Resume writing is an art. One must invest time and energy and brains into writing a resume. I’ve come across many candidates who don’t give importance to the piece of paper, because they think the same about it-a simple piece of paper, what else!
But if you will think only from your point of view, i.e. if you are a candidate, you are going to do a mistake again! To write a resume, you must go to the other side of the table and think like we recruiters do!!
I’ll share what I as a recruiter think is a prime importance to me when I see a resume. For me it is a first meeting with the candidate, first impression starts to build up and based on that my opinion to take things ahead (or not) start taking shape.
1. Spell Check: Believe it or not, a recruiter who has scanner eyes like me, will catch the spelling mistakes. And spelling mistakes in a resume? Really? Make sure whatever you write, howsoever simple your words are (which is a good idea!) you should always proof read your resume. If need be, ask for help, tell someone to proof read for you (like a second check) and then finalize the resume. An error free resume speaks volumes about how much importance your give to your job and finding a right one at that. You are meticulous and focused.
2. Alignment: A resume should be well aligned and properly formatted. Now lot of people might say what’s that got to do with the hiring process? In my view, it’s important for a resume to be properly aligned for it tells about your organization skills, about how clutter free and good work you can deliver and really, if you cannot create a simple resume without proper and basic formatting OR pay attention to such minute things, then your quality deliveries are on question!!
3. Details: Never ever miss the basic details in your resume. For a recruiter, your education and your work experience details in chronological order and your basic personal details are a must. These details lead to further questions and conversation. However, a resume which doesn’t give out basic details, confuses the recruiter and reduces the interest because such resumes go to the “ask details” category which may take a back seat as compared to the ones which are detailed and don’t miss out on important information.
4. Objective: Last but a very important primary point of a resume- “objective”. In my view either have a describable objective OR don’t have it at all. I’ve seen lot of people either copy it from the Internet templates or take favor from a friend to write them a nice jazzy objective to shine on their resumes. I’m still fine with the above but only if you can explain what your objective means, then it makes complete sense. But if you have just copied a statement from somewhere, and you don’t even know what it means, then it’s a huge faux pas!! So just play of words and use of impeccable English will not serve the purpose, having full knowledge of what you’ve written in your resume will!
Always remember that any recruiter receives plethora of resumes and must go through them as a job! If a resume doesn’t mirror your candidature, it makes it difficult for a recruiter to run after you for even basic details. So, if you want your resume to catch attention, keep it simple and straight, with basic details and let the recruiters do their job thereafter!
The tips above are no guarantee that your resume will get shortlisted or you may reach the interview table, but these tips are important while creating a resume which is flawless and has potential to create that first impression!
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