Your Resume Could Be Your Passport To Success

Shreya has been looking for a job since the last 4 months. She has registered on all popular job sites. She scans the newspapers for the recruitments classifieds every week. She has even registered with a few placement consultants. She regularly sends out her resumes to hiring companies. But she NEVER hears from these companies or the hiring managers. It's almost like she is invisible to them!

Ever wondered why in spite of sending your resume to so many companies, you don't get called for even one interview? Well, the answer to your problem is that you have not written an effective resume. Most candidates think that their resume is just a chronological description of their jobs and education. But it is not so. Employers now are looking beyond the ordinary diary of career events. They are looking for people who stand out in terms of pro-activeness and initiative. And what better to describe you than your resume?

Let us first describe the resume. A resume is a written document that gives a brief description of your work experience till date. It also includes your education and any professional learning. However it does not end here. Your resume needs to contain some facts and figures. Now you may ask what facts and figures? Well, read on and you will know...

1. Firstly your resume must list your achievements - This would include your sales achievements, your cost cutting initiatives that helped the company save billions of dollars (ok ok..we got carried away) etc!...Or the initiative you took that helped in either improving an existing process or introducing a new process that benefits everybody. So get down to some serious data crunching and find out your facts and figures.

2. Your salary should not be shown on your resume - Unless asked for, do not mention your salary in your resume. This gives you an advantage and lets you decide on when you want to declare and what you want to declare..Also if you have not mentioned your salary it shows that you are open to negotiations.

3. Your resume should capture key words - Some words are action oriented. So if you mention things such as "saved costs" to the tune of ____ rupees or "improved sales" by introducing a new process etc, then these words are looked upon favourably by employers.

4. Your resume should be free of any spelling errors or wrong tenses - Do a foolproof reading/editing of your resume and ensure that when you send it it is free of any errors.

5. Write about a person - Usually people write resumes as if they were writing a training manual about an inanimate object or machine. A resume is more effective if it shows you as a real person who is capable of making mistakes, and of learning from them. Talk about your career as if you are talking about your life. Don't strive to keep everything clean and sterilized. Be real.

We hope that after reading the above points, you will sooner than later have enough confidence and make a resume that gets you hired!!!

We are sure that you will write an impressive resume, that talks to you
audience. Armed with these principles, just start writing!