How crucial is a good resume?

Sharmila Chand 

Does a good resume make a difference in seeking a job interview? What are the key blunders in making a good resume? 

Here’s what experts have to say on this …

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Ms. Anjali Sachdeva, Head- HR, Groupe SEB India Pvt. Ltd. 

Does a good resume make a difference in seeking a job interview?

It is often said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”. A resume is generally the first thing that a recruiter will go through before giving that call to the prospective candidate. Hence, its importance is obvious. An HR personnel  or recruiter is overloaded with resumes and while some of these are relevant ,  others are not related to the profile. 

Sieving through that pile of resumes to figure out the right talent, is definitely a time-consuming task and that is why a badly written resume is tossed to trash can in a couple of seconds. On the other hand, a finely written resume which presents all requisite details  immediately captures the attention of the recruiter. Hence, a resume indeed holds a lot of importance in the process of seeking a job. 

Key blunders to avoid

An end-to-end review of the resume before it is sent out, is extremely important. In case of any doubt, a friend or a senior can be requested to go through the document in order to get an objective review. 

However,  never ask somebody else to prepare your resume. After all, nobody else can describe you better than you yourself. 

Proper formatting and getting rid of the typos are two of the most important things. One can use the spell-check option if required. 

Also, it is advisable to avoid mentioning any unrelated work experience in the resume till the time one cannot associate it with any value addition in terms of interpersonal skills development etc. 

However, if it fills the resume with a lot of time gap, one can mention about the experience without going into too much  detail. 

It is also important to highlight the accomplishments achieved while performing the job duties. 

 As a thumb rule, never-ever mass-mail your resume, it just makes the recruiter wonder whether the candidate has even gone through the job description or not. 

At the end of the day, a resume is textual description of the person sending it…making it too flowery or vague will diminish the chances of making the recruiter see through the resume, while on the other hand, a clear and objective-oriented resume is what will make one stand apart from the pile.

Pitfalls to steer clear of

Once all the details are in place and all precautions have been taken in creating a good and concise resume, there are still some small yet impactful things where one can go wrong. Some such blunders that have the potential of killing a nicely put together resume are: 

• Typos and grammatical errors
• Detailing unnecessary information (100 m race winner etc.)…basically, anything which not even distantly has anything to do with the job one is applying for
• Vague description of professional accomplishments and past experience, 
• Having a 'cut-paste' job objective statement and a textually cramped resume. 
• Overdoing things to make the resume look different, is not going to be of any help. 
• Somebody else making the resume, using terms, hobbies etc. which are not known to the candidate. This gets revealed during the interview.  These kind of errors are a major put off and ensure a sure shot rejection.

What recruiters want

• One most important thing which a candidate needs to keep in mind is how he/she can save his/her potential employer's time. 
• A crisp yet complete resume which is accompanied with a well-written cover letter is what any recruiter is on a look out for. 
• The visual appeal of the resume doesn't lie in using ten different types of fonts or colours; rather, it is about a simply written resume which is neither too short nor too long. 
• Keeping in mind all these factors will ensure that the resume is error proof. 

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Shuchi Sharma, VP- HR, ACL Mobile Ltd

Does a good resume make a difference in seeking a job interview?

Absolutely! It is the only impression a recruiter has of  a potential candidates before meeting him face-to-face. Furthermore, head-hunters do not have much time to scanning the entire profile. The structure of the resume should convey the core expertise of the candidate within the first 10 seconds; otherwise the chances of an interview call are pretty grim. 

How to avoid blunders

While conveying the accomplishments, focus on results that can be measured accurately. For instance, try to include confirmable facts like, increased the list of email subscribers by 70 per cent or brought down the cost of production by 38 per cent or increased the revenue by 20 per cent etc. In the technology domain, they can talk about how the project they worked with achieved the defined target and contributed to the organisation’s growth.

In order to avoid being generic, customise your resume as per the recruiter. Carefully read between the lines of job description and you would find, different organisations are looking for a different characteristic, which may be subtly communicated in the description. 

Key blunders to avoid 

One blunder that candidates must definitely avoid is including details of the responsibilities, instead of accomplishments. As an employer, instead of knowing the job profile, I want to know what exactly the candidate accomplished during the tenure. Besides, I would suggest the candidates to avoid a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Also, especially on the tech resume, we have seen that candidates focus more on talking about the projects they have worked on rather than putting across the contribution they had made towards that project, which is something we would like to see. Also, the specific skills they have relevant to the job rather than laundry list of the skills they may have accumulated. 

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Uma Srinivasan, President (Search & Selection), Randstad India

Does a good resume make a difference in seeking a job interview?

Your resume is a personal marketing document and you have just one shot to sell yourself, so always make it count. It is essential to create a cutting-edge resume that highlights your core skills, strengths, and professional competencies to stand out in the cluttered job market. Also, a good resume often lays down the path for the remaining recruitment stages. Applicants need to understand that a resume is a reflection of him — and skill sets like values, personality traits and characteristics are principal requirements from any recruiter.

Key factors to consider while creating a resume

Listed below are the key factors to consider while creating a resume that will help you shine in the job market:

• Creating an employer-centric career objective 
• Highlighting your past achievements and core competencies
• Using a target job title
• Projecting your work experience and showing the career progression over the years
• Structuring your resume appropriately and using the right key words 
• Making the resume easy to read and visually appealing.

Key blunders to avoid 

A resume should be concise, well-written, must look professional and should be tailored to fit the company and the position you are applying for. Below are some of the common resume faux pas which an applicant should definitely avoid:

• Failing to highlight key achievements and skills
• Incorporating too much content, incorrect and generic information 
• A cluttered and poorly formatted document 
• Lying about your past job experiences 
• Typos and grammatical errors
• An unprofessional personal brand on social media platforms.