Resume and Interview Tips
To find a job in these troubled times of recession and layoffs, it is important to have an impressive resume. A good resume is your marketing tool that can help you stand out and get that interview that many are vying for.
Many candidate profiles get rejected due to the lack of a good resume. However, just an attractive looking resume is probably not what recruiters look for. They look for resumes that have all the information they need. Moreover, a recruiter does not have too much time to go through your resume and should be able to find the required information in a quick glance. Here is a list of basic information that your resume must have:
Job title/profile: Spend some time researching upon the job titles and profiles. Match the job responsibilities with your qualifications and skill set and based on your research, clearly mention the job profile you are applying for. This increases the chances of your resume catching the recruiter's attention.
Summary: Including a brief summary in a bulleted format listing out your skill set, qualifications etc helps the recruiter know what you are capable of, in a quick glance. It should clearly state how you can be useful to the organization. The summary shall also save the recruiter's trouble of going through the resume from start to end to understand your objectives, ambitions and whether you are suitable for the opening or not.
Strengths and qualifications: Every organization will be interested in knowing about your strengths and skills. This helps them know what good you can bring to the company. Highlighting this information clearly helps the recruiter identify your key skills and match them to the requirements quickly. It also ensures that the required information does not get lost between the other information that may not be useful to the recruiter and he/she may just ignore it.
Work experience: Hiring organizations need to know your past work experience and achievements. Put a neat list of all the various companies you have worked with along with the respective roles and responsibilities. In this case, you can either create a chronological list or list your work experience in order of relevance to your application. This helps them decide whether your previous work experience is of use to the organization or not and decide your suitability for the organisation.
Achievements: Apart from your work experience and educational qualifications, your previous achievements tell the recruiter what are your USPs and how you have exceeded performance expectations in your previous jobs. It also gives a hint about the kind of person you are and what can be expected from you in terms of commitment and hard work. So, mention your achievements, starting from the most relevant ones, in a neat list. This helps in creating a favourable impression in the minds of the recruiters about your enjoyability.
A good resume does not necessarily have to look attractive. However, it should be able to convey all the required information as quickly as possible. Ensure that the points mentioned above are included in your resume and are suitably highlighted to get attention. Last but not the least, be honest when writing your resume and see how it takes you places!
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