combination of the
chronological and functional formats. Such a resume will mention
the job-by-job experience alongside accomplishments at each job.
There are certain factors you must keep in mind while
formulating your resume. The resume should not ideally go beyond
more than 2 pages. Try to keep the information as precise as
possible. If you have some 30 years of experience, it is not
necessary to enlist all of it. The details of the last 10 years
of your career will suffice and the rest of the information
should be provided in a very concise manner. Use more of action
verbs such as: supervised, organized, learned, contributed, etc.
The freshers in the industry can highlight their
responsibilities at the college/school level. Mention the
extra-curricular activities that you have taken part in. You
must also mention your achievements. Be careful to tailor make
your CV according to demands of the employer. Use an Arial or
Times New Roman font; do not go for very decorative fonts. Do
write about the skills pertinent to the job, making you fit the
brief perfectly. List out five or six key attributes the
employers are looking for and prepare your resume accordingly.
It is important to format your resume since you are being judged
by the way your resume looks. You can choose to exclude certain
details such as hobbies if they are totally unrelated to your
profession. However, if you are applying for a Public Relations
job and your hobby is making friends, then it is sensible to
include it. Do not give reasons for leaving your current job as
it has a negative impact. Leave such tough questions for the
interview. It is advisable to inform your references beforehand
and hand over a copy of your resume to them. Last but not the
least; keep updating your resume regularly.