What's wrong with your resume?

The job market is at an all time high. Recruiters askew looking all over for talents, what more could be the perfect time to make a career move? In the bustle to move over and the confidence in their talents (which apparently is required) several candidates forget the importance of their resumes.

Your resume is your piper; it attracts the opportunities in your sake, grants you the favours of the HR and lays a clean base for your meeting with the employer. It is only right you treat your resume well.

Common resume mistakes

With knowledge many candidates also seem to inherit the resume formats of their experienced friends or colleagues. The convenience has lead to carry on the same mistake of the earlier resume if not outdated.

Resume Format

Objective, Name, Address, Permanent Address, Father's Name, Mother's Name, Passport Number, Education, Experience, Salary Expectation, Reference and Declaration - is the usual flow or format of more than 70% of the resumes.

• Unfortunately, this format has been dead for years - completely outdated.
• It is difficult to read; with the speed of recruitment required now-a-days, it needs to be crisp.
• Mention Address and Permanent Address only if you are living outside your hometown.
• Father and Mother's names are unprofessional information - thus not required.
• Salary Expectations are details best discussed in person - talking about it in the resume leaves a feeling that your importance is in the money more than work..
• Rather use a simple resume format. Open with a crisp and strong Objective, followed by a Summary of Skills and Work Experience in reverse chronological order. Provide your Mobile Number, E-Mail id and keep your personal details to a minimum.

Resume Hygiene

Spelling, Grammatical and Syntax Errors, the most glaring and annoying mistakes a candidate could ever make. Resume Hygiene is a golden rule of Resume Writing. Your Resume is the single most important Career Document. A resume with bad hygiene would annoy the HR professional enough to reject. It also goes as far as regarding you as a person carrying an indolent attitude, and that's something they fear would be carried into the new job. Please remember every word uttered in the resume should enhance your image.

Resume hygiene also includes choice of format and font. Preferably use a single font through out. Use common fonts; uncommon fonts may not be available at your employers' console and your carefully edited format might end up looking like gibberish. Choose a neat and legible font and use a single colour through out.

Do not use tables or shaded boxes. Not only it looks unprofessional, they do not print well especially the shaded ones.

Content and Presentation

Even if your language is fantastic, it's best to avoid flowery or superfluous language. Make the content simple, direct and crisp. Long paragraphs can make the reader skip lines or even ignore important points; use bulleted points instead.

Start your resume with a strong and crisp Summary of Skills or the Objective. Your Objective should be industry-oriented and very specific.

Important note for Freshers: Present your projects or work in a clear and concise manner. Mentioning the methodology and the role you played in the project provides the closest real-time experience. It also previews your character role and helps the HR imagine your place in the organisation.

Avoid subjective references like "I am Hardworking, Smart & Talented, etc." These are qualities that are expected by default in a candidate, mentioning them is unnecessary.

For candidates moving up from middle rung to management sector it is wise to avoid 'task-oriented' terms. Your resume should slant more towards managing a project, creating processes and delegation of tasks. This portrays your readiness to move to the next level.

Do not overload your resume with unwanted content that would be very obvious or irrelevant. Though it shows your profound and wide nature of participation, it would not relate directly to your professional profile. Avoid mentioning every little task in your work experience. You will run the risk of being repetitive and silly. Mention only those that enhance your image.

Sales and Marketing resumes are looked up for figures more than facts. Since a marketing or sales success is about hardcore percentiles, mark your performance by providing actual figures rather than descriptions. E.g.: Reduced inventory by 30 to 50%, increased productivity by 25 to 35% and reduced lead-time by 30 to 50%.

Resume - Your career document

Like the piper, your resume can attract several opportunities your way. Taking good care of it could astound you with the results. The employer knows and learns you from your resume and then sets his frame of mind based on what it says. Your resume can determine the interview's success well in advance. So, the moral: Pay your piper his due attention and care..