Resume - The First Step

The 1st step in the recruitment process requires sourcing prospective candidates' profiles. This is done by advertising the vacant positions on various channels or media like Newspapers, Internet sites, Radio, Billboards and mobility services. Interested candidates reply to the advertisement by sending their applications together with their profile. These profiles are typically called Resume, Bio-data or Curriculum Vitae.
Technically speaking, each of the above three has different meanings. A Resume, that is of French origin, indicates a chronological set of jobs whereas a Curriculum Vitae of Latin, focuses on academic credentials and it is more comprehensive. The term bio-data traces its origins to Industrial age every time a definite format with a specific number of fields were utilized to capture a candidate's details. Since the format was uniform for those candidates, it absolutely was easier to compare these skills and predict suitability to get a position. However, nowadays these terms are employed interchangeably and then for any profile runs on the combination of the 3 definitions.
Resume-Purpose
People wrongly believe the purpose of a resume is getting a job. Far from it! If a resume may get you employment, there will be no need of interviews, group discussions, presentations etc. Again, if your resume cannot fetch work, one would wonder about require a resume!! One could simply send names and speak to numbers for registering for a meeting or presentation. That will be ideal but pragmatic only for the small pool of applicants. In a country using a 61% employable workforce out of 1 billion people (the total number itself is an incredible 610 million and is also expected to grow year on year).
As per a UN division report, the quantity of people inside workforce is expected to rise to 64% in the population.
Considering the enormous populace, you can imagine the variety of people applying for any job vacancy that's advertised. Of course this might not hold best for areas which can be relatively niche but such requirements can also be not common. Again, the amount of applications received is higher at lower levels and decreases even as we move up the hierarchy. However, which is a relative comparison and absolutely the numbers are nevertheless high. A view with the recruiter's desk or email inbox will better demonstrate this. So it is practically impossible/un-economical to satisfy every candidate. The better option then is always to short-list relevant profiles for interviews.
An average recruiter won't spend more compared to a minute on any resume. The time spent is usually inversely proportional to the variety of applications/resumes received. So it can be essential capture the recruiter's attention at his first glance. The role of an resume is just to fetch an interview call. Since there could be numerous profiles with similar backgrounds, the resume that makes the best impression gets the call.
One For All?
Does a salesman use the same sales pitch with all his prospective customers? No way! He changes his pitch as outlined by his prospect's background and requirements. Similarly a job application efforts to convince the prospective customer .i.e. the employer that you are the right product (candidate). Applying and interviewing is like a sales process. Hence it is essential to align one's resume to match the advertised position. Aligning does not mean fudging. It rather means emphasizing skills which are more relevant for the advertised position. For example, teaching/research positions lean heavily on academic credentials, publications and research inclination. However, a business development job requires much more of networking and communicating skills.
Switching careers might require an all-together different resume to exhibit how the existing skills and experience can be useful within the new position.
Major Resume Gaffes
1. Several spelling errors
2. No specifics of experience (time duration, work profiles etc). Only company names mentioned
3. No paragraph alignment thus giving a very illegible look
4. Lots of blank spaces between paragraphs
5. Punctuation errors thus making the statement incomprehensible
6. No information
Essentials
It is widely believed, particularly in India, that the resume has to be very long to generate an impression. Lengthy resumes supposedly indicate "more" experience. So it is quite normal to see individuals with 10 years experience carrying resumes that run up to 10 pages or higher. Of course, sheer organization with the same text itself can reduce the size to a minimum of 7 pages. So what exactly is meant by a good resume? What do recruiters expect? Why some profiles get short-listed whereas others (similar background) do not? This article will give you a "scoop" from the secret behind this selection. Fatalists always resign for their fate and blame it about the L-factor. But some serious home work can beat the L-factor to a considerable extent.
1. Length of the Resume
Entry level to middle level candidates should NOT have resumes exceeding a page. You doubt that it will fit? It will. Yes it will-provided you utilize the space as efficiently as you can and make utilization of powerful compact words instead of long sentences. For example: Instead of writing "Extremely good performance" you can write "Stellar Performance". Senior level applicants' resumes may run around a maximum of 2-3 pages. In case of project experience, the identical should be appended as a possible annexure as opposed to including within the main body of the resume. In no case, however, if your resume run into dozens of pages.
2. Content at Top of Resume
Does one have to follow a standard format of mentioning Objective, Education, Employment, References and after that perhaps the age-old design of ending the resume with a signature? When you approach the cute girl outside, would you start of with your weaknesses and tell her that you're a short-tempered guy without any education along with a worthwhile job? Not really! Rather you set your best foot forward and tell her about all the great qualities you might have. You also tell her something will impress her. The resume works inside the same fashion. You write precisely what is most important around the top and the inconvenient stuff goes for the bottom. So persons having an exemplary professional career but poor academic credentials may love to de-emphasize on education and talk a little more about their professional achievements. If you are applying for a teaching job having an experience in Marketing, you are trying to align your wording to demonstrate how your experience could be useful in pedagogy.
This is particularly important because, the recruiter will read your whole profile only when he "feels" you are the correct fit for his requirements. Else your resume goes straight into the bin or maybe into a folder waiting to get picked up various other time (however in majority cases it is forgotten there)
3. Contact Details
Of what use is an aptly matching profile, if it does not carry valid contact information. There are candidates who provide emails but tend not to check their email accounts for months. Worst still, they offer mobile numbers after which change their whatsapp numbers usa. It is always preferable to provide multiple contact details (like 2 mobile numbers, postal address and 2 email addresses).
What a goof-up it will be, should you realize that you're sent an interview intimation email that you checked 15 days as soon as the interview.
4. Grammar
This will be the saddest portion of any profile-even senior executives overlook this aspect. No one expects Wren & Martin's putting on perfect grammar, but, adherence to your few important rules is quintessential. Improper or lack of punctuation can give a sentence an altogether different meaning. Usage of wrong verbs, tenses and adjectives not just spoils the impression but in addition makes reading difficult and boring. End Result: Resume is rejected halfway itself-sometimes the recruiter may miss out important areas of your career which may have been described inside the latter parts of the profile. Moreover, improper usage may also be offensive.
5. Layout & Flow
Any presentation includes a flow which grasps the audience's attention and keeps it glued till the end. Similarly, a resume should consider the reader through his background without abrupt changes. For example, beginning the resume with a synopsis or even a summary is a good idea. So this way people has already a framed a photo about the candidate's background. This picture gets clearer as he reads much more about the employment history, education etc. If some listing of hobbies crops up between the summary and employment details, the flow is shattered.
6. Standard Abbreviations
People hardly know that the reader will be the one who should really understand the matter mentioned in the resume. But majority from the candidates write off their own perspective thus assuming that your reader will understand virtually any abbreviations. Of course, generally accepted and standard abbreviations are fine but non-standard ones can result in misunderstandings and possible rejections.
Standard Format
It is really a myth that there's some "standard format" which can be to be used to draft a profile. So we have job-seekers always chasing these "standard formats". These formats can be obtained at the neighborhood book-store or with the photocopy shop across the corner. Students obtain copies from their placement offices yet others get their hands on it from the friendly placement agent.
In reality, there's nothing called a "standard format". What we do have can be a set of guidelines that could be followed while preparing an account. These are industry accepted standards so because of this may be considered sacrosanct. But otherwise one can always be creative to come up using a beautifully developed resume.