Résumé/CV are what people use to get jobs, right? Wrong! A Résumé/CV consists the summary of your educational qualifications, experiences, skills and personal information that will only get you to the door of the interview board. The job of a Résumé/CV is done if you get called for an interview. A Résumé/CV is your ticket to an interview where you get the opportunity to sell yourself!

Your Résumé/CV is your personal advertisement. And, just as with any other advertisement, it is largely focused on your ability to “market”, your qualification and position yourself competitively against the competition. Studies reveal that at least a million candidate is competing for one single job position worldwide. How can you distinguish yourself from these one million people in the job search game? You will not be the one to get the job if you cannot market yourself, despite having all the qualifications. A proper Résumé will help you with that. Your Résumé should be sharp, focused, visionary and aggressive. And, remember to be honest and bold.

To prepare a successful Résumé, you need to know yourself. What are your skills & abilities? You have to have a broad understanding of your strengths. Then, you have to review and summarize your skills, experiences and personal information on one page. Don’t use two pages unless you have a considerable amount of experiences. Pen down your achievements briefly and precisely.

These three steps will help you to create a successful Résumé /CV:

1. Know Yourself First

Before starting to write a Resume, take a little time to analyze yourself. If possible do your SWOT analysis on paper. Identify your skills, abilities as well as job experiences and extracurricular activities. Outline your achievements and training. This will help you to prepare a thorough Resume.

2. The Content of Your Résumé

Name, address, cell/telephone, e-mail address, website

• Put your contact information at the top of your Résumé
• Use your real name (avoid nicknames)
• Put your permanent address or the one you are planning to live in
• Use email address that sounds professional
• Use your permanent contact number
• Include website address if you have one

Career Objective

The career objective of your Résumé will give the employer a brief idea of what you are hoping to do.

• Don’t use the same career objective for every job application. Tailor it differently for different positions.
• Be specific about the job position. If you apply for a marketing job then your career objective should be marketing oriented.
• Avoid using pronouns (I, me, my)

Education

Put the educational qualification first if you are a fresh graduate without any experience. Otherwise, education should come after job experiences.

• The most recent educational qualification should be at the top of your education section
• Use this order- degree name, major, year, result (GPA/CGPA/Grade/Numbers), institution.
• Mention your academic achievements (if you have them)

Work Experience

Give the employer an overview of the jobs you have done and the skills you got from the work experience. Use action words to describe your duties. Put your work experience in reverse chronological order-that means the last job information should come at first and the first one at last.

• Position title
• Organization name
• Location (town, state)
• Duration of the job (from the date you started to the date you left.)
• Emphasize on skills you’ve gained specifically while describing your work experience.

Other information

You may also add,

• Your special skills or competencies
• Language proficiency
• IT skills
• Training information (be specific about the skills you’ve gained)
• Voluntary work experiences
• Extracurricular activities

References

If you want to write someone’s name on your Résumé, ask them for permission. Provide valid contact information for the person. If you have two references try to use one from your academic section and other from corporate or work sector. Avoid references if the job doesn’t require one. Mention “provided upon request” instead.

3. Résumé Checkup

So far, you have written your Résumé. Now it’s time to get it checked by a professional. A career counselor would be great. If you can’t effort one then follow these steps-

Content

• Check the spellings of your Résumé with a computer program.
• Ask your friend to do a grammar review. (friend who is good in English)
• Get your Résumé reviewed by friends, family members and teachers. The more people see your Résumé the more error free it will be.

Design

Follow this these tips to make your Résumé easier to read for the employers-

• Try to use white paper, off-white paper is also fine
• Print on one side of the paper.
• The font size should be 10-12 point
• Avoid italics, script, and underlined words.
• Avoid folding your Résumé
• Put your Résumé in a large envelope before mailing it

1. Attention to detail: Don’t leave any flaw in your Résumé. It doesn’t matter how insignificant it may sound to you, correct it. Leave nothing blank, fill it up with all the current information you have in your hand. Take the time to proofread your Résumé over and over to make sure that you leave no information gap or error.
2. Review it: You must proofread your Résumé several times before sending it for a job. Check the spelling, grammar, and tone. Recheck if you have met all the requirements of the employer.
3. Be specific and logical: Whatever you write in your Résumé may get questioned by the interviewer. So, use logical information. Be specific about the information so that the reader can get a clear idea of what you really mean.
4. Target your employer: While writing a Résumé you must target the employer you want to apply for. Use the hiring managers’ name in the cover letter rather using dear Sir/Ma’am. You can find the information about the manager on their website.
5. Focus on what you can give not what you want: It’s crucial that you make the employer feel valued. Write things in a manner so that the company feels they need you. How can you make the company progress? How can you make their everyday task easier? Never focus on what you expect from them.

Marketing is crucial for an effective job searching. You should be bold and aggressive on your Résumé. These are some of the phrases that you can integrate into your cover letter and Résumé to create an impact. You can use these words anywhere on your Résumé or cover letter. Don’t copy and from here, try to write your own lines, these are just a few examples.

1. Led a team of 15 people in a project with my previous organization.
2. Launched two product lines for ABC Company while working there.
3. Conducted training session for the new employees of XYZ corporation.
4. Eliminated cost of production by 10% last year by implementing my idea.
5. Initiated 5 new development program for the new employees.
6. Operated the research and development of ABCD company successfully for 2 years.
7. Achieved employee of the year award in 2015.

Methods, rules and policies are becoming obsolete with the change in our world. One of them is the way of recruiting new employees for an organization. There was a time when written exams were a common method of an evaluation process. Although, some regions or organizations are still practicing the traditional method, forward thinking companies are revealing new ways of recruiting people in an effective and efficient manner. One them is video Résumé.

Video Résumé is a digitally recorded form of your paper Résumé. You have to speak for few minutes about yourself, your experiences and achievements in a video recorded form. A video Résumé should not be longer than 5 minutes.

Why video Résumé?

First of all, you have a video Résumé, you are different than a lot of people. When an employer checks their email for Résumés you will be in the spotlight on their list. It is much easier to explain yourself on videos than a short paper. It’s a green concept that is fast and less expensive. It works better than your traditional Résumé.

For employers, they get the primary overview of a person about their credibility by judging the quality of the video. A person who can speak fluently in front a camera is more likely to be smarter and better performer than a person who feels nervous speaking in front of the camera.

How to make a video Résumé?

A video does not require professional video making knowledge. A smartphone, a tripod (DIY stabilizers will also work), a quiet place and a well-prepared script is enough for a good quality video Résumé. Record the video several times until you get the desired output. Lastly, you need to edit the video. Add some texts and motion graphics if possible. Ask a friend if you cannot edit videos.