Ten ways to smarten your resume

[dheeraj]

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The first impression that a prospective employer will form of you is through your CV. Here are some tips to help you stand out.
 
1) What’s in a name?

The e-mail ID that appealed to you as a cocky 15-year-old is going to elicit just one reaction from prospective employers, guffaws. So, before you write a resume, get a respectable ID, preferably one that simply spells out your name. Also, stick to one contact number and don’t bother tacking on a fax number.
 
2) Don’t blind your employer:

If this is how your resume looks like, send a pair of sunglasses along with it. Always stick to one font and keep only key words in bold. Opt for a summary if you have been working for more than 10 years. “A recruiter’s attention span is 10-20 seconds, so you have to ensure that you grab it with a good beginning,” says Vivek Madhukar, senior vice-president, TimesJobs.com .
 
3) Avoid the ‘I’ syndrome:

You may be the centre of your universe, but the organisation won’t be inclined to think so. Don’t focus on what you want. The idea is to give a quick snapshot of what you can bring to the company. Use the job description to frame this as it will help you understand what the company wants from you and the key skills that are required.
 
4) Emphasise recent experiences:

You may be proud of every post you ever held, trainee upwards, but the employer is only interested in the one you held last. Downplay earlier experiences, especially those more than 10 years ago. Also, if you worked for a small company, mention what it did. Avoid shorter stints such as the last one in this resume.
 
5) Avoid too many details:

If there is a period in your work experience that you do not want to mention (if you were laid off), leave it out. However, if it is longer than a year, the gap will be obvious, so you may need to state what you were doing. If you were involved in an entrepreneurial activity, it could even be a point in your favour. “Even if a person has failed at a venture, I will hire him. He would have learnt from his mistakes, and will, hopefully, not repeat them,” says Sanjeev Parida, VP, HR, Tech Mahindra.
 
6) Get rid of the humdrum:

Do you really want to highlight skills that even a teenager will scoff at? Avoid jotting down commonplace abilities. Mention these only if they are relevant to your field, such as statistical modelling if you are applying to a financial firm. The same goes for other achievements that are redundant to the job, such as the course in personality development in this CV. Hobbies is another section that can be safely dropped, unless you have an outstanding one. “One extra-curricular activity that interests employers is involvement in social work as most companies have begun focusing on corporate social responsibility,” says Parida.
 
Article Courtesy – Economic Times