India Broadband Forum

saurav_k

This article is an attempt to help the readers design an impressive and user-friendly CV. If you ensure that you include this information in your CV, the chances of it meeting the interviewer's expectations are increased.

8 things to make an impressive CV

~ Begin with name and contact details
Make this information available at the beginning of your CV. This should include your postal address, phone number (preferably mobile number) and e-mail address (only one). If a company wants to call you for an interview or needs to communicate with you for any further information, they will look out for this information. If it is buried somewhere inside the CV it will not only put them off but also reduce their chances of contacting you.

~ Write an appealing career summary
This is your chance to bring forward relevant strengths and skills to the recruiter. Everything in your CV should support your Career Summary. If there's anything that doesn't support your Career Summary, you should reconsider listing it.

You should write your Career Summary around your skills, attitude, knowledge and experience. There are two schools of thought on writing the career statement.

Some people think that it should be a short 30-40 word paragraph while others give it liberty to be covered in 4-5 bulleted points. Whatever you decide on, ensure that everything relevant that you want to sell to the prospective employer is covered here. At the same time, it should not become nauseating.

~ Focus on your work experience, responsibilities and achievements
If you are an experienced candidate, your work experience is your main asset. Include the details of the relevant jobs you have done in the past. You should present your work experience in a chronologically descending order ie the last company first.

This should include the name of the company, your designation and tenure followed by your job responsibilities and achievements. It is always better to present this information in bulleted format rather than a clumsy paragraph. Mention some figures when you talk about your achievements.

For example:
Worked as Business Development Manager for XYZ Company from June 2000 to January 2004.

Job responsibilities:
Setting up 7 franchisees across 4 countries
Maximising the business from existing customers to the tune of $ 200,000

~ Your next asset is your educational qualification
Educational qualifications play an important role in the recruitment of freshers. If you are a fresh candidate, focus your CV on your qualifications and achievements during your student life.

~ Write about your out-of-work achievements, interests and hobbies
These reflect your personality and skills. Present the relevant achievements in the order of priority ie the most important achievement first. Similarly, present your interests as well. Write about the achievements that display a facet of your personality. For example, if you have been the president of your college, do mention it. It shows your leadership skills.

~ Write short sentences with more impactful words
Lengthy CVs put the recruiter off. Keep the sentences short and use words that demonstrate your hold of the situation like managed, arranged, supervised etc.

~ Formal font faces
A font like Verdana-10 should be good for the content while the Name at the top can be written in Verdana-12, with a bold font face.

~ Use the same tense through out the CV.
Changing the tense in every second line leaves the reader confused and annoyed.

12 things your CV should not Have:

~ Colorful or glossy paper and flashy fonts
Your CV is a formal, official document. Keep it simple.

~ Resume or CV at the top
Many people tend to add headings to their CV. The usual are CV, Curriculum Vitae and Resume. Do not do this.

~ Photographs until asked
Do not add your photo to the CV until you have been asked for it. Photographs are required only for certain types of positions like models, actors etc.

~ Usage of 'I', 'My', 'He', 'She'
Do not use these in your CV. Many candidates write, 'I worked as Team Leader for XYZ Company' or 'He was awarded Best Employee for the year 2007'. Instead use bullet points to list out your qualifications/ experience like: Team leader for XYZ Company from 2006-2007.

~ Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
Proofread your CV until you are confident that it doesn't have any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. These are big put-offs for the recruiters. Moreover, sometimes these mistakes might land you in an embarrassing situation.

A candidate who submitted his CV without proofreading it committed the mistake of wrongly spelling 'ask' as 'ass'. Now you can imagine the type of embarrassment he must have faced during the interview, when the interviewer pointed it out. These mistakes tend to convey a lazy and careless attitude to the interviewer.

~ Lies about your candidature
Do not lie about your past jobs or qualifications or anything which might have an impact on the job. You may be able to secure a job with these lies today but tomorrow you may lose it as well.

~ Abbreviations or jargon that is difficult to understand
People screening your resume usually belong to the HR department. If they do not understand what the abbreviations and jargon mean, they will simply dump your CV in the trash can. Avoid over-using such terms as far as possible.

~ Reasons for leaving last job
Leave these reasons to be discussed during the personal interview. For example, some candidates write: Reason for leaving the last job: Made redundant. Avoid making such statements in your CV, they add no value. Besides, if you do get an interview call, chances are the interviewer will address the issue.

~ Past failures or health problems
Mentioning these immediately slash your chances of getting an interview call.

For instance, you have a gap in your employment because you started your own business which did not do well. Some candidates might write -- Reason for gap in employment: Started own business which failed. Do not do this type of injustice with your job hunt at this stage of writing the CV.

~ Current or expected salary
Leave it to be discussed while negotiating the salary.

~ Irrelevant details
Leave out the details like marital status, sex, passport number, number of kids, age of kids. These are usually irrelevant for most interviewers but at times could be used as a basis for discrimination.

~ References
Do not include them until asked. In fact, it is not even required to mention the line 'Reference available on request'. If the recruiter requires a reference, he/she will ask you to bring it along for the interview.


Some Powerwords for your CV:

If you are stuck with finding a good word to describe your action in the CV, take a look at this list of some frequently used action words.



How do I use these in my CV?

• List your responsibilities and achievements.

• Find the one word that best describes your role in that situation such as manage, co-ordinate, plan, advise etc.

• Begin your sentence with the past tense of the verb you decide to use for every responsibility.

• Add some figures and facts to your statement.

Source: Compiled from 3 different articles from rediff careers section

gothic_coder

Very good info saurav.... Can't rep you bro

Rameshjeee

Good post ~ Repo+++

kirankumargb

GOod info mate...! cant rep you

meetdilip

Nice share

If you look smart and professional, a photograph can do wonders.

ShAdOwCoN

Rep+

sujithsukrutham

Rep+

just4kix

Very nice. Can't rep you just yet.

saurav_k

Thanks a lot everyone. I think this article is a nice complement to Rameshjee's articles on Interview Tips and GD tips.

@j4k

I was expecting a rep from you on this thread rather than on the joke. Anyways, Your appreciation is enough.

True, but looks can be deceptive sometimes. Probably that is why photograph should be avoided in some fields. For Modelling/Acting, obviously a photograph is needed.

Gary4gar

GooD Post, comes hangy while jon hunting. reps

[edit]
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to saurav_kataruka again

nilact

Good Article!! Can't Rep you right now

18lama

One important thing is the fonts which are used for the text: Use Arial, Verdana, Times new Roman or any other formal and plain looking fonts.

Don't use childish fonts like "comic sans". If you use cartoony fonts it only makes you look foolish and not serious.

Don't use fonts which have 3rd and 4th alphabet, i.e. courtsey writing fonts. Don't use all capital letters when making your resume, instead use regular sentence case.

saurav_k

Yes, these are common rules for any official/professional document.


One member suggested me to add a few templates/sample CVs here. Here are a few Sample CV's with important comments. Many Resumes were collected by Rediff, and these two were chosen.

1)
Page -1

Page -2


2)
Page -1

Page -2

Page -3


For more samples/templates:

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/cvsamp...blsamplecv.htm
http://www.freeresumesamples.org/
http://www.jobweb.com/resumes.aspx?folderid=116
http://www.freshersworld.com/resume/resume.htm

Mr.Tooth Fairy

now this is called perfect.. the content and explanation is perfect... just perfect...



i dont think any flaws are there.. good work saurav.. hats off..


lets see for other ppl's view..wat they tell...

saurav_k

Thanks a lot for the suggestions and appreciation Doctor..

itsmemad

Good work saurav... Rep ++++++

saurav_k

People use the words RESUME, C.V., and BIO-DATA interchangeably for the
document highlighting skills, education, and experience that a candidate
submits when applying for a job. On the surface level, all the three
mean the same. However, there are intricate differences.

RESUME

Resume Is a French word meaning "summary", and true to the word
meaning, signifies a summary of one's employment, education, and other
skills, used in applying for a new position. A resume seldom exceeds one
side of an A4 sheet, and at the most two sides. They do not list out all
the education and qualifications, but only highlight specific skills
customized to target the job profile in question.
A resume is usually broken into bullets and written in the third person
to appear objective and formal. A good resume starts with a brief
Summary of Qualifications, followed by Areas of Strength or Industry
Expertise in keywords, followed by Professional Experience in reverse
chronological order. Focus is on the most recent experiences, and prior
experiences summarized. The content aims at providing the reader a
balance of responsibilities and accomplishments for each position. After
Work experience come Professional Affiliations, Computer Skills, and
Education

C.V CURRICULUM VITAE

C.V Is a Latin word meaning "course of life". Curriculum
Vitae (C.V.) is therefore a regular or particular course of study
pertaining to education and life. A C.V. is more detailed than a resume,
usually 2 to 3 pages, but can run even longer as per the requirement. A
C.V. generally lists out every skills, jobs, degrees, and professional
affiliations the applicant has acquired, usually in chronological order.
A C.V. displays general talent rather than specific skills for any
specific positions.

BIO-DATA

Bio Data the short form for Biographical Data, is the old-fashioned
terminology for Resume or C.V. The emphasis in a bio data is on personal
particulars like date of birth, religion, sex, race, nationality,
residence, martial status, and the like. Next comes a chronological
listing of education and experience. The things normally found in a
resume, that is specific skills for the job in question comes last, and
are seldom included. Bio-data also includes applications made in
specified formats as required by the company.

A resume is ideally suited when applying for middle and senior level
positions, where experience and specific skills rather than education is
important. A C.V., on the other hand is the preferred option for fresh
graduates, people looking for a career change, and those applying for
academic positions. The term bio-data is mostly used in India while
applying to government jobs, or when applying for research grants and
other situations where one has to submit descriptive essays.

Resumes present a summary of highlights and allow the prospective
employer to scan through the document visually or electronically, to see
if your skills match their available positions. A good resume can do
that very effectively, while a C.V. cannot. A bio-data could still
perform this role, especially if the format happens to be the one
recommended by the employer.

Personal information such as age, sex, religion and others, and hobbies
are never mentioned in a resume. Many people include such particulars in
the C.V. However, this is neither required nor considered in the US
market. A Bio-data, on the other hand always include such personal
particulars.

source: mail

meetdilip

Good find.

Rameshjeee

10 power words for your CV

The basic purpose of these words is to demonstrate your hold of a particular situation and the actions you took to achieve a result or come out of a situation. One important thing to note here is that the immediate past tense of a verb is more powerful than the verb itself. Using a past tense also shows that you actually completed the work you started successfully. Adding some figures and facts along with these verbs would add more impact.

Let's see with an example how each word can be utilised to its full power:

1. Achieved

Good example: Achieved the target of implementing the software onsite for 200 users 15 days before the deadline.

Bad example: To implement the software onsite.

This sounds more like a responsibility. The interviewer is mainly interested in knowing about your output.

2. Built

Good Example: Built new premises to convert the study centre into a residential college accommodating 200 students.

Bad example: Building a new premise for the residential college.

3. Developed

Good example: Developed guidelines for 50 users to understand and use the new process for client handling.

Bad example: Developing guidelines to use the new process for client handling.

The selector and the interviewer will be amused with questions like: What guidelines? When? For whom?. The good example here answers these queries and shows your output rather than your responsibility.

4. Eliminated

Good example: Eliminated the use of thick brown tape for sealing the packages to reduce the cost by over 15 per cent.

Bad example: To eliminate wasteful of resources.

The selector will again have the questions like 'what type of resources?', 'how did your action help?'

5. Forecast

Good example: Forecast a downturn in the FMCG business because of economic slowdown. Suggested measures to combat it and achieve the quarterly target.

Bad example: To analyse and forecast the market.

6. Introduced

Good example: Introduced a new process to handle queries from potential customers to increase the conversion rate by 60 per cent.

Bad example: Introducing a new process to handle client queries.

7. Modernised

Good example: Modernised a chain of 15 retail outlets across three states to meet the taste of urban youth.

Bad example: To modernise the look of retail chain outlets.

8. Organised

Good example: Organised reseller conferences in three cities while maintaining a close co-ordination with three internal departments and four vendors.

Bad example: Organising events like exhibitions and retailer conferences.

9. Recommended

Good example: Recommended five new ways to ensure that the company is able to roll out the new version of its 'small car' before the launch of Nano.

Bad example: Recommending ways for the company to roll out its new 'small car'

10. Secured

Good example: Secured first position in the university while pursuing MBA course and helped the college stand at the top of the list.

Bad example: University topper during MBA.

**********************************************

Words you should NEVER use

There are certain words which are seen frequently on CVs but actually only serve to irritate recruiters/ interviewers and at times may even cost you the interview call, as they paint a misleading picture of you.

Responsible for
This is a very common set of words seen on CVs. While the candidates do not realize, these are a set of most irritating words selectors see on the CVs. Until you provide additional information to show them how did you help the organization with this responsibility, these words are meaningless.

For eg, it doesn't make any sense if you just say "Responsible for promoting the product in north region".

The selector would wonder: When? For how long? What was the outcome? and may finally dump your CV thinking that the candidate is not mature enough. However, if you write "Promoted the product XYZ in "alpha" districts of north India from 2004-2006 achieving a visibility of 75 per cent", it will definitely add value to your CV.

I failed
Never ever use the word "fail", "failed" in your CV. While there is nothing bad about failing in something you do. After all, it is only when one tries that one fails. However, mentioning it on your CV shows that you have nit been able to make your peace with it or recover from it. While you should not lie in your CV, it doe not mean that you need to bare your soul either. Discuss such issues only if asked.

I hate my boss
This is another thing which you can absolutely do without on your CV. Discuss only when asked and even then, do not rant and rave. There are chances that the person interviewing you might know your current/ ex-boss.

I've been laid off
Lay offs are hitting almost every sector and noone is really safe. It need not necessarily be your fault that you were laid off, it could just be the effect of the current market situation. So, you don't need to mention the fact that you have been laid off on your CV. If you are called for the interview, you can address the issue then.

I suffer from...
Do not write about your health problems on your CV. They might be minor but may end up costing you an interview call. If you have a break in your career owing to health problems, leave them to be discussed in the interview, if asked.

Family ties
Unless you are applying for a job where the employer has to bear the expenses of your family or the information is going to have an impact on your working conditions, this information is useless to the interviewer.

Political affiliations and inclinations
You may have a political affiliation or inclination but your CV or interview is not the place to talk about it.

Source: Rediff

saurav_k

Good contribution Jeee.