Resumes are something which is minutely examined and studied before you are called up for the interview. Well, it's a Myth! Currently, it is huge hiring happening at Emipro. As HR Manager, I have dozens of resumes popping up on my PC screen every day. To be honest, I will never invest my time to review any resume that seems to be unprofessional, unmanaged, untidy, monotonous or boring. Your resume should work as your non-verbal promotion. It should reveal your own brand and how you can uplift employer's brand. It should be a strong reflection of you, your abilities, your skills, your strengths and major accomplishments. So Let me share few tips which can help you to craft your resume in a better way.
Give a Crisp coat of Formatting to your resume
Does your resume have cluttered information with no proper alignment? If yes then it is high time for you to modify it and format it in most beautiful way. If your resume is crammed with details and having no tables, bullets or bordering, no employer will take efforts to see your high qualifications or skills or anything which can click him/her to call you up for an interview. The resume should have a proper page border, up to date centre/left alignment and uses of tables bullets to highlight key skills and experiences which can interest an employer visually to start reading your resume.
Make a Remarkable Opening
Still your resume starts with your objective or your residential and permanent address? Then it’s time to move on and bring some advancement in your resume. No recruiter is interested in your objective or the place you live or from where had you done your schooling. The resume should start with your name, contact number and email id(you can add your LinkedIn ID, Stack Overflow profile ID, Twitter account ID etc.. it shows you are with the pace of technology and social media). These details should not occupy 1/4th of your page, it should be in a title form wherein Name in the upper line and contact details following that line. All the contact details like mobile number and email ID should be clear but not bulleted.
Avoid Irrelevant Details in your resume
No employer is interested to know your co-curricular achievements like first prize in singing competition or dancing competition at your school and college level. Well, you can definitely highlight your singing or dancing achievements if it is really worth it. Recently I came across a girl candidate for interview who has performed in “Vibrant Gujarat” in presence of around half million audience, which is indeed an achievement! So from this achievement of her, as a recruiter, I can guess that she is having a good level of confidence or I can say no stage fear, which can help me to recruit her as a communication manager at Emipro. Likewise, you should include the details which are of use to your employer to judge you or ensure that you are a perfect fit to his organisation’s requirement. You should also avoid mentioning details which are implied like your nationality or gender (you can mention it if it is other than normal).
Be honest and precise
If your list of skills is longer than your page then you are selected. Well, it’s merely a misconception. In fact jotting down too many skills inspire the interviewer to ask you more and more questions which in turn makes you nervous and finally you are rejected! Better is note down the skills in which you have high expertise good experience and can face the most tricky question of that topic by the interviewer with great confidence. Also, you should be honest to your interviewer.
Honesty & Transparency are the first set of skills we seek from our Employees at Emipro!
Once you read a word in your textbook does not mean you have that skill in you! Be precise in listing your skills and be honest to say what exactly you know. Here i would quote an example given by my senior to me that one of our employee who is working with us since past 2 years as a Sr. Web Designer, once upon at 2014, came at Emipro with just a single piece of paper that too partially empty as her resume which clearly stated her own skills and dreams that's it without any boasting up, and she proved to be one of our best employees indeed!
Proofreading
Before you hit the button “save/send/print” proofread your resume for more than twice. See to it you have not done any grammatical/spelling mistakes, no alignment mistake etc. Once you are done with it do check once again what all things are included and what questions can be raised from that. Assure a perfect resume for a perfect interview!
Choose the perfect format for your Resume
Choosing a format is very critical for everybody. If you are sending your resume through email then you must not send it in word or editable format as your alignment may distort in other PCs. Always try to send your resume in pdf format. The reason behind is, word doc format may get changed based on the employer's operating system and office suite software (Compatibility Issues!). So even though you are having a bunch of talent, your resume will be ignored by the employer because of illegitimate format. If it is a case of a personal interview you should not present a resume which is wrinkled dirty or having any sort of spot or discoloration. These minor things matter larger than an elephant!
However at the completion of these six tips I am still having some extra important suggestions in my mind which I would like to jot down in precise over here,
- Always have a cover letter along with your resume so that employer may get an interest to read your resume.
- Nowadays tradition of keeping physical copy along with you is extinct. If you are applying for the post of a Web designer, you can have your resume in the html file and if for programmer your StackOverflow profile will speak more instead of your physical resume copy.
- Don’t try to change the resume according to job profile of employer. Instead, be sure about what you want to be and wait for the right employer.
- The good resume may play 10% role in your selection process, however, at last, it is your real talent which will bring the best job for you! But this 10% is the most critical of all.
Being an HR, sometimes looking at resumes makes me go crazy and I decide to have a cup of tea and not a candidate! Beware chaps don’t be somebody’s dustbin scrap, craft your perfect resume today and get ready to face the interviews. If you can engrave the above tips in your resume, then I am eager to interview you soon @ Emipro.
Every time I finish the blog, I think of incepting the other one. Hope you all are finding it exciting too. Stay tuned!