In the member-to-member email service of MS, I had one mail appreciating the article on “Writing Impressive Cover Letters” but requesting on an article on “Writing Resumes”. And rightly so, many of my juniors seem confused or anxious when it comes to writing a resume.
This is primarily because students are aware of the job scenario and the company they are applying is so famous and worth working for. So getting a job in THIS company becomes an important criteria. So the resume has to be the best one. But how to write one? What is to be included?
For campus interviews, I believe students are slightly lucky, since many obvious difficulties like “what is to be included?” gets solved. This is because here the job scene is different. Instead of you seeking a job, it is the industry that seeks you. So companies like L&T and Siemens, initially take the application forms as made by college – which is a very bad cyclostyled format and nothing closer to how “actual resumes” should be. But having narrowed down on a few candidates, these companies circulate their own resume forms, which are extremely detailed. The only concern that remains is how should the contents be filled to make an impression.
This part is perhaps not true for non-campus jobs wherein you have to make a resume from scratch. I would recommend that in such cases just visit any job sites on the Internet(say https://monsterindia.com, https://jobsahead.com, https://careerindia.com) and just try filling one form online. Now note what details have been asked and the order in which it has been asked.
Now that some things are clear, my next recommendation is to gather information about the company and the profile of the job that you are applying for. Also collect all the data about yourself through mark sheets, certificates, achievements, and awards… and keep it besides you. Bingo, you have done 50% of job already without writing a single word.
Now start filling up on a rough sheet. Filling up Name, Address, Contact number, Date of birth, Languages known will not pose any problems I guess. The concern comes in areas like.
Experience: Ideally tabulate it. Use two rows. Divide the first row in three columns –
Date or duration of job| Name of company| Location.
In the second row mention your
Then after suitable spacing, list out second project, then third etc. Start this procedure starting with the latest job and repeat the steps for jobs previous to the latest one.
There is one more approach. List the first job as the one where the project or skills match the requirements of the job that is being applied for.
There are a few things worth mentioning.
Keep the project title short and one line that explain it broadly since project title alone may not convey much.
Avoid verbose explanation.
Do not use first person like “I did designing of coil spring”. Just keep it like bullet points, “Designing of coil spring”.
Use words that may appeal to a GM, such as “implemented cost-effective solution”, “increased productivity”, “resulting in reduction in man-hours”.
Another plus in this “experience” section is mentioning the skill set. Besides the hardware or tools like “CNC Machine”, “ADC card” or software skills like “SAP”, “VB6”, “COM/DCOM” also mention skills at human levels like “high levels of inter-departmental interaction”, “team-work”, “cross-functional skills”.
This serves to automatically create an impression and arouse interest.
Educational Qualification: Simple rule here – State the latest first. These details can also be tabulated. Again use two rows. Divide first row in three columns. An example is
Date of passing| Name of Institute| Location.
June 1999|V.J.T.I.| Matunga(E)/Mumbai
In the second row, you can mention the electives for final year and the marks in percentage or grade or grade points whichever your university believes in.
Then mention the qualification before this and so on. As for HSC and SSC mention only percentage, details are not required.
If your course was semester pattern, avoid mentioning% details for all semesters and mention either last year’s marks or in some colleges like V.J.T.I. it is combined marks for Sem 5 to Sem 8. This way, students with KT may be in luck(unless they have KT in final year).
Besides college/school details you can mention other qualifications too like “GNIIT from NIIT” or “IMPACT from SSi”.
Extra curricular activities: This is a major gray area for a majority of students since they pursue only academic. Only a few find themselves in college sport teams or dramatics, arts etc and have a backup proof like certificate. Some participates in college festivals like “Malhar”, “Pratibimb” etc, some organize departmental activities like holding “inter-collegiate quiz/contest/essay-writing etc. Some are involved in college/department magazines/websites. Put all that in resume(provided that there are documents as proof). Many, though only “listen to music”, “read books/papers” and do not create much of impact but still nevertheless put something in this section and just in case you get selected, think of valid answers for any questions directed in this section.
Add one section at the end. I do not know what title should be given but mention points that may interest the employer such as
hard-working, enterprising, good-grasping skills.
willing to travel.
willing to work on week-ends.
Other guidelines
Use MS Word Templates – either “Professional” or “Elegant”.
Use A4 size executive bond paper and leave suitable margins and spaces.
Do not exceed 2 pages under any circumstances.
Check for spelling mistakes and other such errors. Also get it checked from one or two more person.
Keep the font to a simple “Times New Roman” or “Helvetica” size 11 or 12.
If company has British or European links, keep title as “Curriculum vitae”. If American keep it “Resume”.
Also write a proper cover letter. Kindly refer “Don’t let your resume be Nude. Cover it!” article on MS by achougoo(myself … ha! Ha!)
Go ahead! That job is yours, now!