Resume Writing in communication

1. RESUME
WRITING
Efforts by:
Vibhor Agarwal

2. Resume Writing
• Resume or CV is the most important
document in the job hunting process; it is the
first introduction of the candidate to the
employer, and explains the candidate’s
background.
• It should be well laid out.

3. Know the purpose of your resume
• Companies receive tons of resumes and
reviewing them is a tedious task.
• Make yours easy to read, simple, crisp and to
the point.
• It is a good idea to make your resume
company-specific and particularly highlight
those qualities that you feel the company is
looking for.

4. Back up your qualities and strengths
• Use bullets to list your achievements.
• Do not list responsibilities as that becomes
long and boring to read.
• Ensure that you list the most important
achievements first and provide relevant data.

5. Achievements instead of responsibilities
• Resumes that include a long list of
“responsibilities included…” are plain boring,
and not efficient in selling yourself.
• Instead of listing responsibilities describe
your professional achievements.

6. Curriculum-Vitae
• Your CV must sell you to a prospective
employer, and compete against other
applicants who are also trying to sell
themselves.

7. Curriculum-Vitae
• This means that your curriculum vitae must be
presented professionally,clearly, and in a way
that indicates you are an ideal candidate for
the job, i.e., you possess the right skills,
experience, behaviour, attitude, that the
employer is seeking.

8. Curriculum-Vitae
• In your CV it's important to emphasise your
attributes in strong, relevant and expressive
terms; modesty doesn't work particularly well
on any CV.

9. Resume Writing
• Write it with focus on the prospective
employer’s needs.
• Therefore, the resume must be modified for
every job you apply for, so that you can
emphasise your qualification for that specific
job.

10. Back up your qualities and strengths
• Dates, figures, etc. make the data more
realistic and appreciable.
• Try and show your interviewers how your
skills will benefit the specific company.
• Your headings should be bold and underlined.

11. Proofread it twice
• Proofread your resume and ask your friends
to review it for any spelling or grammatical
errors.
• A resume with errors is absolutely
unacceptable and will give a shoddy (poorly
made) impression.
• One small typo and your chances of getting
hired could slip.
• Proofread it as many times as necessary.

12. Use bullet points
• No employer has the time (or patience) to
read long paragraphs of text.
• Use bullet points and short sentences to
describe your experiences, educational
background and professional objectives.

13. Put the most important information first
• Most of the times your previous work
experience will be the most important part of
the resume, so put it at the top.
• When describing your experiences or skills,
list the most important ones first.

14. Attention to the typography
• First of all make sure that your fonts are big
enough.
• The smaller you should go is 11 points, but 12
is probably safer.
• Do not use capital letters all over the place,
remember that your goal is to communicate a
message as fast and as clearly as possible.
• Arial and Times Roman are good choices.

15. No Pictures
• Do not use graphics or photos (unless
specifically required).

16. CURRICULUM VITAE
• Summary of one’s life –details of
education, experiences and achievements.
• Personal Details – Name and Address,
Ph.No, email
• Easy to read language, focus on the job
• Use font size 10-12, Arial/Times New
Roman style
• Typed in A4 size paper.

17. Avoid negativity
• Do not include information that might sound
negative in the eyes of the employer.
• This is valid both to your resume and to
interviews.
• You don’t need to include, for instance, things
that you hated about your last company.

18. You don’t need to list all your work
experiences
• If you have job experiences that you are not
proud of, or that are not relevant to the
current opportunity, you should just omit
them.
• Mentioning that you used to sell hamburgers
when you were 17 is probably not going to
help you land that executive position.

19. One resume for each employer
• One of the most common mistakes that
people make is to create a standard resume
and send it to all the job openings that they
can find.
• Sure, it will save your time, but it will also
greatly decrease the chances of landing an
interview .
• Tailor your resume for each employer.
• The same point applies to your cover letters.

20. Avoid Age
• It is illegal to discriminate people because of
their age, but some employers do these
considerations nonetheless.
• Why risk the trouble?
• Unless specifically requested, do not include
your age on your resume.

21. Go with what you got
• If you never had any real working experience,
just include your summer jobs or volunteer
work.
• If you don’t have a degree yet, mention the
title and the estimated date for completion.

22. Don’t include irrelevant information
• Irrelevant information such as political
affiliation will not help you.
• In fact it might even minimise your chances of
landing an interview.
• Just skip it.

23. Use Mr. and Ms. if appropriate
• If you have a gender neutral name like Alex or
Ryan make sure to include Mr. or Ms. prefix,
so that employers will not get confused about
your gender.

24. No lies
• While it is acceptable to show off your skills,
do not lie or exaggerate.
• A company may verify your claims and under
such circumstances, authenticity is crucial.
• Apart from being wrong, most HR
departments do background checks these
days, and if you are buster it might ruin your
credibility for good.

25. One or two pages
• Your resume should not be more than a page
or two.
• Provide all the necessary information, the
shorter your resume, the better.
• Most employers and recruiting specialists,
however, say that it should contain one or two
pages at maximum.

26. Use action verbs
• A very common advice to job seekers is to use
action verbs.
• Action verbs are basically verbs that will get
noticed more easily, and that will clearly
communicate what your experience or
achievements were.
• Examples include managed, coached,
enforced and planned.

27. Use a good printer
• If you are going to use a paper version of your
resume, make sure to use a decent printer.
• Laser printers usually get the job done.
• Plain white paper is the preferred one as well.

28. No hobbies
• Unless you are 100% sure that some of your
hobbies will support your candidacy, avoid
mentioning them.

29. Update your resume regularly
• It is a good idea to update your resume on a
regular basis.
• Do not think of it as something you made in
the past.
• It is not necessary to list everything you have
ever done.

30. Update your resume regularly
• If it is not relevant to your current area of
work (you may have worked in a restaurant
and are now a teacher) then there’s no need
to list it.
• Add all the new information that you think is
relevant, as well as courses, training programs
and other academic qualifications that you
might receive along the way.

31. Make the design flow with white space
• Do not jam your resume with text.
• Make your resume as short and concise as
possible, but that refers to the overall amount
of information and not to how much text you
can pack in a single sheet of paper.
• White space between the words, lines and
paragraphs can improve the legibility of your
resume.

32. No jargon or slang
• Slang should never be present in a resume.
• As for technical jargon, do not assume that
the employer will know what you are talking
about.

33. Careful with sample resume templates
• There are many websites that offer free
resume templates.
• While they can help you to get an idea of what
you are looking for, do not just copy and paste
one of the most used ones.
• You certainly don’t want to look just like any
other candidate, do you?

34. No fancy design details
• Do not use a colored background, fancy fonts
or images in your resume.
• You might think that the little flowers will
cheer up the document, but other people
might just throw it away at the sight.

35. Don’t forget the basics
• Your contact information should include your
name, address, phone and email.
• It should be bold and with a larger font than
the rest of the text.
• Make sure that your contact details are clearly
listed.

36. Importance of CV
• CV will give chance to evaluate yourself.
• CVs are mostly used to screen candidates for
interview.
• CVs are the first introducer to the interviewer
and explains your complete background.

37. Types of CV
• Chronological CV
• Functional Resume (Skills-based)
• Chrono-Functional CV

38. Chronological CV
• The chronological or Performance CV is the
most traditional and widely used format.
• This type of CV basically outlines your work
and educational history and is ideal if you
have stayed in the same career for most of
your working life, steadily working your way
up.

39. Chronological CV
• Chronological resume lays out qualifications
(education and experience) in chronological
order, that is in order of the dates (in reverse
order).
• It indicates what the applicant did during
every month and year.
• Employers prefer the chronological format.

40. Use the chronological CV in the following situations:
• If you have steadily progressed in one chosen
field.
• If you have no gaps in your work history.
• If you are staying in the same industry.

41. Functional Resume (Skills-based)
• This type of CV focuses on and highlights the
skills and achievements that you have gained
throughout your whole working career
irrespective of where and when you acquired
them.

42. Functional Resume (Skills-based)
• This is useful if you do have gaps in your
working career or if want to change career
completely.
• If you have gaps in your work history or have
changed jobs frequently, the functional CV
would be better suited.

43. Use the functional CV in the following
instances:
• If you have changed career fields.
• If you have gaps in your work history due to
illness or any other reason.
• If you have little experience due to just
starting out or just finishing college or
university.

44. Chrono-Functional CV
• The best of both, the combination CV is an
amalgamation of the previous two formats.
• Slightly longer in layout; it is imperative
(essential) that you grab the reader's
attention from the start, as there may be a
danger of him getting bored and discarding
the CV without reading it entirely.

45. Chrono-Functional CV
• The combination CV should be used when you want
to highlight both skills and achievements together
with your impressive work history and education.
• Your skills and achievements are listed first and
these are then backed up by your work and
educational experience, all in all leading to an
extremely potent (effective) and impressive
document.

46. Use the combination CV when:
• You want to show that not only you have the right
skills for the job but also the work experience to
support.
• You would have used a chronological CV but want
to highlight your skills too.
• You have plenty of experience in the chosen field.

47. Order of Contents in CV
• Name and address
• Contact Details
• Career Objectives
• Educational Qualification
• Awards (if you have any)
• Skillsets and personal attributes
• Experiences / employment history
• Voluntary work (if you have done any)
• Extracurricular activities, interests and hobbies
• References

48. Resume
• Highlights the relevant facts about you, your education, and
your experience.
• Makes the first impression about you.
• Positions you in the mind of the employer, thus creating a
value.
• The interview gets you the job, the resume gets you the
interview!

49. Resume
• Enables you to assess your strengths, skills, abilities
and experience - thereby preparing you for the
interview process.
• Be a basis for the interviewer to justify your hiring.

50. • Relevant, Clear and Concise.
• No typing errors.
• No misspellings.
• No Abbreviations.
• Do not tell a lie.
• Do not include any negative information.

51. Should I Have More Than One Version of
My Resume?
• YES!
• Create a targeted resume each time you apply for an
opportunity.

52. Use Action Verbs!
Organized Communicated Directed
Planned Created Assisted
Supported Initiated Solved
Reported Edited Analyzed
Described Developed Managed
Led Sold Designed

53. Critical Categories
Put in everything that would point out why you
would be good at the job.

54. Contact Information
• Name (largest font)
• Address, City and State
• Telephone Number
• Cell Number
• Email Address

55. Example
DEEPA SANKAR
409-b, Cross Road
South Extn-I
New Delhi-11
Mob: 09995595959
deepas@yahoo.com
Rajesh Krishnan
580 Church Road Phone: 022-2354698
Worli, Bombay-69 Mob: 09747123333
Krish_raj@sbcglobal.net
Deepa sankar
409-b, cross Road,
South Extn-I
New-Delhi-11
Mob: 09995595959
Rajesh Krishnan
580 Church Road Phone: 022-2354698
Worli, Bombay-69 Mob: 09747123333
2hotforyou@rediffmail.com

56. Example
DEEPA SANKAR
409-b, Cross Road
South Extn-I
New Delhi-11
Mob: 09995595959
deepas@yahoo.com
Rajesh Krishnan
580 Church Road Phone: 022-2354698
Worli, Bombay-69 Mob: 09747123333
Krish_raj@sbcglobal.net
Deepa sankar
409-b, cross Road,
South Extn-I
New-Delhi-11
Mob: 09995595959
Rajesh Krishnan
580 Church Road Phone: 022-2354698
Worli, Bombay-69 Mob: 09747123333
2hotforyou@rediffmail.com

57. The Career Objective
• Keep it short.
• Example:
• “To obtain a position as an Administrative
Assistant in a hospital setting.”

58. Employment History
• Reverse chronological order.
• Five Components:
– Job Title
– Name of the organization
– Location
– Dates of employment
– Description
• Exclude
• Unaccountable (unanswerable) gaps.
• Street address, reason for leaving.

59. Education
• List most recent education first.
• Mention Date of Completion and University/College name.
• Percentage only if I class.
• Academic honors.
• Don’t include high school (unless this is your highest level of
education).

60. Relevant Coursework
(Optional)
• This lets the employer know which courses you have
already completed.
• Do not list every course, only relevant courses to
specific skills.

61. Activities and Honors
• Only if relevant to job.
– Mention scholarships, memberships etc.
– Community work, volunteer work etc.
• Don’t include anything from before college.
• Avoid controversial topics such as Politics, Religion etc.
For Freshers, you may mention extra-curricular activities, which would
highlight your suitability to the job.

62. Significant Personal Facts
• Technological Skills.
• Foreign Language.

63. Hobbies and Interests
• Don’t list unless
– Organized, that is, if you belong to a club or group
– Relevant to the position

64. References
• Do not send to employer unless they request it.
• Between 2-3 references,
– All individuals with direct knowledge of your job abilities.
• Ask the permission of references before giving their names
and numbers.

65. Do’s of Resume Writing
• Be brief - 1 to 2 page resume is ideal
• 10-12 font size.
• Times New Roman, Arial, Bookman, Lucida Sans,
Garamond, Verdana etc.
• Be consistent with fonts/size/bold/italics etc.
• Spread out information.
• Indented or bulleted statements.

66. DO’s
• Bolding, different size fonts.
• Your name should be in the largest font on page.
• Prepare CVs for individual companies
• Customize (modify) your resume for your job
target
• Use action verbs/ positive words – it will create
strong impact. eg. motivated, monitored,
created, analyzed, coordinated etc.

67. DONT’S
1. Avoid folding your CV
2. Don’t include irrelevant information –
previous salary, unproved awards, prizes
and publications etc.
3. Say what you did, not what you think
4. Personal information – marital status,
religion, health, native place etc.
5. Avoid unusual font size, stylish letters,
graphics, underlining and unusual spacing
etc.
6. Avoid repeating information
7. Avoid personal pronouns (I, my, me)
8. Don’t outsource, do it yourself.

68. DONT’S
• Height, weight, place of birth, marital status, race, caste,
religion and health.
• Fancy Fonts or non-traditional paper.
• Don’t go for bordered paper.
• Don’t fold resume, don’t stuff into envelope, don’t
crumple.
• The word "Resume" at the top!
• Avoid Details of Travels.'
• Any statement that begins with "I" or "My”.

69. DONT’S
• Reasons for leaving previous job(s).
• Picture of yourself.
• Salary Information
• Religion or political affiliations.

70. CV Writing Tips
• Focus on the job you want
• Emphasize on achievements
• Easy to read design and language
• Spelling mistakes are unforgivable
• Education or experience first

71. Covering Letter
The cover letter reflects your communication
skills and to some extent your personality
1. Name and address - Left side top
Date and Place -Left side
2. Head the Letter - Subject and Reference
3. The middle paragraph – Brief description of
your education and experiences
4. Closing - The closing in which you propose
step for further action. Don’t end with hit the
mark, use sentence with gentle and polite
manner .

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TThhaannkkiinngg YYoouu
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((DDeeeeppaa,,MM))

73. The Final Test
Does your resume answer these questions:
• Does it clearly and quickly communicate to employer
that you can do the job?
• Do your strengths come across?
• Does everything support the job you are targeting?
• Should anything be removed?
• Does it really sell your skills?

74. Curriculum-Vitae
• The primary differences between a resume
and a curriculum vitae (CV) are the length,
what is included and what each is used for.
• A resume is a one or two page summary of
your skills, experience and education.

75. Curriculum-Vitae
• A curriculum vitae includes a summary of your
educational and academic backgrounds as
well as teaching and research experience,
publications, presentations, awards, honors,
affiliations and other details.

76. Resume
• A resume is brief and concise.
• A resume is a one or two page “summary” of
your skills, experience and education.
• Generally no more longer than a page or two.

77. Bio-Data
• Bio-Data concentrates more on the individual
and his attributes like height, weight, colour,
skin complexion etc.
• Biodata is mainly termed when you have to
submit your document where information
about physique along with education and
family background is necessary.

78. Bio-Data
• A Bio-data will contain more of personal
information than professional.
• This document is usually circulated for
marriage purpose.