Resume writing – Tips and Tricks

July 25, 2007

A friend of mine was wanting me to review his resume and needed some tips on how to improve on it. There have been several such cases in the past when my friends usually come down to discuss upon it and have to help them all individually. Similarly, I just went on to review his resume and started with writing down the tips for him and decided to put it as a post here so that it helps all others who may need help with editing their Resume. I had such similar tips written earlier related to writing Email Etiquettes. So here we go…

A great resume has the ring of truth. From the moment you pick it up you sense that the person behind it is a professional, giving you just the information you need to be convinced of that - and nothing more.

Forms of Resumes (in the way how they are scanned)Resume received by a recruiter may be in a Soft Copy (Document saved in the system) or a Hard Copy (Printed on a sheet of paper). However, these are scanned in the following methods:

• Electronically Scanned
• Manually Scanned

Electronically ScannedOne may send his/her resume via email or may have uploaded it on a job site. These resumes reach the recruiter in a bulk quantity and they need to sort out from the thousands. The process goes this way, that they would have software that does a relevant search for them as per their requirement. If the engine finds the particular word in your resume, Bingo – you just got lucky! Your resume is short listed for an overview and possibly you may get an interview call. And few others those who got the talent and the right one to fit the job, but since those points not mentioned in your resume – sorry you have just got a rejection. So it is very important that you have all the maximum words of all those processes or application that you may have worked on.

Manually ScannedYou always have the first 10 seconds or less to impress the reader. This is when the recruiter takes a look at your Resume. The first look to your Resume should say it all. Aah! Here is the one that we just wanted. Does the first page of your resume say it all? Well, you may need a little bit of fine tuning if not. Let’s give an attempt now to make it the best scan able format.

Types of Resume

• Student Resume
• Professional Resume

Student ResumeA Student Resume will focus mainly on your academics. This is applied when you are a fresher who have just finished college and hunting a job.

Professional ResumeA Professional Resume will focus on your work profile more than the academics and is applied at least after 5 years of your professional work experience.

Here is an architecture into which a good resume might fit:

 

Name and contact details (Do not mention the Postal Address here)Email id and phone numbers Your Name in Bold, Qualification (if necessary in case a BE or PG), etc…Other contact details or location Job handle, eg. Marketing Executive

Brief Introduction and ObjectiveA brief profile or introduction that summarizes what you have to offer and what you have achieved so far, using keywords that will attract recruiters and taking up no more than a few lines.

Start with your Objective that would be specific to the job you are applying for and a brief detail of what you have been doing so as to summarize the reader about your Resume. You can use a handful of bullet points that encapsulate your most important assets, not crazy claims or ambitious objectives. Stick to the highest level of concept that applies to your career; you will be justifying these assets later in the resume. Include a couple of headline achievements, whether numerical or intangible; you can even include disasters that you prevented from happening. Show how your professionalism has deepened and give a suggestion of the levels at which you can operate and the vision and approach that will inspire your future performance.

ProfessionalIf your professional assets focus mainly on achievement and experience you can have a section here that describes your skills, your knowledge, the technology you have mastered, the business scenarios your can operate in, the sectors you know about, the level of negotiation you are able to engage at, the conceptual level of your vision and professional influence. If your work record in the most recent job is the most spectacular thing in your working life or you can push this section to page 2 of the resume, after the career narrative. If your main claim to fame is your knowledge and qualifications you can headline those assets here where they will immediately catch attention; if not this section might belong on page 2. If your professional assets are a mix of expertise and qualifications this handy section title enables you to cover every inch of the ground in about 1/3 of a page instead of having lots of different sections for skills, achievements and education; focus mainly on what matters most.

If as a student, who has just finished college and hunting for a job; you may have to stress the most on your academics in this section. We would call this section “Education” and focus on the value of any training, schooling or college studies. We might in that case also include projects that have the effect of illustrating your initiative and teamwork. The true objective of a younger person’s resume is to demonstrate a mature career choice and personality.

Recent CareerIf your recent working achievements are paramount move this section before the professional assets so that the name of the employer, your job title and your professional roles are what first catches attention; this section should occupy nearly the final 1/3 of page 1 and about half of page 2, enough so they can see who you’ve been working for and at what level. At the most you want to focus on the last 5-6 years, the last employer if you’ve been there longer or the last couple of jobs or contracts if that fits your employment pattern. There are no rules about what you have to say but it works best to set the scene, break your story down into roles and areas of influence and tell the reader how you have conducted yourself.

A good working formula is, for each aspect of your work that you want to tell them about:

1. What did you find or what was the brief,
2. How did you plan your actions against what objectives or to solve what problems,
3. What creative innovations or above-and-beyond input did you contribute,
4. What were the outcomes and the measurable levels of success of your involvement?

By now you have probably summarized the most recent most senior job title or role within your recent work and you are probably moving on to page 2; chose something else that is impressive to catch the reader’s attention a second time.

Then move down the hierarchy of your recent work, avoiding repeating anything and taking the reader back to when you started that job, so they can see your promotion and progression. If you have had several promotions at the same organization it is probably best to list those on page 1 at the head of this section and break this narrative section down into roles such as: product development, culture change, supplier relations, legal and contract work, human resources, training leadership, sales promotion, marketing collateral, leadership team and strategic planning, financial evaluation and systems improvement - whatever it happens to be that you have been gaining expertise at.

Eventually you will find you have exhausted your recent career. When this happens, you may need to edit or restructure what you have written or you may find room for expansion. It always works to show what you have written to people you trust and get their honest feedback (while ignoring their out-of-date opinion of what a resume should be).

Previous/Early CareerIf you use a separate heading like this it shows that you know how to prioritize your career history and it gives you the freedom to vary your résumé’s format so it can contain a great deal of information in a short space. Using this format you can summarize 10 valuable years in a couple of lines without throwing them away. If all the jobs were similar you can use functional headings such as: Transition from Assistant to Marketing Director, 1990-2001 - then list the organizations you worked for and summarize the main roles and achievements. If the jobs or roles were very different this format gives you the power to break them out and group them in whatever way best suits you; take that freedom with both hands and let the story of your life sound as interesting as it really is. Do not be afraid of complexity: we have all been part of mergers and business collapses; we have all had to deal with challenging people; most of us have been greatly influenced by technology changes and the fashions in business gurus; just let it all be there in your resume but focused on you and your ability to roll with the punches and catch the waves. By now you are well down page 2 of your resume. If the space looks crowded, you can go down as low as 9.5 font size in Tahoma and even 9 in Arial or Verdana. The only other universal font that is native to Windows is Times Roman, which looks OK printed but terrible on screen. Avoid other faces that recruiters may not have on their systems and avoid all graphic effects, boxes, photos, etc.

A personal sectionThis could include things like languages you speak, countries where you have done business, study or research you undertake out of leisure interest, involvement with good causes, and participation in fitness activities or any hobbies that show you in a good light. The more senior you are the less this helps, whereas for new graduates it could give their resume some welcome bulk.

And here you can again mention all your Contact Details etc… including your postal Address.

ReferencesYou may mention here will be provided on request; or may also include some 2 or 3 names if you desire.

Resume Do’s and Don’ts

DO

Be concise.Your resume should be an outline of your career and qualifications. It is a place for bulleted points— items easily read with a quick scan. You can expound upon things in your cover letter and go into detail in interviews.

Show results.Quantify your on-the-job accomplishments. Show the reader how you cut costs, increased revenue, developed products/procedures, etc. For example, “Designed the audio module for the company’s state-of-the-art virtual reality simulator” sounds more impressive than “Assisted in the production of”

Also, where you can use figures, do so. Cut costs by how much? Increased revenue how much? Managed department of how many?

Create a resume that fits the job you’re after.Especially important for career changers, you should highlight your skills that are pertinent for the job you want. For instance, a librarian with strong computer programming skills who set up a research database might want to explore work in information systems. On his resume, his computer expertise would get lost using a chronological format. Instead, a functional resume emphasizing his information systems skills would better present this information. Remember, there is nothing unusual about having two or three resumes on hand targeted for different types of jobs.

Carefully proofread and edit your resume.Take the time to read your resume at least twice and read it aloud to help catch awkward phrasing. A tip: After you’ve read your resume, get away from it for a while before reading it again. Reading it over and over makes you more prone to skim over sections and overlook mistakes.

Make the effort and investment to produce a quality finished product.If you do not have access to a personal computer, don’t rely on your typewriter; make a trip to a copy center. Most chains offer computer and printer rentals for minimal cost. With a draft of your resume prepared before you go in, you should be able to create your resume and get multiple copies on high-quality paper (ask at the counter for paper) for less than $15. It’s a small investment when you consider the long-term return.

Keep your resume up to date.You might be comfortable and happy in your current situation, but you never know You never know when you might learn of a more ideal job; You never know when your department might be reduced or restructured; You never know when your personal situation might dictate the search for a new job (i.e., your spouse gets an attractive offer in another city).

It’s rare that anyone has lifetime contentment and security in a job. Always be prepared. Especially as you get promotions and new responsibilities, you should note these in your resume, purging outdated material. Also, if you develop outside interests that might make you more marketable (new computer skills, published articles, learning a foreign language), be sure to add these.

DON’T

Don’t be cute or fancy when it comes to layout and presentation.Desktop publishing programs can be dangerous things. Even the most basic word processing programs on the market today offer users great flexibility to create. A variety of fonts, point sizes, and special characters are at your fingertips as is the ability to bold, italicize and underline words. When it comes to your resume, however, use restraint. Save the flashy stuff for your party invitations and holiday newsletters.

Your resume is one of the first impressions you give an employer. You want to show, that you are a viable candidate for the job. Your ability to use multiple fonts and graphics is irrelevant. For a clean, professional-looking resume, it’s best to err on the conservative side (a good font: Times New Roman).

Don’t use passive phrases.Outlining your work history by stating “Duties included” or “Was responsible for” takes away from what you actually accomplished. Show action in your statements with words such as developed, designed, generated, sold, and wrote. See the list of power verbs.

Don’t exaggerate.Padding your resume is not acceptable. You should be able to tell from a job description whether or not you are qualified. And even if you’re not a perfect fit, it’s likely that few others are, either. Don’t try to make up qualifications for a specific job. Employers’ want ads are often wish lists, and they don’t necessarily expect every applicant to have all the desired qualifications.

Don’t overlook non-work experiences.Your time organizing a charity fund-raiser, presiding over a cultural organization or even participating in groups such as Toastmasters not only looks good on resumes, but also gives you legitimate professional experience.

Don’t include frivolous information.Photographs, marital status, high school information, salary requirements and even references should not be included.

Don’t label the document “Resume”.It is readily apparent what you are presenting. Some make the mistake of using “Resume” at the top near his/her name. It is not needed.

Let’s take an example on some of the information your Resume may containName, Contact Details, Education Qualification, School / College Attended, Career / Job Objectives, Projects implemented, Internship, Organizations served, Job title, Independent trainings, Sponsored training, Activities, Sports participation (if necessary), Public performance details (if any), Awards and accomplishments, Publications, reports, published articles web log or website if any, etc…

Grade your Resume:

• Now reading the above, get back to your self created Resume and grade it. With this you will find:
• Does your resume catch the attention of the reader immediately or will that land up in a scrap!
• Does it give clarity of what job you want?
• Does it give an impression about your mixed messages on your experience and expertise?

Here is how we will grade it:For each question, you will have to grade it to the score of 5 with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. Let the total grade scores be as follows:A Grade = 25-30B Grade = 20-24C Grade = 15-19D Grade = 10-14E Grade = 0-9

Remember: No Cheating!

Here are the Questions: (Grade your Resume Now)

• Attention Getting – (Could you get the attention of the reader?)
• No Contradictions – (Does it make a perfect sense?)
• To the Point – (Does that make the reader quickly understand at a point?)
• The Experience Adds Up – (Is that relevant or compelling your job history?)
• It’s clear – (Does it convey; What you are? and What you want?)
• My edge Shows – (How different are you from others or just another guy with his Resume?)

After you are done with Rating, find out the flaws in your resume and think where you can improve upon. How do you get your Resume to the Grade A. How to get all the above questions to Point 5? Then go back and rework on your resume and make it the Best one.Would that be difficult for rating the above few questions? Please do let me know how you found this post. Did this help you in any way or got some suggestions? I will be glad to hear them.

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Posted in Tips