A rue that many HR executives have about recruiting new age fresh graduates is their total inexperience of writing a relevant resume. This is true in most cases except perhaps if you hail from a premier b-school.
While the internet can come to your rescue when it comes to representing information about yourself, if you’re fresh out of college, you may not feel there’s a lot to impress in a set template. We’ve put together few tips for you to present a winning resume right from the start.
Some inside points from recruiters who see your resume: Professional Resume Summary
Short is Sweet
Hiring managers often say that your resume can’t exceed a page. They have little time to read through anything beyond that length. Considering you’ll be competing with hundreds, if not thousands for the same role, you’re likelier to be invited for an interview if you keep it short.
Mast Head
The top of the resume is where you introduce yourself. It’s where you state who, what, where you are. Aside from your name, this is the place where you put contact information such as your complete postal address, mobile number and email id. Make sure that the last item is formal-sounding (not coolboy93@yahoo.com or cutegirl92@hotmail.com) and one you check at least twice a day.
If you so wish, you may also define a career objective for the next 3 to 5 years below this section.
Skills, Internships & Projects
As a fresher, your skills, and internships and projects comprise your work experience. List 2 or 3 top skills such as software, editing styles or design tools which you’re good at.
If you’ve interned at any organisations during your course, then mention the name of the company, city and duration alongside month and year. Any work experience other than preparing coffee for the fulltime staff (tracking news, data entry, etc.) is worth mentioning.
If you’ve contributed to a project during your course, definitely mention that in your resume with the name of the course, teacher and date & duration.
Outside College, Within Personality
If you’ve given time to serve the community in any way, your future employer will see in you the maturity and ability to organise yourself.
Extracurricular activities (not channel surfing or playing with your pup) add more dimension to your profile. Play a sport well? Trained in music or a craft? Put it down!
Get cracking your resume and interview preparation with these expert tips: Stephen Covey on CVs, Cover Letters, Interviews
The Base
When you’re only just beginning your career, what you’ve studied and from where and when, will matter. State the year in which you earned your qualification, name of the board or university and your major subjects.
Recommendation
When you don’t have brands or the stability of having worked a number of years backing you, your references come to the rescue. Choose and check with slightly senior and professionally stable acquaintances to vouch for you before you mention their names, numbers, and email ids.
Endgame
Despite these guidelines, it’s a good idea to have your resume vetted by a senior. Here are a few rookie mistakes you should avoid at all costs:
- A dated (worse still, an outdated) resume
- A one-size-fits-all resume – customise!
- Resume with primary school successes. Unless you were a national Spelling Bee winner, no one cares.
- Low individual GPA or subject score mentions
- Pronouns and unknown acronyms
- Blatant lies, white lies, any kind of lies!
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