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| A resume is the first impression you can make on a prospective employer and is the key to an interview call. A good resume should be well-structured, short yet informative and ideally guarantee an interview call. Here are a few tips on resume writing:
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Tip 1: Be truthful in whatever you say
Never lie. Employers do background checks these days and if you are caught, you could probably be blacklisted from many other companies if the one applied for is part of a well-diversified multinational conglomerate like Disney which has a bouquet of enterprises across the entertainment industry.
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Tip 2: Use a clear font style and visible font size
Avoid curvy or ornamental fonts with ambiguous lettering styles. Also ensure that the font size is readable. Arial, Times New Roman & Verdana are some of the most widely used fonts for resume drafting. 12 is an ideal font size.
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Tip 3: Cross check your address and contact information
Wrong contact information could undo all the hard work of going through advertisements, preparing the resume, mailing it and waiting for the interview call. Of what use is your resume if it’s power-packed with all the right content but has a wrong email address or Tel no.? You could miss an interview call. It’s always better to provide an alternative contact number and email address. Just in case!
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Tip 4: Study the job descriptions in advertisements to find key words
Browse through recruitment advertisements to get a fair idea about the keywords for the job you are applying to. A resume which carries the keywords that an employer is looking for stands a greater chance to be included in the “Interview Call list”.
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Tip 5: Highlight your skills and explain the benefits to the employer
Remember that an employer’s primary reason for recruiting you is to seek services that fulfill the job requirement in question and to add value to his business. Mention your skills and clearly explain to the employer the benefits of your skills in terms of job efficiency and business value. Support your claims wherever possible with recognitions & other documents for proof.
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Tip 6: Keep the resume design simple but appealing
Your resume is an information document and not an art canvas. The recruiter is interested more in your skills and ‘academic & professional track-record’ details than anything else. Do not use heavy designs, ornamental bullets and loud colours. A resume in which design dominates content may put off the recruiter, suppress important information and work against your interview chances.
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Tip 7: Use simple language
Do not pepper your resume with jargon and superlatives just for the sake of attracting the recruiter’s attention. On the contrary, such practices will actually backfire.
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Tip 8: Authenticate your qualities and strengths
Empty claims such as “Iam highly committed, prompt and result-oriented” do not make an impact. Rather, they give an impression that you are exaggerating or perhaps even bluffing. It’s always better to say “Iam prompt” with an example or track-record statement that proves this quality.
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Tip 9: Prioritize the content
Arrange the information in a neat, spacious and clutter-free manner and prioritize sections keeping the reader (HR executive) in mind.
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Tip 10: Don’t mention irrelevant / unnecessary information
Try not to mention hobbies, sports achievements and other trivia unless it is directly connected with the job responsibilities / requirements.
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