Effective and Attractive Resume

How to Prepare an Effective and Attractive Resume?
Nowadays, preparating a strong resume has become very important for job-seekers. Though it is a simple subject, a lot of confusion prevails on this aspect. Professional resume writers and human resource consultants differ on many aspects of resume writing and presentation. This article tries to clarify certain basics relating to the preparation of an attractive and effective resume.
"The first impression is the best impression" is an apt saying regarding resume writing. A resume provides a good opportunity to the job seekers to meet, of course indirectly, with the prospective employers. In view of this, the resume occupies a significant place in the job market. Those who wish to enter the job market are very curious to get acquainted with the basics of resume preparation and its significance.
A good resume is a self-marketing tool for finding a job or making a career change. Its aim is to secure a job interview. Though it is a simple subject to handle, nobody knows exactly where to start, where to end, what to include, what not to state, how to present oneself in the resume, and so on and so forth. For instance, a photo is mandatory in resumes for German employers; in India it is very much preferred for most positions, but the same is strongly discouraged in the US (except modeling and theatre industries).
Similarly, in the 1980s and early 1990s, in the US, the trend was not to allow a resume to exceed one page in length. In the late 1990s, this restriction fell out of vogue, with two or even three-page resumes becoming common. This conflicting and contradictory information from different sources made the job of resume writing more and more complicated.
Resume
Resume is a French word, which means `to summarize'. In simple terms, a resume is a summary of the qualifications of a job seeker. A resume is a document containing a summary or listing of relevant job experience and education, usually for the purpose of obtaining an interview while seeking employment. Very often, the resume is the first item that a potential employer encounters regarding the job seeker and, therefore, a large amount of importance is often ascribed to it.
Curriculum Vitae
In North America, Australia and even India also instead of resume, people call it curriculum vitae. It is a Latin word, which means `course of life'. To be more clear, `a brief account of a person's qualifications, skills and previous occupations, sent with a job application. It is used in many places outside of the Anglo-American world. It's abbreviated as `CV' and the plural form is `curriculum vitae.'
Resume vs. Curriculum Vitae
The terms `Résumé' and `Curriculum vitae' are used interchangeably in many countries. As a matter of fact, there is no significant difference as far as usage of these words is concerned. But, conceptually, these two terms can be differentiated in terms of its length, the content and the purpose.
A resume is a one or two page summary of the skills, experience and education. The goal of resume writing is to be brief and concise because the potential employer cannot waste much of his time and will be able to spend only a few minutes to review it. In the US, a potential employer expects different resumes for different positions. And, moreover, the information such as name, contact details, education, skills and experience, etc. should be included in the resume.
A CV, on the other hand, is a longer (two or more pages), more detailed synopsis when compared to that of a resume. Moreover, in the US, a CV is used primarily for applying to international, academic, educational, scientific or research positions or for applying for fellowships or grants. The CV, in addition to the information that is provided in the resume, also provides some more information relating to the research and teaching experience, publications, grants and fellowships, professional associations and licenses, awards and other information relevant to the position applied for.
Professional resume writers and human resource consultants treat these terms as interchangeable. Hence, in this article, the terms `resume' and `curriculum vitae' are used as synonyms.
Resume vs. Biodata
Unfortunately, without knowing the meaning of the term `biodata' fully, many people across several nations, particularly in South Asian nations, use it as a synonym for resume. Biodata is a commonly used term in industrial and organizational psychology for biographical data. This data indicates probable future behavior of the people based on an individual's prior learning history. The advantage with biodata instruments is that they can capture directly the past behavior of a person, probably the best predictor of his or her future actions.
The term `biodata' is used in the context of marriages especially in South Asian countries and it is in no way concerned with the job market or employment. Generally, the biodatas are being exchanged before the marriage to verify the suitability of the persons who want to get married. People misunderstand and misuse these two concepts because of the similarity in the information content. The biodata usually contains most of the information in a resume, in addition to that, physical attributes such as height, weight, color of the skin and a photo are also included. What most differentiates a biodata from a regular resume is the information about the person's family, such as parents, brothers and sisters, etc.
Structure
A well-written, well-structured resume normally provides the following:
1. Identifying Information: Personal details such as name, address, contact numbers (both land and mobile) and e-mail address should be incorporated. While mentioning the name, the resume writer should make sure that it is centrally aligned at the top of the page, use all upper case letters, increase the font size and make it bold. It is also better to provide both temporary and permanent addresses, if they are different. If they are the same, mention the address at the center of the page below the name. Mention the e-mail address below the address if you check mails on a regular basis. Photos are not required at all, unless requested. The more ways that you can be contacted, the easier it makes it for the potential employer to get in touch with you.
2. Objectives/Job Target: Whether to include or exclude objective/job target in the resume has been a subject of debate. Unanimity is not there among the professional resume writers and human resource consultants with regard to the objective. This is often the most difficult part of the resume. It is usually placed under the heading. It is really just a brief description of immediate career goals of the applicant. The key is to keep it short and concise, and to make it relevant to the job for which the job seeker is applying. It is a brief description of the specific kind of job the applicant is seeking—accountant, sales officer, data entry operator, etc. While writing the objective, avoid the use of the personal pronouns `I' and `my'. The stated objective should be neither too general nor too specific. In both the cases, there is a chance that the reader may reject the resume. If you are focusing on a specific job, objective setting can be useful. Do not include an objective which is meant for a variety of jobs within an organization or for writing a general resume. If the objective is vague, better leave it out.
3. Skills/Capabilities: This is a summary of the attributes/skills/capabilities or rather, professional assets of the applicant that are relevant to the position being targeted. There is no point including irrelevant information here, keep it concise and firmly targeted to the position applied for. The applicant should include some key words that might attract the attention of the future employer. These might be tools or equipment, accreditations, languages, methods of work or system. They are generally industry-specific and would be used by people who really do work in that industry.
4. Education and Training: This is nothing but a reverse chronological list of the job seeker's education or training, including a list of qualifications such as academic qualifications and professional qualifications. In other words, the applicant should provide total educational background, which includes the post graduate degree, basic degree, intermediate, matriculation, schooling, specializations in various courses, name of the education and training institution(s), dates of completion of various courses, class/grade obtained, percentage of marks and any special workshops or seminars attended, related coursework or projects. Computer skills are of great interest to prospective employers. List hardware, software, and any type of related experiences. Include the academic honors or academic accomplishments also in this section.
5. Career History/Work Experience: This is a summary of the applicant's entire career history or work experience, including current role. The applicant should include job title, the name and location of the organization and the tenure of employment. Information relating to the job duties and accomplishments should be provided briefly using strong action verbs. The early career days can be clustered together in a short summary, but recent jobs should illustrate concept, planning, achievement and roles. List out the most recent or current job first and work back. While providing the applicant's work experience, list the experiences using appropriate functional heads such as administrative experience, experience in providing training, research experience, business experience, teaching experience, leadership experience, community service experience, etc.
6. Other Information: This section can be used to highlight the skills that were not gained through work or education, but are relevant to the job. These may include leadership or teamwork skills acquired through professional clubs, academic teams, or organized sports. This section incorporates any relevant interest of the job seekers. It can also be used to provide the applicants voluntary work, if any, but it should be a job related one. This information is used to evaluate the applicant's suitability or to understand applicant's `personality type'.
7. References: This is the last part of the resume and may be placed at the bottom. The resume writer should get prior permission from the individuals whose names he wishes to mention as references. It is also advisable to add the names of persons as references whom the employer can contact easily. If possible add the phone number and e-mail ID of the reference. Never add a person as a reference about whom you know nothing. There is no unanimity among the resume writers and human resource professionals on the inclusion of references. Most of the resume writers in recent times have tried to avoid this section. So, better to avoid this section or the best bet is to say `Reference available on request'.
Depending on the format and requirement of the position applied for, the components of the resume and its emphasis vary. Whatever be the format and information content in the resume, every resume should necessarily carry a covering letter. The purpose of the covering letter is to express the applicant's concern towards the position of the organization. Whatever energies the job seeker has spent to design a resume, the same should also be extended to build up an effective covering letter as well.
Style
A job seeker can present the information in the resume in different ways or different styles. The available format of resumes can be classified into three categories. They are—chronological resume, functional resume and combination resume.
Chronological Resume: The chronological format is the traditional format, but a very popular resume layout in use. Typically, a chronological resume is organized in the following order:
i) Identifying information
ii) Objectives (optional)
iii) Skills/capabilities (optional)
iv) Career history/work experience
v) Education (optional)
vi) Other information (optional)
vii) Reference (optional).
This kind of format highlights career history/work experience of the applicant which includes employer's name and location, dates of employment, positions held, job responsibilities and accomplishments, etc. It enumerates a candidate's job experiences in reverse chronological order. Another significant aspect about this format is that career history occupies about 70% of this resume. If the educational background is the most important for the position applied for, include education first and career history next. Components like objectives, skills, other information and references are also not that significant in this type of format. The specified order and components other than career history vary across the resumes. This format is most suitable to those who have a rich and stable employment history.
Functional Resume: Most of the components of the functional resume are organized in the same manner as a chronological resume, except for work experience and accomplishments. Instead of listing each position held by the applicant in a detailed time line, work experience and accomplishments are organized according to area of skill. The order of a functional resume are as follows:
i) Identifying information
ii) Objectives (optional, but suggested if not using skills summary)
iii) Summary of skills/qualifications (optional, but suggested if not using job objectives)
iv) Skills/achievements profile
v) Education (optional).
With the functional resume, qualifications, experience and accomplishments are grouped together according to skill sets, rather than tied to specific positions and dates. It emphasizes what the applicant has achieved and not where and when the applicant has achieved it. The idea is to highlight the applicant's skills in particular areas. The information normally highlighted in this format are: communication skills, leadership skills, customer service experience, organizational skills, technical skills, instructional experience, sales experience, etc. The specified order and components other than summary of skills vary across resumes. This is the most suitable format for those who don't have a stable work history and also for a fresher.
Combination Resume: The combination resume is a hybrid resume which incorporates the features of both a chronological resume and a functional resume. It balances the chronological and functional approaches. It incorporates the functional list of job skills first followed by a chronological list of employers or vice-versa.
Most Common Mistakes in a Resume
With a view to impress the potential employers, the job seekers are more concerned about core content of the resume and are normally negligent towards some common and simple things. These simple things at a later stage turnout to be mistakes and spoil the chances of getting an interview call. The most common mistakes in a resume are:
1. Spelling and grammatical mistakes
2. Punctuation errors
3. Using typical font style, too many font styles, small fonts and too many font sizes
4. Using too many capitals, italics, underlines and bold
5. Inappropriate margins of the page
6. Lengthy objectives
7. Incorrect contact information i.e. wrong address, wrong telephone numbers
8. Mentioning age, gender, marital status, height and weight.
9. Exaggerating or falsifying certain aspects
10. Insertion of a photograph
11. Usage of I/my/he/she
12. Abbreviations or jargon that is difficult to understand
13. Reasons for leaving the last job
14. Past failures or health problems
15. Mentioning expected salary
16. Quoting the references
17. Printing on both sides of a paper
18. Sending a xerox copy
19. Sending an old resume
20. Using color or glossy paper.
Guidelines to Prepare an Effective and a Great-looking Resume
The employment market is changing all the time and so are the resumes. Some employers, in recent times, are using scanning technology to sort a reasonable number of promising resumes from huge stacks of resumes. Information is easily missed with scanners if the resume has fancy treatments such as italics, underlines, shadows or reverses. Therefore, the resume should be as simple, clear, and concise as possible. Here are a few tips to convert a normal resume into a catchy one:
1. Tailor-made/Customized: A resume should always be tailor-made or customized or prepared according to the situation or according to the position applied for. In other words, always prepare the resume with a targeted job or assignment in mind, even if this is not explicitly stated in the resume. Never send a ready-made resume for all kinds of jobs in various enterprises.
2. Be Precise: Employers have a busy schedule, so don't expect them to read through a long resume. Ideally, resumes should be of one page, or of two pages if absolutely necessary, to describe relevant work experience. The resume should be to the point. The size of the resume can further be restricted by using carefully selected and effective words. Avoid lengthy narrations. Use of language is extremely important. Address the potential employer's needs with clearly written, compelling words.
3. Set the Objective: This is really just a brief description of immediate career goals of the applicant. The key is to keep it short and concise and to make it relevant to the job. Once it is determined, the resume can be built up with suitable content. Preparing a resume without having a clear objective in mind will, likely, defeat the purpose for which it is being prepared.
4. Prioritize the Information: A recruiter is not interested in knowing the applicant's father's name on opening up the resume. He would rather prefer to know about educational background and work experience, skills and other job-related aspects. Prioritize the information in the CV to hold the attention of the recruiter.
5. Highlight in the Right Places: Learn to highlight at the right place in the resume. If the applicant thinks that any of his particular achievements gives him a cutting edge over other job seekers for a particular opening, let him emphasize that. For example, a fresher can highlight academic achievements, if any, in the resume. Similarly, an experienced job seeker can highlight job-related achievements.
6. Check for Mistakes: Make sure that the resume is free from grammatical and spelling mistakes. It is an evidence of good communication skills and attention to detail. Mistakes in resumes can give the impression that the candidate is not properly prepared. It also demonstrates the carelessness in resume building and may create an impression that the candidate might not have written the facts properly, or that the resume is exaggerated. Moreover, it gives the impression that the candidate may do the same in handling a real situation at the workplace, which may create problems for the team and the organization.
7. Easy-to-read Format: Make a resume that can be read easily. Stay away from the fancy or cutesy types, and stick to traditional typefaces like Times Roman, Bookman, Ariel, etc. Resist the urge to play with typefaces. Pick one and stick with it. Never use anything smaller than 10-point type for the body of the resume. Don't change the font size frequently. Use bullets wherever they are relevant. This will not only help to read the resume quickly but also help the reader to scan the resume efficiently and effectively.
8. Use Keywords/Buzzwords: The applicant should include some keywords/buzzwords that an employer might be looking for. These might be tools or equipment, accreditations, languages, methods of work or systems. They are generally industry-specific and would be used by people who really do work in that industry. If such terms are available to show the competence of the applicant in a particular field, better use it. For marketing people, use `competitive analysis'. For accounting types, use `reconciled accounts'.
9. Be Honest: The resume writer should be as honest as possible. The applicant should avoid false details of qualification, experience, etc. which he may find difficult to justify and support later. Being dishonest causes lack of confidence in the interview and handling of the imminent job.
10. Third-party Review: Getting feedback from someone on the effectiveness and look of the resume is always better. Have someone review on the job search objective, education details, experience, skills, accomplishment, etc. Along with the content, get the opinion on font size, font style, line spacing, margins, color of the paper, appearance, etc. This sort of exercise helps the resume writer to discover items inadvertently omitted in the resume and to make modifications wherever required.