RESUME WRITING - LEARNINGS

Often, in our group meetings, we face varied opinions. Five different people have five different ways to solve the same problem and yet none of them could be wrong. Each of these people sees the same problem from different frames, and thus unravels different aspects of the problem. After appreciating this whole concept in many of the projects which we did in groups, I feel the importance of framing, and understand the fact that, consulting different people from diversified background is more pronounced when it comes to resume reviews.

Every person who does a sincere review of your resume is likely to contribute to the betterment your resume. For instance, when my resume was reviewed by one of my batch mates from the iron and steel industry, I realized that I need to better my resume in certain aspects. Similarly, when another batch mate, this time from information technology reviewed my resume, I got to know of facts which I myself could never have thought of. Now that I have mentioned about resume, let me pen down my experience on resume making. I admit that I am at a very beginning stage of the learning curve, however no harm in putting down my understanding till date.

(1) The first thing which I learned recently is the fact that your resume is NOT the description of your job profile. It is rather based on what skills you learned during your job, and how you used those hard learned skills to differentiate yourself from others who share the same job profile. In simple MBA lingo, your resume should be able to reflect the value you added to your organization.

(2) Secondly, the fitment of the mentioned skills with the next stage of your aspiration should shine brightly from your resume.

(3) Always indicate measurable indications. Without measurable indications, things look incomplete. If you are an engineer, you should provide simple, understandable numbers so that the reviewer can estimate how good an engineer you are. The idea is that these numbers should describe how effectively you managed your team or how quickly you completed your project etc.

(4) Simplicity is again the key. As far as practicable, avoid complicated jargons. A person from a different industry should be able to understand and appreciate what is mentioned in your resume. In case you need to mention complicated research topics, which you think your resume cannot do without, then make sure to write a line which will help the reviewer to understand the importance.

(5) As far as practicable, stick to the principle of “one page” resume. Most organizations consider this sacrosanct.

(6) Some strong hobbies and personality traits like knowledge of international languages, or great social service etc. should always be mentioned. However, NEVER misrepresent anything.

(7) Know your resume inside out. Any question targeted to the resumes should be answered back in the most convincing manner.

(8) More the number of people who review your resume, the better it is.

That’s all what I can write now. More resume writing tips as I move ahead in the learning curve.