Resume Writing
Creating a résumé is the first and the most important thing to consider when one goes job hunting. It should be designed to lure prospective employers into calling you for an interview. This can only happen when your profile on paper creates enough interest to mark you out as a prospective employee.
Every company has its own requirements and expectations, the information you choose to display on the résumé and the way you want to present it will vary with each job application. You cannot use one résumé for every job that you apply for. While focusing on a certain kind of job profile one needs to reorient the information to suit the company's requirements. The following instances highlight the need to make more than one résumé:
- Notice if you have been using general statements such as "I am a hard working and responsible person, always ready to take on challenges".
- May be you are a person with clear and focused career goals.
- Making more than one résumé is very important for people with a wide range of experience in various fields or for people who have been working for years now.
First of all, you should never use such statements in a résumé. Moreover, if you are using generalisations because you want one résumé to work for various types of jobs then it is a grave blunder. A résumé of this kind is very likely to end up right in the HR department's dustbin. Stop being lazy! HR teams do not have time to go through endless points mentioned in the résumé and hunt for the required skills. This résumé will read like a poor promotional campaign where one has difficulty figuring out what you are trying to sell. You must have more than one résumé in such a scenario. To create an effective résumé you must tailor it according to the specific requirements of a job. Sit and analyse your career goals. Carefully study the target sectors and the job profiles you plan to apply for in those sectors.
You know there is only one profile that you are seeking. Even then developing various drafts of your résumé can help you rectify your mistakes and arrive at a better format. Create and save a primary source with all possible details of your educational and professional background, achievements, career objectives, skills, etc. Do not forget to keep updating this primary source. It should have every little detail pertaining to your career. Then use this information pool to see what you need to pick and what you need to skip while applying for a particular job. Also, make several drafts with different formats for a particular kind of job profile and see which one of them gets a better response from the employers.
Their details are likely to spill over into two or three pages. In such a case, one needs to first jot down all details and make a primary source. Then filter that information to suit the requirements of a job. Professionals who have been working for many years need to omit information about the jobs and internships at the beginning of their career if they do not relate to the position they are applying for now.