Resume Help
Not all resume require a very high level of creativity or startling originality of approach in either their content or form. There are conservative organizations looking for entry-level candidates. If your target job falls in this category, you may wish to adopt a fairly well established procedure without excessive frills. This chapter is a straightforward guide for guide writing regular resume. Follow the guidelines given here and you will turn out perfectly serviceable resume in a short time.
To get a serviceable resume prepared quickly, some readers may use Chapter 5 straightaway without reading the first 4 g chapters. For their benefit, the gists of the previous chapters have been covered here. If you are reading the book right through, these will provide a good way to revise what you have learnt already.
By combining some of the "selling" and "focusing" techniques discussed in the first 4 chapters with the "hands-on" approach of this chapter, entry level candidates can crank up the quality of their resume by several notches while mid to high-level candidate can put together a masterpiece.
Resume Basics
Why do You Need a Resume?
The main reason you should have a resume is simple -most employers request one. And even if the employer does not ask for a resume, it is easily the most efficient way to present your qualifications, skills and experience.
In addition, the resume writing process itself will help you to crystallize your job objective and determine your major skills and achievements. Research shows that people who write better, more carefully thought-through resume also perform very much better at the subsequent job interviews!
Which Resume is Best for You?
There are two basic types of resume:
- Chronological resume, usually put in the reverse order, the last job first.
- Skills resume".
This type of resume provides a clear picture of your employment history, focusing on career advancement and gradually increasing job responsibilities.
The Skills resume on the other hand, focuses on the skills you have acquired while working. It clusters the skills or knowledge you have gained under major skills areas. If you have strong job specific abilities, the skills resume will showcase it to your advantage.
Select the format that shows your abilities to greater advantage for the job at hand. You may have to write your resume using both styles. Then read them both objectively. Decide which of the two makes the most of your assets and creates a greater impact. That one is the style for you!
Make Your Resume Interesting
Most resume are boring. View your resume as a marketing document, an effective way to communicate your strengths and achievements. Remember - the employer does not want to hear your life story. He is looking for the best person to do the job. Therefore, convince him that in you, he will find the man he seeks. Focus on your achievements. List the facts that support your achievements. Make the reader want to know more!
Appearance and Formatting
Here are a few simple rules. We shall assume that you are using some good word processing software to prepare the final draft of your resume.
- Do not use fancy font styles! Arial and Times New Roman with font size between 10 and 12 are the most appropriate.
- Use bullets. Bullets help to structure your resume. Bullets will also considerably improve the appearance and reading ease.
- Use white space. A crowded resume "hides" the things you want to say.
You may have a conflict between a one-page target and an uncluttered appearance. If so, then appearance should score over the one page limitation. However, first make sure that all that you have included are vital to sell your candidature. Should you conclude that the case justifies two pages, go ahead. However, include the vital points of your job-worthiness in the first paragraph of your covering letter and use a powerful "Objective" statement on the first page of the resume.
Length
- Unless you work in a highly scientific or technical field (4 and even more pages are regarded as a norm here), we suggest you keep your resume 1 to 2 pages long.
- If you must exceed 1 page, then present key points in the top half of the first page.
- Present the key points. The resume is a marketing document, which should only present the things that will be to your benefit.
- Use short sentences.
- Drop the "I", say "Achieved 10 per cent increase in sales" rather than "I achieved 10 per cent increase in sales."
How do I Write it?
Here is a step-by-step approach. When you complete the sections below, you will have the first draft of your resume. It will be only a rough draft however and will require both formatting and editing.
When you have worked through the steps below, you will have the raw materials and know-how to construct your resume. Then, you will need to decide on the type of resume you wish to use (see "Which Resume is Best for You?" earlier in this chapter), and then edit and polish it until it is in its final form. You will probably find the polishing to be the hardest part of writing your resume. So, let us get to the guts of a resume. You may read the sections below either in sequence, or jump to the one you wish to learn more about. In each section, you will be introduced to the purpose, shown examples of how the section should look, and will be offered hints on how to get the job done. The sections are:
- Identifying Information.
- The Objective.
- Summary of Qualifications.
- Education.
- Work Experience.
- Activities/Interests.
Identifying Information
The first section of a resume is your name, address, phone number, fax and e-mail address. You need not actually write the words "resume" at the top, since it will be obvious to your reader what he is looking at. It is customary to put name, residential address and phone number(s) in this section. It may also be helpful to put your office phone number(s) and perhaps, fax and e-mail as well (but only if it is not a problem that you be contacted at your present job).
Most correspondence today comes via regular mail or phone but you never know what the future holds! So, add an e-mail address if you have one.
Examples
Here are just a couple of ways that you can display your identifying information. Remember, the goal is to quickly and effectively communicate who you are and how you can be contacted.
- Example #1
Jayant Neogy
E 2301 Palam Vihar,
Gurgaon, Haryana-122017
Email: Jlneogy@vsnl.com
Phone: 0124 636 9999 - Example #2
Jayant Neogy
Jayant Neogy
E 2301 Palam Vihar,
Gurgaon, Haryana-122017
Email: jlneogy@vsnl.com
Phone: 0124 636 9999
Here is a simple format that should meet most resume needs. Note the serial numbers for some tips about the form.
| First Name | |
| Last Name | |
| Address, Street | |
| Address, City, State, Pin Code | |
| Residential Phone(1) | |
| Office Phone (2) | |
| Fax (3) | |
| E-Mail (4) |
Tips
1. Someone must be available at home during office hours.
2. Is it Okay to receive interview calls at your current office?
3. If available.
4. Do you check your e-mail regularly?
The Objective
The objective is an optional part of the resume.
Is an Objective for You?
Here are some things to consider: If you know exactly what kind of work you wish to be considered for, then you might want to communicate that in your objective. Defining your purpose for your application is a very good way to start, especially if your application is not in response to an advertised vacancy and therefore, the reader does not know what type of job you have in mind.
"When used, an objective serves the important purpose of telling an employer what position you are seeking. It should convey a sense of clarity in your mind regarding your very next step on your career path. The objective, therefore, should be focused and clearly stated. It should not be a general statement about your life goals.
The importance of a clear objective statement cannot be over emphasized. In fact, it may be preferable to omit the objective, rather than to put in something vague.
For example, the objective "To utilize my skills in a challenging position which will afford advancement and professional growth" tells the employer really nothing about you. The statement is too general to be of any value. Do not include an empty, "fluffy" objective. Either draft one that conveys useful information about you, and demonstrates that you know what the employer is looking for, or omit it altogether!
Guidelines for Your Objective
If you choose to include an objective, here are some guidelines. An objective may contain up to four parts. However, it is not essential that every objective has to contain all four. Just include as many parts as are applicable to the job
Part one is the "level" of the position. Examples of position levels may be words such as "trainee", "temporary", "part- time , runtime , entry level , experienced , supervisory and "executive". If you know what level of position you are seeking, select one of the above terms, or create one of your own. In many cases, position level is not an important part of an objective, and can be left off.
Part two contains the skills you hope to use in that position. Refer to the list of skills given under "Build on Your Strengths" earlier in Chapter 4. This will help you to identify the job-relevant skills that you possess. For example, you may be seeking "A position in consulting, software design, development and support utilising my software, customer relations and problem-solving skills".
Part three is the position function, also sometimes called position title. If you are responding to a job posting, the position function can often be found in the text of the advertisement. Examples of functions are "chemist", "administrative assistant", "process engineer", "accountant", "project manager", "consultant" etc. For those with broad skill sets, many position titles may apply. Find out what a specific employer calls this function within their organization from the advertisement or from an acquaintance working in that field. You may also choose to invent a tide that is broad enough to encompass your unique vision.
Part four refers to the field or industry, in which you hope to work. You need to specify this in job applications that you may send without waiting for a formal job advertisement from a particular industry. Some of the examples of fields or industries include:
- Telecommunications.
- Higher education.
- Banking.
- Pharmaceuticals.
- Social services.
- Event planning.
- Resort/travel industry.
Your particular position may well be found in more than one field or industry. For example, accountants work in all of the industries listed above. If your career vision is not focused on any field or industry, then you may wish to omit this part of the objective.
Integrating all four parts into a cohesive whole is easy. The following objective contains all four parts. See if you can identify them.
"A full-time engineering position in the computer industry, which utilizes my ability to work as a team member and contributes to marketing, support, design and testing of products and services."
Employers expect that an applicant will customize his objective to suit each employer and each position for which a resume is submitted. The days of creating one resume and duplicating it 50 times are over. You can expect to require multiple versions of your resume with customized objectives. The text of your resume may also need to be modified, in both structure and content; to support the various customised versions.
Examples
-
Here are just a couple of ways that others have communicated their objectives.
- Example #1 Entry-level
Objective
An entry-level position in your Quality Assurance Team
- Example #2 Mid-level
Career Objective
To combine my innovative marketing skills with knowledge of cutting edge technology as a member of a creative marketing team.
Hints:
If you have difficulty defining an objective for your resume, you may wish to spend more time exploring your career or job goals. Perhaps, you need to think more about why you are writing a resume. At times, it may be necessary to explore your interests, values and skills all over again and to gain more self-knowledge. It may also be necessary to explore the world of employment opportunities, as this scenario is quite dynamic. In short, you need to take a fresh look at your own skills and abilities on one hand, and the current job market on the other hand.
Summary of Qualifications
This part of your resume is sometimes called an "Executive Summary". It can be the most powerful section of your resume. It is a brief statement of your experience, training and personal abilities. It can be expressed in one short paragraph or in bulleted format. Experts recommend that you should limit this to approximately six sentences or bulleted statements.
This part allows you to really talk about yourself in your resume. It can summarize a breadth of experiences and call attention to skills not represented by your position titles.
It is especially useful when making a career change. Here, you want to immediately call the employer s attention to all the skills you have, not just those that are obvious in your job descriptions.
Example
HRD Manager
Over 3 years' experience in developing, installing and administering a personnel training programme, that resulted in accelerated promotion of participating employees and reduced employee'tufriover by 30%.
Writing a summary can be quite a challenge. It requires you to think about your whole work life from a big picture perspective. Many times, people forget what they have done, if it happened some time ago, or have difficulty putting it into words.
Sometimes, you can jog your memory by looking at a list of action verbs so that you remember things you have done in the past. By searching through a list of verbs, you will not only remember your achievements, but you may also get some ideas for describing your past achievements in new ways. To get a start, you can look at the list of "key skills" under the section titled "Build on Your Strengths" in Chapter 4, earlier in this book.
However, this list is only a guide. You must prepare your own list of verbs. Try writing your own summary of qualifications using some of the skills. Keep in mind your job goal, and think about the key skills necessary to be successful in that area. Now, recalling your career/life experiences, which of those skills have you developed? The executive summary is also the right place to highlight your relevant personal strengths. "While drafting the summary, think pf characteristics such as being a team player, being exceptionally organized, being creative, artistic, or being detail-oriented.
Think also about the total number of years you have spent in your area of expertise; think about how well rounded your experience is.
Hints:
A useful exercise while preparing to write your summary of qualifications is talking aloud about your overall career and job skills and experiences. Be big-picture oriented and summary oriented. An employer can see who you have worked for and can see all the details about your experiences in the rest of your resume. Now is your chance to help the employer understand how they all fit together.
Sometimes, people find it easier to write this section after they have worked on the rest of their resume. It is often helpful to go through the details of your skills and experiences, review them closely and then write the Summary of Qualifications at the end.
A close colleague you have worked with for a long time may be a good sounding board when you work on this section. Friends who are truly familiar with your work and work style are also good sources of assistance.
Keep in mind that what you include needs to be relevant to the job goal. nSS)\ Always be honest about the skills and experiences you mention but also be strategic. The more you know about the position and what the employer is looking for in an ideal candidate, the easier it is for you to search your job history and pull out the relevant strengths.
Guided Approach
Are you still having trouble with your executive summary on your own? Here's a guided approach to creating a professional summary. While we strongly encourage you to write your own summary, if you are completely stuck, then try out the procedure given below.
- #1. Select a heading for this section.
You can pick one of these headings, or others that may be more appropriate. The quality of your selection will depend on how thoroughly you review your own career and establish good matches between your skills and the job needs.
- # 2. Type a term you would use to describe what you do.
If you have held a variety of positions over the course of your career, what skills or responsibilities do they have in common? You could use such a common factor. For example, you could choose public speaker, office efficiency expert, computer trouble-shooter, etc. Here is another way to think about it. If you were to sell your services as part of your own business, what would you put underneath your name on your business card?
- #3. Take a look at your list of skills that you prepared while doing the key skill search exercise in Chapter
4. Note those skills that apply to most of your professional or work related experiences.
For the purpose of this exercise, make the verbs active by adding an "ing" at the end. Now type those action verbs (with the "ing" added) in the Verb box in the table below.
- #4. List the object on which the verb is acting. Type the objects in the "object boxes" next to the verb boxes in the table below.
Here is an example:
| S1# | Action Verb | Object |
| 1 | Counseling | First year students |
- #5. Fill in the table below, using as many action verbs as may be appropriate for the job you are applying for. Any number from 3 to 6 is appropriate. You would rarely wish to exceed 6. The sample is for only one skill. You can construct more tables.
| S1# | Action Verb | Object |
| 1 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 5 | ||
| 6 |
Education
This section is designed to show an employer that you have the necessary educational credentials to do the job. Include in this section your traditional degrees and certificates as well as professional courses attended. It should show your academic breadth and intellectual accomplishments. It should even imply something about your industfiousness and desire to improve yourself. Continuous learning is essential to remain competitive in today's job world and this section should show what you have done to stay up-to-date in your current field, and how you continue to do so. This section is of key importance if you are making a career change. Show here how your new or existing academic credentials can be related to the new career you are seeking.
In addition to higher education degrees and certificates, also include all academic awards or scholarships and professional affiliations you have. Sometimes, it may also benefit you to include your marks obtained and/or rank in class.
Example
Education
B.Com, Delhi University, 1998
Main Subject: Economics
Subsidiary Subject: Mathematics
Overall Marks 78%
Class: First
A Suggested Approach
You can start this section by listing, in reverse chronological order, your college degree (s), the institution (s) you attended, the dates you received your diploma(s), and any academic honour(s) that you were awarded.
If you have attended professional courses towards a new degree or certificate or if you have taken training courses related to your new career goal, it is helpful to list them as well. If you have yet to complete a programme, or even if you have only applied for but haven't yet begun one, include the details! It will show your continuing commitment to improve yourself.
Hints:
Should you include your rank, class obtained and overall percentage? There is no hard-and-fast rule. Only include them if you think they will help to enhance your case. Marks obtained many years ago may no longer be an accurate reflection of just how good you are today. If so, then leave them out. Mention the name of the degree or certificate first if your degree directly applies to the job you are applying for. Otherwise, mention the name of the institution first, especially if the institution has a very high reputation in professional circles.
Consider the overall impact of all the entries you will show in the education section of your resume before you decide. Remain consistent for all the entries. Do not change the order halfway down the list.
Now fill in the form below to complete the "education" section.
The Form
| College | |
| Educational Institution | |
| City, State | |
| Degree/Diploma | |
| Main Subjects | |
| Additional Subjects | |
| Rank/Class/Marks% | |
| Graduation Date (Month/Year) |
List names of courses and optional brief descriptions that directly apply to your career or the job being applied for.
Include here details of additional formal courses that you may have attended.
Provide details of relevant seminars or workshops attended, certificates received, etc. using the table above.
Notes:
1. In the forms shown above, the format has room to enter only one or two of your education or training details. This is only an example. Use as many rows and columns as you need.
2. Remember that education includes traditional academic learning and "hands-on" professional mini- courses. You may include membership of relevant professional institutes or technical colleges as well (e.g. Indian Productivity Council courses, Indian Institute of Management programmes, membership of ICWA ^etc.)
Work Experience
This section assumes that you are writing a resume in the reverse chronological order. If you decide that a functional format would be better for you, you can still use many of the things, you will learn from this section. The major difference is that you have to group your work experiences by job responsibility categories such as accounting skills, supervisory skills etc., as opposed to job titles such as Accountant, The Vanishing Chit Fund Company, or, Supervisor, The Collapsing Flyover Company, etc.
Your record of past work experience should clearly demonstrate your capability of doing the job you are now applying for.
Example
Experience
The Vanishing Chit Fund: Senior Accountant
1998 - present (promoted from Jr. Accountant)
- Managed team of 8 junior accountants including daily wok assignment and daily performance reviews.
- Successfully installed ORACLE based new accounting software two months ahead of schedule.
- Oversaw preparation of new departmental cost centre databases.
Before you begin the work experience section, you will wish to decide a few things.
- What do you want to call this section? Here are just a few possibilities. Note the connotation that goes with each title.
1. Work Experience (focuses attention on the quality of experiences you have had).
2. Work History (focuses attention on the fact that you have worked for a significant period of time, hence, you have a "history").
3. Professional Experience (suggests that the experiences you've had all required significant levels of professional education).
4. Related Experience (suggests that you are not listing all of your work experiences, only those that are related to the position for which you are applying. Cover the rest under a separate heading titled "Other Experience").
- What jobs are you going to include?
1. If this is not your first resume, leave off part time jobs held during school or college, unless they directly relate to the position for which you are applying.
2. Leave out temporary jobs as long as there aren't large gaps in your work history. A large gap is more than 6 months.
3. Decide which is more important from the following. This information will be listed first in the work experience section of your resume:
- "Where you worked (your employer).
- Position Title (the job you held).
4. Select the one that strengthens your candidature more.
You are now ready to fill the form below that details your work experience. You will come across a format for a functional list of work experience amongst the sample resume in Chapter 8.
The Form.
| Employer | Employer's Location (City, State) |
| Position Title | Dates of Employment (1/95 - 6/98 or, 1995 - 1998) |
| Activities | Action Verb Object Result |
The "Activities" entry in the table above needs further explanation. Select action verbs that describe the activities you performed at each job. If you're currently in the position, add an "ing" onto the end of the verb (e.g., facilitating), otherwise put the words in the past tense (e.g., facilitated). Then, list the object on which the verb is acting followed by the result of the action.
You may refer to the list of action verbs earlier in this chapter, under the section on "Summary of Qualifications". See the sample below, written for a counselor working with first year college students.
| Action Verb (The Action you do or did) |
Counseling/counseled |
| Object (Who/What you do or did it to) |
First year students |
| Result (How good you were at it) |
58% got First class in the term end examination. |
While you don't always have to fill in a result, employers love to learn not only what you did, but how much of it and how well! Quantifying the results is indeed an effective way to attract favourable attention.
Depending on the job being described, you may select 3 or 4 action verbs applicable to that job. Usually, your most recent job should be covered in detail. For other jobs, just one or two action verbs will usually suffice.
Activities/Interests
An "Activities/Interest" section in your resume is optional. Here are some reasons why you might decide to include it in your resume:
- To demonstrate that you are a well-rounded person who has more dimensions than just work.
- To point out skills that has been demonstrated in your non-professional life.
- To account for gaps in employment.
- As an interest generator (possibly the employer shares, or is intrigued by your interest).
While they sound similar, activities and interests are actually different things. Activities are structured, as with clubs, professional associations, etc. Examples would be Member of Computer Club, President of Alumni Association, Member of Residents Society, Red Cross Volunteer, etc. When you list activities, indicate the name of the organization, your role (e.g. member, volunteer, office held), and years of participation. For example: "Member, Computer Club of India, 1992 - 1995".
Interests, on the other hand, are unstructured individual pursuits. Examples would be reading, cross-country jogging, sewing, photography, tennis, etc. When listing interests, usually (but not always) your role is obvious, requiring no mention, and years are not relevant.
When you choose to include activities and interests on your resume, be aware that VA r there are some activities or interests to which certain employers may have a strong positive or negative reaction. Anything, which indicates a religious or political affiliation, or a position on a controversial political issue, should perhaps be avoided, or inserted with full knowledge of the likely consequences.
Example
There are a variety of different headings that you can use for this section. Two of them are illustrated below.
Volunteer Activities
General Secretary, Student's Gymkhana, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 1990-1991
Activities/Interests:
- Member, Indian Photographic Society, 1995 -present.
- Correspondent, "Mid Week", Mumbai, 1998 -2000.
- Honorary Treasurer, Resident's Association, 1997-98.
You must recognize, however, that the product so far will only be a rough draft. You will have the raw materials assembled, but not the finished product. In order to evaluate what you have written so that you can determine exactly what parts of your draft resume needs more work; read the next chapter, Chapter 6 "Rate Your Resume.