by Suhas Rajput
Resume is a traditional way of providing information of an individual towards the job being applied for. The same has been seeing a vast makeover in the manner in which the information is being served over a period. With the changes across spectrum of jobs and surging supply of candidates across all the domains of jobs, it is more essential and indeed important to furnish the information in a creative or innovative way.
Career Objective
One of the most essential components of an individual’s profile is its career objective, which is very much visible at the start of the resume. And what is also seen is a standard career objective being used by merely copying it from the internet or from any other friend’s resume. But what is required, is the presentation of the actual objective an individual aims for and how a particular job would make it achieve the same. It’s recommended to start a career with a job, which would eventually help you in attaining the career objective you have defined in your resume. A career objective is viewed seriously by the recruiter as it connects the candidate’s career expectation with the job that is being offered and hence the career objective has to go in sync with the job that is being applied for. The career objective can also mention about the skill sets that a candidate possess and how he/she can utilize those skill sets in achieving the organizational goals, which would help him in scaling the career.
It’s not mere presentation of information
Many of the resumes carry a host of information on the educational qualifications, strengths, certifications or value added courses, personal details, projects or internship undertaken, hobbies and other achievements. But the same should not be viewed as a mere presentation of facts or figures, but it’s much more than that. Each of the information provided under various headings are directly or indirectly viewed from the job requirements perspective and the recruiter would see them as an important ingredient during the selection process. The candidate needs to put down the relevant information in a manner, which would be an answer for many of the job requirements or queries of the recruiter. Mentioning the strengths, key skill sets, value added courses, curricular or co-curricular activities/achievements needs to be done meticulously, keeping in mind the job and the qualities asked for performing the same.
Common Mistakes
Many of the resumes carry errors with respect to the spelling or grammar, which is a major setback for any candidate during the selection process. Undoubtedly, today jobs demand a good command over the language and written communication is the basic element of the same. Hence, an extra care needs to be taken in demonstrating the spelling and grammar quality in a resume. Secondly, various resumes do not mention complete information which is essential for the recruiter to know. A common example would be about the project that a student has undertaken during the academic period, and needs to mention the company name, the location of the project, a brief description about the project, the learning that came out of the project along with the title of the study or project. The same needs to be followed while providing information on certification courses undertaken or co-curricular activities, achievements, learning that happened during organizing events/workshops, etc. Lastly, some resume come with salutation at the end, lot of experimentation on the font shapes and sizes, usage of too many color fonts and usage of shabby pre-defined formats, which needs to be avoided completely.
A professional touch
An individual’s resume is a depiction of his/her personality, and speaks a lot about the job seeker irrespective of any domain or profession. The recruiter would be keen in analyzing the professionalism that is maintained and the manner in which the candidate has portrayed it throughout the resume. And with the surge in the supply of candidates in the job market, an individual’s resume can make a lot of difference in portraying the right skill sets and to get an edge over others. A resume may not be an end in itself for getting a desired job, but certainly is a crucial element.
About the author:
Suhas Rajput is a certified trainer and facilitator and the owner of Proficient Minds, a training company for corporate and educational institutions in the domain of soft skills and business etiquette and he is also a career counselor for management graduates.
Wonderful article