Getting that perfect Resume

Writing a resume is an immensely important. I'm listing out some of those factors that I consider while designing my resume. Mostly these are just rules, although certain considerations listed out here make for a better aesthetic appeal. Rest assured, I have failed a million times before getting my resume right. Follow these steps to ensure getting that perfect resume:

1. Contact Information

The primary purpose of your resume is to get people to notice you and give you that much-awaited call. For that purpose, your contact information should be right on top. I generally have my name and contact information at the header level. This ensures easy access to information regarding how to get in touch. One shouldn't try to get too creative with the design and obscure or hide this information. It is perhaps, the most critical part of your resume. Also please avoid writing “Resume” on top of your resume. It is utterly pointless and unprofessional.

2. Objective and Summary

Objective and summary are both meant to be short, crisp and to-the-point. It's like adding tags or labels to you. Your summary should compulsorily contain your education background and your experience. Eg: "Computer Software Fresher, Software Professional with one year experience". Your objective should be very specific, preferably, a job title where you would like to see yourself in five years. Eg: "To be a System Analyst in a Software firm".

Please avoid objectives such as "Seeking a challenging position where I can harness my skills", "climb up the corporate ladder". Not only are they clichéd, they also convey that you are clueless about where you are headed in terms of your career. If you can't find a suitable objective, it would be better if you skip this part.

3. Length

A resume gets a maximum of 5 minutes of a recruiter's time. Your resume should be very specific and direct. Your resume should be an answer to the question "Why should we select you for this job". It should contain all mandatory information such as your qualification, year of passing et al. At the same time, it should not contain irrelevant information. More in next point. An ideal resume should either be one or two pages long. That’s all.

4. Relevance

If you are applying for the job of a trainer, the part time you held at McDonald’s does not count as experience. Most people advice to have job-specific resumes. Maintain a master resume that lists out all your awards, additional qualifications and work experience. When you are applying for a specific job, list out ONLY those sections from this master resume that matter for this job. List out only relevant work experience and additional qualifications, which make you all the more suitable for the job.

5. Chronology

Dates of graduation, year of passing, the duration of your education or work in an organization should be specified clearly. Eg: Worked from 2005 – 2009 or Passed out – June 2005. Also, when you list out your work experience or educational qualification it should be in reverse-chronological order. Your latest degree should come on top. The last job you held should come on top.

6. Proof reading

The importance of Proof-reading cannot be stressed enough. Nothing can be more embarrassing than a spelling error or a grammatical error on your resume. Spell check on word processors can only detect obvious mistakes. Many of us are still not clear about the difference between “its” and “it’s”. Minute details like that can change the course of your interview. Imagine having to explain a mistake to your interviewer. Or being told that there are inconsistencies in your resume. Check, double-check and triple check every single sentence in your resume.

7. Consistency

Your resume should be consistent i.e. in terms of grammar, tense, formatting and alignment. Your resume should always be in third person. “I participated in a writing competition and won second place” is not accepted. It should rather be “Participated in Writing Competition. Secured Second place”. Also, spellings of schools, colleges and people should be the same throughout. Sometimes, silly errors such as change in font size or font-face in certain places can result in a very awkward looking resume.