Tips for preparing the CV 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 due 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. Please address ten important issues related to your resume. 1. Give your address for communication where you need to be contacted in case any postal communication is to be sent. Do not forget to give the postal Index number. There is no need to give your phones and e- mail which were already kept in the beginning. 2. 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 recognizes 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? 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.

3. What sequence should your Academic credentials 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.

4. While narrating Extra Curricular activities. Do not use words many several and various. Be specific like won first prize in debate competition conducted by in 2011 or published article on .. in (magazine and date) etc.

5. 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 Arial, 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 crisp information, 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. 6. Does your resume need to mention your marital status/family background? The new age resume does not require you to mention your marital status/family background. However, some organizations do look at the family background though it is not that very important. Hence if you feel that the addition of family background adds value to your CV do incorporate it. 7. Should you give names of references? Unless you have been specifically asked to provide references, there is no need to provide by yourselves. At times it is taken as names dropping and may go against you. 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. 8. 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. Do not send group mails it dilutes the seriousness. 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 organization _____________________. It shows and it is NOT acceptable!!! 9. Finally before you send your resume check these points: Fonts: Use Arial, Calibri or Verdana with font size at 12 Run a spell check. See page breaks and adjust to fit in the pages. Check and confirm the data accuracy. No recruiter appreciates for wrong information and any efforts later on to cover it up. Include a sharp Career Goal and Tweak the CV to suit your position applied for and company of a potential employer.