IT is an act in creating your personal brand image.

Your resume reaches the

interviewer before you do. Yet, many people lose out on an interview
opportunity thanks to a poorly written one. Your resume is the first step in
projecting yourself effectively to the recruiter.

So create an image that you genuinely identify with – it is a sharp world out
there and no one is buying false niceties. We address ten important issues
related to your resume.

1. Should your resume have a career goal/ objective statement? A resume

that is worthy of representing you, should clearly state your career objective.
A career objective is an indirect way of advertising what all you would bring
to the company/ role. It must display a ‘giving’ attitude and not a ‘taking’
attitude.

Take a look at this: “To achieve an appreciable status in an organization that

offers full scope for growth and where I can fulfill my aspiration of becoming a
world class software professional.”

And this: “Be a part of an organization that recognises my skills and provides
me with suitable environment to perform to the best of my ability.”

Do either of the above display a ‘giving’ attitude? Your answer is correct.

They don’t. So now you know how NOT to write an objective statement! It is
advisable to keep the objective statement simple and specific. Let it focus on
the direct value addition that you can provide.

Example: “A certified Software Programmer seeking opportunity in the area

of Software Development in a competitive work environment to utilize my
skills to deliver robust and innovative software solutions.”

2. What sequence should your story follow?

Be it work experience or education, always tell the story from the current/
most recent to the first. NEVER write it the other way round.

3. Does your resume need to mention your marital status?

The new age resume does not require you to mention your marital status.
However, if the job advertisement clearly states this as a requirement, do
fulfil it. Quick Take

* Include a sharp Career Goal

* Choose the pdf format with discretion

* Fonts: Use Times New Roman, Calibri or Verdana

* Run a spell check

* Tweak to suit position and company of a potential employer

* Your latest work stint must appear first

4. How should you treat references?

Unless you have been specifically asked to provide references, it is

acceptable to state in your covering letter/ email that you will provide
references on request. Usually, two references are sufficient. Try to provide
references from the two most recent phases of your career.

It is a good idea to inform the referees that you are giving out their contact
information. It will also help if they know what kind of jobs you are applying
for.

5. Should you send the resume as an MS Word document or a PDF? Some

organisations ask you to upload your resume. Usually they ask for an MS
Word document. If you are mailing across your resume, you could choose
either format.

A word of caution – do not get carried away if you decide to make it a PDF.
Keep it simple – leave out visual histrionics. And whatever software you
choose – send the resume in the most commonly used version.

The biggest advantage of using a pdf format is that it preserves the

formatting irrespective of the version of the Acrobat Reader version or user
settings.

In MS word, however, the formatting can change based on the MS Office

version and User Settings, leading to awkward situations like a two-page
resume becoming a 3 -page document. Or a section title like Educational
Background coming on Page 2 comes with the details going to Page 3.

However, if the company insists on a word document, please send the

resume in word format only. Lot of organisations have tools to extract
information from Word documents and if you do not send your resume in
Word document, your resume may not get processed at all!

6. Should you incorporate links in the resume?

If you are an engineer who writes a technical blog, go ahead and incorporate
the link in your resume. If you are a website developer, the links to the pages
created by you would certainly help. However, spare the recruiter from links
of your personal blogs, photographs and anything and everything that you
scatter on the World Wide Web. In fact, providing the link to your personal
blog may even prove fatal if you publish office gossip or crib about your job!
7. What sort of job profiles demand a portfolio?

Artists, designers, photographers, models and those from the performing arts
definitely need to provide a portfolio. An artist model/ photographer/ designer
may want to include a Power Point or PDF, while a dancer/ actor/ singer may
want to mention links from sites like YouTube. Irrespective of the type of
portfolio, the intention is simply to showcase your best and most relevant
work.

8. What fonts / presentation styles make sense?

Go easy on choosing fonts and presentation styles. The most acceptable ones
are the simpler ones. It is advisable to use fonts like ‘Times New Roman’,
‘Calibri’ and ‘Verdana’. Do not get tempted by the fancier ones. The resume
is not the platform to exhibit your artistic inclinations. Also, keep the fonts
and font sizes uniform across different categories in the resume.

You should zero in on a presentation style with just one thing in mind – it
should be extremely presentable. By creating minimum chaos, it should elicit
the maximum attention.

Some people choose to give the resume a fancy header with their name and
contact information in bold. This gives it a ‘letter head’ look. Some go for a
more conventional style by listing out such information in bullet points. Either
style is absolutely fine.

In writing about your project work, education and work experience, you could
provide a box format or a neatly tabulated one.

9. What are the worst resume gaffes? The worst thing you could do is to send
in a resume without running a grammar/ spelling check. In this age of MS
Word, grammar/ spelling mistakes in a resume are just not tolerated.
Needless to say, anyone would straight away trash a resume that is saved as
supersexy2010.doc or rockstar.doc. One gentleman I knew failed to get a
single interview call after sending out more than 80 applications. I probed a
little and was shocked to find out why – he had sent out group mails! Do not
try to pass around your resume/ covering letter without modifying it to suit
the company / role you are applying for. It is offending if your application
reads like:

Dear _______, I am applying for the role of ___________________ at your

esteemed organisation _____________________.

It shows and it is NOT acceptable!!!

10. What is the difference in writing a resume for a BPO professional/

Engineer/ MBA? If you are a BPO aspirant, you need to highlight your ability
to deal with all kinds of people, chase targets and work in shifts. If you are an
engineer, your resume should clearly talk about your projects and
internships. Expect a fair number of questions from these areas in the
interview. An MBA student would also need to write about projects and
training.

Amit Bansal is a Career Counsellor, Trainer and CEO of PurpleLeap.