• New User Sign Up

• Sign In
• Help
• Yahoo!
• Mail
• News
• Movies
• Cricket
• Finance

Top of Form
Search xxxxx

Web Search
Bottom of Form

• Home
• Colleges
• Courses
• Exams
• Forum
• Articles
Top of Form
/search/%kw % Search for colleg

SEARCH
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bottom of Form
Will your resume get you the interview call?
10 must-dos for a sharper CV.

http%3A%2F%2F

• Print
• Email
•
•
by Careers360 - 25 Mar, 2011
IT is an act in creating your personal brand image. Your resume reaches the interviewer before
you do. Yet, many people lose out on an interview opportunity thanks to a poorly written one.
Your resume is the first step in projecting yourself effectively to the recruiter.
So create an image that you genuinely identify with – it is a sharp world out there and no one is
buying false niceties. We address ten important issues related to your resume.
1. Should your resume have a career goal/ objective statement? A resume that is worthy of
representing you, should clearly state your career objective. A career objective is an indirect way
of advertising what all you would bring to the company/ role. It must display a ‘giving’ attitude
and not a ‘taking’ attitude.
Take a look at this: “To achieve an appreciable status in an organization that offers full scope for
growth and where I can fulfill my aspiration of becoming a world class software professional.”
And this: “Be a part of an organization that recognises my skills and provides me with suitable
environment to perform to the best of my ability.”
Do either of the above display a ‘giving’ attitude? Your answer is correct. They don’t. So now
you know how NOT to write an objective statement! It is advisable to keep the objective
statement simple and specific. Let it focus on the direct value addition that you can provide.
Example: “A certified Software Programmer seeking opportunity in the area of Software
Development in a competitive work environment to utilize my skills to deliver robust and
innovative software solutions.”
2. What sequence should your story follow?
Be it work experience or education, always tell the story from the current/ most recent to the
first. NEVER write it the other way round.
3. Does your resume need to mention your marital status?
The new age resume does not require you to mention your marital status. However, if the job
advertisement clearly states this as a requirement, do fulfil it. Quick Take
* Include a sharp Career Goal
* Choose the pdf format with discretion
* Fonts: Use Times New Roman, Calibri or Verdana
* Run a spell check
* Tweak to suit position and company of a potential employer
* Your latest work stint must appear first
4. How should you treat references?
Unless you have been specifically asked to provide references, it is acceptable to state in your
covering letter/ email that you will provide references on request. Usually, two references are
sufficient. Try to provide references from the two most recent phases of your career.
It is a good idea to inform the referees that you are giving out their contact information. It will
also help if they know what kind of jobs you are applying for.
5. Should you send the resume as an MS Word document or a PDF? Some organisations ask you
to upload your resume. Usually they ask for an MS Word document. If you are mailing across
your resume, you could choose either format.
A word of caution – do not get carried away if you decide to make it a PDF. Keep it simple –
leave out visual histrionics. And whatever software you choose – send the resume in the most
commonly used version.
The biggest advantage of using a pdf format is that it preserves the formatting irrespective of the
version of the Acrobat Reader version or user settings.
In MS word, however, the formatting can change based on the MS Office version and User
Settings, leading to awkward situations like a two-page resume becoming a 3 -page document.
Or a section title like Educational Background coming on Page 2 comes with the details going to
Page 3.
However, if the company insists on a word document, please send the resume in word format
only. Lot of organisations have tools to extract information from Word documents and if you do
not send your resume in Word document, your resume may not get processed at all!
6. Should you incorporate links in the resume?
If you are an engineer who writes a technical blog, go ahead and incorporate the link in your
resume. If you are a website developer, the links to the pages created by you would certainly
help. However, spare the recruiter from links of your personal blogs, photographs and anything
and everything that you scatter on the World Wide Web. In fact, providing the link to your
personal blog may even prove fatal if you publish office gossip or crib about your job!
7. What sort of job profiles demand a portfolio?
Artists, designers, photographers, models and those from the performing arts definitely need to
provide a portfolio. An artist model/ photographer/ designer may want to include a Power Point
or PDF, while a dancer/ actor/ singer may want to mention links from sites like YouTube.
Irrespective of the type of portfolio, the intention is simply to showcase your best and most
relevant work.
8. What fonts / presentation styles make sense?
Go easy on choosing fonts and presentation styles. The most acceptable ones are the simpler
ones. It is advisable to use fonts like ‘Times New Roman’, ‘Calibri’ and ‘Verdana’. Do not get
tempted by the fancier ones. The resume is not the platform to exhibit your artistic inclinations.
Also, keep the fonts and font sizes uniform across different categories in the resume.
You should zero in on a presentation style with just one thing in mind – it should be extremely
presentable. By creating minimum chaos, it should elicit the maximum attention.
Some people choose to give the resume a fancy header with their name and contact information
in bold. This gives it a ‘letter head’ look. Some go for a more conventional style by listing out
such information in bullet points. Either style is absolutely fine.
In writing about your project work, education and work experience, you could provide a box
format or a neatly tabulated one.
9. What are the worst resume gaffes? The worst thing you could do is to send in a resume
without running a grammar/ spelling check. In this age of MS Word, grammar/ spelling mistakes
in a resume are just not tolerated. Needless to say, anyone would straight away trash a resume
that is saved as supersexy2010.doc or rockstar.doc. One gentleman I knew failed to get a single
interview call after sending out more than 80 applications. I probed a little and was shocked to
find out why – he had sent out group mails! Do not try to pass around your resume/ covering
letter without modifying it to suit the company / role you are applying for. It is offending if your
application reads like:
Dear _______, I am applying for the role of ___________________ at your esteemed
organisation _____________________.
It shows and it is NOT acceptable!!!
10. What is the difference in writing a resume for a BPO professional/ Engineer/ MBA? If you
are a BPO aspirant, you need to highlight your ability to deal with all kinds of people, chase
targets and work in shifts. If you are an engineer, your resume should clearly talk about your
projects and internships. Expect a fair number of questions from these areas in the interview. An
MBA student would also need to write about projects and training.
Amit Bansal is a Career Counsellor, Trainer and CEO of PurpleLeap.
NEXT ARTICLE: 12 careers beyond an MBA
Top of Form
yeducareers360- -1 -1 # article

81 comments on this article

Sort by Date
• Sort by Date
• Sort by Popularity

1.
Abhishek: Its a very useful guidelines for us .....
we hope you will provide another information regarding interview......
8 mins ago
Report Abuse
Is this useful?
0
0
 258873

2.
Rajiv: good suggestions
20 mins ago
Report Abuse
Is this useful?
0
0
258869

3.
Vipin: Good Guidence, Thanks.
20 mins ago
Report Abuse
Is this useful?
0
0
258868

4.
Yasir: fdfdfdf
21 mins ago
Report Abuse
Is this useful?
0
0
258867

5.
mervin m: If all those who read this follow the same pattern, the competetion gets
tougher. Think something innovative so that it catches the interviewer's attention.
32 mins ago
 Report Abuse
Is this useful?
0
0
258864

6.
mervin m: every job contains a different perspective to approach. Choose your resume
type before applying.
33 mins ago
Report Abuse
Is this useful?
0
0
258863

7.
Ishangie Sharma: its really helpful sir thanks a lot for all this above points if u do us a
favour so kindly provide one sample resume to all of us so that it will be more easy to
know
41 mins ago
Report Abuse
Is this useful?
0
0
258859

8. jatt_6ft: im pursuing b.tech ( i.t ) . my degree will complete in may,2011 . Can anybody
help me to find a job in software company . e-mail id : sonasandhu_1881@yahoo.in
53 mins ago
Report Abuse
Is this useful?
0
0
258855
 9.
sourabh: Really very helpfull tips..
1 hours ago
Report Abuse
Is this useful?
0
0
258849

10.
Anoop: Yes this will definitlly help every one ... I have 3+ yrs of IT exp...and say...few
things i got to know just now... :-(
1 hours ago
Report Abuse
Is this useful?
0
0
258846

11.
{user_nickname}: {user_response}
{response_ts}
Report Abuse
Is this useful?
{response_thumbs_up_count}
{response_thumbs_down_count}
{response_id}

71 more comments are hidden. Show more...

1000 characters left
Log in to post your comment...
1000

Submit
6Rt00fQh3/C

date

Bottom of Form
To start posting and contributing on this site...
Sign In
<!-- SCBT --> <script> document.write("<scr"+"ipt language='Javascript1.1'
src=\"http://ad.doubleclick.net/adj/N5295.289021.IN.YAHOO.COM/B5167844;abr=!
ie;sz=300x250;click=http://in.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=15v01m0sp/M=200132270.202089408.20334
5062.200946215/D=in_edu/S=2143948550:LREC/Y=IN/EXP=1301133228/L=mor7fHllmL51H
EdWTC6Lrhfddc5Ky02Nm4wAA5wX/B=Qns1G3llmLA-/J=1301126028249865/K=IvJx81d8B
ZpNkZmp0UIcBg/A=201152946/R=1/*;ord="+Math.random()+"?\">\r</SCR"+"IPT>");
</script> <!-- ECBT --> <NOSCRIPT> <A
HREF="http://in.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=15v01m0sp/M=200132270.202089408.203345062.200946
215/D=in_edu/S=2143948550:LREC/Y=IN/EXP=1301133228/L=mor7fHllmL51HEdWTC6Lrh
fddc5Ky02Nm4wAA5wX/B=Qns1G3llmLA-/J=1301126028249865/K=IvJx81d8BZpNkZmp0
UIcBg/A=201152946/R=2/SIG=13mei2rgl/*http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/N5295.289021.IN.Y
AHOO.COM/B5167844;abr=!ie4;abr=!ie5;sz=300x250;ord=1301126028249865?"> <IMG
SRC="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/N5295.289021.IN.YAHOO.COM/B5167844;abr=!ie4;abr=!
ie5;sz=300x250;ord=1301126028249865?" BORDER=0 WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250
ALT="Advertisement"></A> </NOSCRIPT>

Do More
• View Colleges
• Explore courses
• Prepare for exams
Colleges
• Engineering colleges
• Medical colleges
• MBA colleges
Courses
• Engineering
• Medical
• Arts and Humanities
Exams
• IIT JEE
• AIEEE
• CAT
Have suggestions to improve the site?
Send us feedback
Found incorrect or missing information?
Report it
Copyright © 2010 Yahoo India Pvt Ltd. All rights reserved.
• - Privacy policy
• - Terms of service
• - Additional terms of service
• - Copyright/IP Policy
• - About
• - Help
Disclaimer: All trademarks, logos and names are properties of their respective owners. Reference
to any non-Yahoo! trademarks, logos and names is not intended to claim any association with the
respective owners and should not be construed so. Information provided here are by way of
inputs from partners and other users so any users depending on any such information are advised
to verify such information for accuracy. Content partner for colleges, courses, exams feeds is
Minglebox.com