Write a job winning resume with these 5 simple steps. Especially #3 makes you unique with a twist
I brought an interesting and very useful article on how to write a job winning resume today. Hope you like it.
Are you tired of applying for jobs? not receiving a single call from the recruiter? Not sure why? I was in the same situation once upon a time.
Have you ever thought the reason may be because of your resume. May be the content in your resume is not presenting you properly?
Yes, these are the main two reasons for not getting calls for the job applications. Employer do not know your face nor your education. Only a piece of paper is making him/her visualise you, your skills and experience. So that piece of paper which is called resume should correctly depict and convince him/her that you are the right candidate for the role.
When I came as a student, I applied for many roles irrespective of my education and my skills. But no calls. I was really depressed; being in a new country that was really hurting with no one’s support.Those were hard days in my life.
Luckily, I was guided by my host (where I was staying as a paying guest) on writing a proper resume.
Once I changed it, I got calls from the recruiter and that helped me to prove myself in the interview. I have formatted my resume with these 5 simple steps:
#1 Format:
Many of us think about a good lay out to use and try to copy from friends or internet. From my experience, this is not required and there is no such winning lay out to secure a job. Recruiters do not have much time to spend on each resume.
Researches suggest that the time spent on each resume is not more than 20 seconds. You have to keep this in mind and work accordingly. So content is more important than the lay out. For that purpose, you can use a word document by listing your professional information that is relevant to the job application.
The document should be simple, neat and clear. Do not add any borders to the resume that really looks unprofessional. I have attached one here.
#2 Education:
This plays an important role on your resume. It is a good idea to list your qualifications in a chronological order from the recent qualification to your first qualification. Sometimes, it also depends on what job you are applying for.
For example, if you are applying for a fresher job and the requirement is only a bachelor’s degree, just mention only Bachelor’s degree rather than mentioning all your other qualifications like post-graduation and any other qualification. This may makes you over qualified for the position.
I had experience of not selecting to the job, just because the recruiter thought I am over qualified for the position. So you have to provide the information required for the role rather than what you have. So keep it simple and clear.
#3 Experience:
If you have a experience, you know what goes in this section. List your experience without any spelling mistakes and write a clear list of roles and responsibilities.
As a recent graduate, you might not have any experience to mention on your resume. However, you may have completed some projects or voluntary work as part of the study program. Just mention them on your resume.
If you do not have one; keep working on it now. This gives information about your working style in a team and what were the results achieved.
Achievements makes you unique among the crowd:
List the accomplishments that were achieved during these projects. This makes you stand out from the crowd. Writing like “I have finished this project on time “is not an accomplishment, because that’s what you were supposed to do.
Accomplishment is something that you have done beyond the expectations of the tutor or employer. For example, the project completed at University was implemented by University in their laboratories.
The voluntary work done by your team achieved an appreciation award from the principal/director of the university.
Keep any emails or any awards (even small) that you have received during your study. This helps you to mention confidently at the time of the interview. This gives a good impression on you and your resume.
Believe me, this really helps. When I came to know about this tip; I started mentioning on my resume even a small achievement, collected all my appreciation emails in each role and kept in my professional folder.
Every time, I started a new job; I ensure that I do something productive to the team by improving the process in some way.
This in turn helps me to secure new jobs and enhance my career.
Achievements are great ways to grab the attention of the employer.
One more tip to remember; Interview is a process of selling your skills to perform a job for a company. Imagine, when you are buying a product, how many ways you test it; the same way you think from employer’s point of view when applying for a job.
Talking with evidence has more value than talking itself. So Resume with achievements has more value than just experience or education.
Related:
52 Companies that offer jobs to International students in Australia
Top 12 freelance websites help you to find freelance job online
Tested and tried strategies to get job within a month of search
#4 Skills:
In today’s world, skills are very important to have, apart from your qualifications. I think there are not many jobs that one can do without using computer and internet.
If you don’t know what skills are? Skills are the knowledge or training that you need, to perform the main job. Examples are good communication, computer languages, having technical courses to perform the job better etc.
Therefore, lay out your knowledge of computers and technical courses that you have gained during your study period. Microsoft office suite (MS Word, MS Excel etc.) is almost used in every job, so mention what level of knowledge you have regarding the use of these applications (Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced).
This gives a clarification to the recruiter about your skills.
Incomplete or inadequate information on your resume will not fetch you a call from the recruiter.
Sometimes skills help you to shortlist for the interview. I have learnt this from my experience. Always think what you can do differently than anyone else.
#5 References:
This is optional on your resume. I prefer not to write the names of the referees on my resume. I would provide the recruiter once I am selected for the role.
The other categories on the resume like Hobbies and interests have mixed opinions from the experts. If the job is related to your hobbies and interest, just mention them. Otherwise, it is not required to let the recruiter/employer know what you do during your leisure time.
From my experience, I have learnt there is no need to write a career objective and personal attributes. These two things interviewer can find out during the interview. Usually, they skim through your experience, skills and education. So, write them as required to the job specifications.
I would like to list some DO and DON’Ts on your resume:
DO:
- Keep your resume simple and sweet
- Add important responsibilities of your role
- Write your name, address, email and mobile number on the header of the resume
- Use professional fonts and the reasonable size of the font. I use Times New Roman and size is 12
- Add important information like computer skills, education in the first two paragraphs.
DO NOT:
- Add borders to your resume
- Add personal information on your resume like age, sex or marital status
- Add fancy or colour fonts
- Add your photo to your resume
- Add irrelevant information on your resume to increase the number of pages.
- Use the same resume for all jobs. Make changes as per the requirements of the employer. In some cases, you might be over-qualified.
The bottom line is keeping resume simple and sweet. All the very best for your job search.
I have attached some of the sample resumes here.
Now, you know the tips and tricks; why late? Apply in as many websites as you can.
You can also look at Lifeisezy’s job board for more job vacancies.
Let me know your feedback in comments. This really helps me to bring more content to your door step. All the very best!
