For it to be a winner, the resume has to be authentic and yet relevant. It needs care for design and language and has to be logical and visually appealing. It requires extreme attention to detail as every word you put down can make or break your candidature. Most importantly it has to be rooted in an understanding of what the hiring manager wants.
Capture recruiter attention with imaginative design and flow.
Inadequate attention to resume style and formatting are important factors which can severely detract from your resume value. But you need to be careful while finalizing your resume look and feel – you don’t want your document to be all bling but neither do you want it to be unreadable. So keep a balance when you determine the amount of white space and font and colour variations. Reverse chronology on education and work experience is the right way to go with crisp bullets or small paragraphs explaining your responsibilities and achievements.
Devil is in the Detail – Avoid pitfalls of Errors and Irrelevance
Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors can ruin all the hard work that goes in crafting a resume. The other blunder which is most common is “Information Overload”. Off course you want to paint a holistic picture of yourself in the hiring manager’s eyes. But excessive and irrelevant information is not the key to success. Experienced professionals should try and compress their resume to ideally two pages. Bland listing of “Hobbies”, irrelevant addresses, family details and references are definite No-No. Another common mistake at the entry level is tacky email addresses and casual photographs. This is not college anymore and “fairyprincess@mail.com ” doesn’t cut much ice. It’s also a good idea to then have your document reviewed by a friend or a professional resume writer as catching your own mistakes can be tough.
Career Summaries are the New Objective Statements
Objective Statements, once a standard feature, are now becoming obsolete. As the art of resume writing became more sophisticated, well-crafted career summaries have gained in prominence. Hiring managers have zero interest in reading bland and generic statements stating what you want. Their interest is in what you have to offer and if it meets the requirements that they have at hand. So highlight your value proposition by creating crisp career summaries that encapsulate your competencies, experience and achievements.
Tailoring to face the BOT Challenge
Most large organisations are increasingly investing in technology to improve hiring efficiencies. The Resume BOT with its key word-based filtering mechanism is the latest challenge for aspiring candidates, with resumes not having requisite phrases and keywords being ruthlessly eliminated. a “one-size-fits-all” resume strategy is no longer a viable option. So, tailor your resume for each opportunity – make sure your resume highlights the key words in the job description.
Let your Achievements Occupy the Real Estate
Hiring Managers will tell you that it is not just “what you have done” but “how well you have done it” is what counts. They want to get a sense of the depth of your exposure, the range of your strategic understanding and the impact you have created. So shy away from a bland listing of your activities and create an engaging narrative. Elaborate on your achievements, substantiate them with numbers and drive home your candidature.
Just like you, a well-crafted resume can multi task and stand the test of time. Make it work for you and give yourself that definitive edge.
