JOB SPECIAL...Resume Writing – Giving the final touch

Resume Writing – Giving the final touch

Here's a look at formatting and proof reading, action words, and the importance of stating the truth in a resume
Elements of presentation
One of the important aspects of writing a resume is using the right font size, type and colours. Font sizes between eleven and twelve are considered readable for a resume. You may want to avoid default font selection of your system. Select a font that is popular but not boring.
There are separate font types for printing and for internet resumes. Choose the font type based on your target usage. Do not have more than three font types in your resume. You can have one for the resume title, one for the section title and one for the body of the resume. Limit usage of italics, bold and all caps – use them to grab attention. Do not have entire sentences formatted with italics, bold or all caps.
Candidates tend to write long paragraphs about their experience or skills. Instead, use bulleted lists to depict skills and achievements.
There are no clear rules when it comes to use of font colours. However, it is good to be conservative and stay within black, blue and darker shades of grey. It is better to avoid use of red or have a resume that ends up looking like a print advertisement. You can use logos to depict specific qualifications and achievements. On a related note, photos are to be avoided unless the job position has a direct connection to physical appearance.
While presenting skills and achievements, imply the benefit of such skills using action words. Examples of action words are, target driven, self-motivated, team player, result oriented, hard working and many more. Use these words combined with keywords that depict your skill. Here are some examples:

• Hard-working network engineer
• Self-motivated learner of new technologies
• Goal-oriented sales team leader

This brings us to the topic of ‘resume lies'. Internet studies show that more than 40 per cent resumes have some form of a lie or other. Common examples of resume lies:

• Narrating a team achievement as individual achievement
• Exaggerating targets and achievements
• About academic qualifications
• About skills – exaggerating the level of proficiency

Stretching information is usually done to present a resume as a complete fitment to a given job position. This may get the candidate to the interview. Often, interviewers are trained to spot these lies and filter candidates out. Worse still is when a background verification check or a HR audit spots the lie. Such a situation leads to a black mark in the career.
Realistically, for a given job position very rarely there is a 100 per cent fitment. Mature organisations understand this fact and provide for a certain knowledge gap. A thorough analysis of job advertisements for the position will give you the right information.
Candidates who demonstrate an excellent ability to learn and deliver stand a good chance.
Focus more on demonstrating your learning curve rather than exaggerate aspects of your resume.
Here is a quick checklist of additional things to do:
1. Mention names of people who you worked with
2. Avoid usage of non standard acronyms, slangs and jargons
3. Do not state the obvious as in ‘references available', ‘available for interview'
4. Limit key information in the first page of your resume
5. Limit the resume to 2 pages – if you really have more information carry a separate document for the interview
6. If you have a serious hobby mention it, be informed to discuss it in detail
7. Avoid negative statements
8. Avoid writing in passive voice – use active voice, your grammar check tool can help you do this
Proof Reading – the Professional Touch
Proof reading should be done as a separate exercise and not along with resume writing. Give a time gap after writing, keep your mind fresh and concentrate. The objective is to find faults in your resume and clean it up. Write down mistakes that you see rather than correcting them immediately.
When proof reading:
1. Look for words that you do not understand and replace them
2. Ensure punctuation is right
3. Read the resume backwards and capture more mistakes
Once you have completed a review and written down the mistakes, do the exercise again. Once you are confident that you have captured all the errors, fix them. Time to go for the second round of proof reading, and may be use a senior colleague to review it for you.
Your resume makes your career so take it seriously
Your resume is a document that sells your skills. Be proud of what you have achieved and keep your mind open for more.

The author is Madhu Murty Ronanki, president,TalentSprint