What is a resume ?

  Resume plays a very important part in standing out as an applicant and showcase your best in the first place. It reflects the candidate as a whole, in defining their experiences, skills and career background.   This formal document is used as a job applicant with customized cover letter which generally includes, educational background, career background, skills, interests, hobbies and other relevant specifics regarding the job they apply to. Though, one should know how to write a professional resume?  

Why is a resume important ?

  Resume is the first impression that you provide to recruiters and employers, through which they decide if you are a better fit for the job. Thus, it is a very crucial part to showcase and grab their attention and leave a mark.   This does not sum up in a matter of one or two pages, but rather how you present yourself. It includes your details about work and education, training, skill sets, accomplishments, your strengths and weaknesses and that's what makes it a unique opportunity to shine.    

What should a professional resume include ?

  So, what should an ideal resume include?   Apart from being a professional document and include information regarding yourself, keep in mind to keep your resume short-and easy to read for recruiters. Main goal of the resume is to convey yourself and help employers know about you.  

1. Name and contact information

  One can always start with their name and the designation they are applying for. It is better to include your photograph, contact number, email address, while it also depends upon the type of job you are applying for.   Include the keywords regarding the designation that recruiters can easily go through.  

2.  Educational background

  It is important for the recruiters to know about your educational qualifications, especially about the pursued degree or any certification. One should include most relevant and recent qualifications and level of experience they possess, if any.     Under educational background, one can include subtopics like:   Name of college Course: Field of study: Passing year: Your score: Other accomplishments:   Make sure to add a relevant listing of the background that links with the job you are applying for, and helps you reflect better.  

3. Work history

  Quoted as the professional section, this field helps to showcase the value you provided to the previous company and amount of experience you possess.   Here, you can include all your experiences ranging till past 10-15 years depending upon the need.   Include the most recent job, to all the experiences and accomplishments you have had to give recruiters a better eye about your professional background.   For example, you can include if you have worked as a junior marketing executive for the past 6 years and can leave off other jobs you did which are not much relevant.   On the other hand, if you are a fresher and have nearly no experience in the field, you can include what value you can bring to the company and include your strengths. You can even include some other relevant jobs you might have done, so that recruiters may use that experience to figure out what kind of employee you might be.  

4.  Employment summary

  Your employment summary should briefly include your previous company, name of employers, job title, years of experience, and other relevant experiences regarding the job.   It is suggested to use bullets to summarize the history and present it well.  

5.  Additional accomplishments or voluntary work

  This section could be a cherry on cake, to top it all serve some extra points to get hired and outshine anyways.   Try to add some considerably good points regarding the other work you have done, which can help you know better and has relevance to the job you're applying for. It helps recruiters build a better outline of who you are as a person and what value you can bring to the table.   You can always include some points besides professional background which might help you.  

6.  Summarize the resume

  At the end, try to summarize your resume with 4-5 lines that explains who you are and why you're qualified for the job.   Your summary can also include some soft skills that you may have, or the work history and educational background you possess.      

Don't make these mistakes while writing a professional resume!

  While, candidates try their best to do their best at writing resumes, here are some common mistakes that can take way the impact you could have had:  

1. Over use of text

  Over usage of information and writing might not be able to highlight true points of yours and can reduce the impact. It often can be quite boring and a little difficult to know the candidate, if it includes too much information and can distract the employers in finding the keywords.  

2.  Grammatical errors

  It is obvious in any language to convey it properly without having any second thought about the case and understanding properly. If recruiters try to read between the lines, try to make the reading easier and flattering instead of looking like an unprofessional piece.  

3.  Generic letter

  Often due to lack of time, candidates try to use some generic cover letters or the same piece of resume to every other company they apply to. In this case the data needs to be different and information has to be changed according to the need.   Recruiters clearly want to appoint someone who can help their organization grow, so if you're being too lazy in giving an enthusiastic vibe you're clearly out of the league.    

Conclusion:

  To sum it all, a resume is a one or two page document which becomes the key factor for the recruiters and helps decide if you're a better fit for them.  

Tips:

  Try to include your best with recent and relevant information depending upon the organization you're applying to. The details and data included should be true to its words and should not be difficult to understand. Attach any specific documents or files needed, if any.