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5 Elements for an Effective Resume
A resume is a crucial piece of the puzzle to a successful career. Studies indicate that a recruiter scans a resume in 10-15 seconds and that it!
Hence, the content layout and language has to be dynamic enough for an employer to give the resume a longer look. Five major elements to attain an interview-winning resume are:
1. Decide the focus and create the objective:
The job objective should be a crisp and concise statement of what you intend to pursue. It should include these:
– Target functional area
– Preferred location
– Preferred industry
2. An effective summary:
This aims at presenting the snapshot of a person’s professional profile to a potential recruiter. It demonstrates an ability to generate a significant return on the employers’ investment in a candidate. Use bullets to emphasize points and include the following points in the summary:
– Total years of experience
– Present / last position with the present / last company associated with
– Stints are taken across the career supporting your target functional areas
– Highest qualification and any important work-related professional enhancement courses undertaken
– Your personal work-style and unique personality traits
3. Organisational experience:
The content should be organized in such a manner that the recruiter gets to read the most relevant material first with a special emphasis on one’s achievements. The sentences should be well-structured to be positive, brief and accurate. There ought to be a fine balance of including your keywords & phrases for ranking optimization. Use verb tense consistently and highlight major portions like growth path, deputations, a project undertaken in bold and italics but do not overdo this.
4. Quantify your achievements:
Achievements sections focus on what a person has actually accomplished in her assignments which in turn, translates into what a person can do for a potential employer. The achievements should exhibit a PAR (Problem-Action-Result) Pattern to exemplify the benefit of the action taken to you as an individual and the organization as a whole. The accomplishments should also be quantified to add credibility to your resume. Moreover, you can use percentages as a metric to highlight your efforts.
5. Use the perfect format & language structure:
We should ensure perfection in language; that the resume is written in perfect English with appropriate professional jargon & vocabulary. The format should be chosen as per the target industry and functional area. There are three major formats used widely namely Chronological, Functional & Mixed Formats:
– A chronological format is used when you have a steady employment history
– A functional resume emphasizes more on skill sets rather than chronology. It is best suited for people who possess diverse skills and one who are changing careers.
– A mixed format focuses both on skills & experience and works for everyone. Thus, it is most commonly used worldwide.
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