How to write your RESUME effectively?
A resume is considered as a summary of all relevant education, experiences, professional skills and various accomplishments which are relevant to the desired field of work. The purpose of a resume is to get one’s “foot in the door” in order to get through an interview. Resume highlights persons accomplishments to show potential employers that the person is qualified for the said position. The resume is not a biography of things which one has done. The average time which is spent reviewing a resume is generally 12-15 seconds.For preparing a successful resume one needs to review, summarize and present his/her experiences and achievements in an effective manner.
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The two page resume is not necessary unless the person has considerable experience. It is important that, the resume should be very brief and concise. The resume should be focused on a person’s qualifications and his transferable skills, and should suggest future contributions that a person can make to the employer. The resume should be up-to-date, so it should be rewarded and reprinted as often as necessary, it is considered as a good idea to get resume updated every time a person has new accomplishment or credential.
Resume serves as an initial contact with the employers and is the most important item in determining whether a person will obtain a call for interview or not. A resume is a brief “advertisement” of persons skills, knowledge, and various relevant experience. If a person is seeking position across industries, the person should make several versions of his resume specific for each job position which person is seeking. The resume should emphasize on candidate’s strong points, expressing his uniqueness and individuality. Therefore, the resume should be presented by the candidate himself clearly, succinctly, and confidently. Suggestions should be used to develop a resume and various samples should be consulted to gather ideas.
One page is considered as the most appropriate length, because most candidates lack sufficient levels of experience for two pages. However, individuals who have added experiences and degrees need a two-page resume for presenting relevant details adequately.Length of resume may vary by various career fields. For a first-year student, it is appropriate for him to include all information from high school years in a resume. As a person continues to grow professionally and starts gaining experiences which demonstrate more relevance to particular career field, a person can omit items which are outdated and are no longer highlighting person’s current abilities. It is recommended that the information about high school years should be omitted from professional resume by the time one begins his junior years.
Most employers want a clear and a career-specific objective on candidates résumé
A resume is a guiding statement which helps them to direct candidates résumé to the appropriate person, for obtaining appropriate jobs, along with giving résumé a focus. The resume should be short and should provide succinct description of the type of position which a person is currently seeking. It is considered best if candidates’ goals are well defined for an objective. The most difficult task while writing objective is balancing candidate’s statements between being too specific and broad.
There are three types of resume formats which can be chosen: chronological, functional, and combination.
Chronological: It organizes information within the sections in the reverse chronological order .This is most commonly used format, considered beneficial if the candidate has progressive experiences in type of position which a person is seeking.
Combination: It organizes information in chronological order within the functional categories. An effective way is to separate different type of experiences a candidate has, like “Marketing Experience” and “Arts Experience”. This type of format allows to include relevant positions closer in a person’s resume, even if he has done less relevant position recently.
Functional: It organizes information “functionally” in various types of skills, qualifications,experiences and accomplishments. It de-emphasizes on dates and highlights various transferable skills rather than other work history. It is grouped into various categories like “Leadership,” “Technical” and “Interpersonal”. Work History is listed separately and includes position, employer, location.
Very often one inch margin all around is recommended to keep resume from being cluttered with text. Use of plain typeface, like Arial or Times New and Roman should be made . Also, the font size should be between 10 to 12 points.Headings and name can be emphasized with use of larger font size. Consistent spacing should be used throughout the resume for a pleasing presentation.
Elements of an effective resume are:
• HEADING
• OBJECTIVE
• EDUCATION
• EXPERIENCE
• HONORS AND AWARDS
• SKILLS /HIGHLIGHTS
• REFERENCES
Various items that should be a part of resume are:
1. Name: Resume should start with candidate’s NAME and his complete contact information (address, phone and email address).
2. Certifications: There should be a list of professional certifications or licenses.
3. Education: Summarized education in reverse order, it should start with last degree or place where the candidate is working now, Including school name, city, state, degree, date of degree honored along with GPA only if it is 3.0 or higher.
4. Courses: To tailor a resume according to specific job it should include lists of relevant courses.
5. Honors/Awards/Activities: achievements like scholarships, Dean’s List, contribution in clubs, camps, sports etc. should be highlighted.
6. Research: Special projects or research of significant relevance should also be highlighted .Like,various research projects, independent study, presentations, research papers.
7. Experience: experience, regardless of how it was acquired it is usually of great interest to the reader. For each position, it should include:
Job Title:(which should be followed by date of employment), Employer, City, State. Emphasize either employers or the job titles, but it should be consistent. Describe the responsibilities, various duties and accomplishments, using list format along with the bullets.
8. Skills: they are of great interest to employers. They indicate the computer hardware and software knowledge along with fluency in acquired foreign languages and other technical skills.
9. Interests: List interests, but only if a candidate has real knowledgeable about something or is very good at it.
10. Affiliations: List of professional or the volunteer affiliations or memberships (if applicable).
