Resume Building Magellanic Solutions Pvt Ltd

Magellanic Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Resume Building
By: Darshan Raikar
11/5/2013

Efficiency at its Best ...
Contents
1. Introduction...................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Significance of a Résumé................................................................................................................... 3
3. Course Objectives ............................................................................................................................. 3
4. What are the principles of résumé?.................................................................................................. 3
5. Five steps for building a good resume .............................................................................................. 4
6. Types of Résumé............................................................................................................................... 5
7. The Résumé Anatomy....................................................................................................................... 5
8. Most popular formats....................................................................................................................... 8
9. Interview Request............................................................................................................................. 9
10. Using your résumé as a marketing tool........................................................................................... 9
11. Is the first meet between you and your employer?........................................................................ 9
12. Balanced Résumé............................................................................................................................ 9
13. Do’s & Don’ts.................................................................................................................................. 9
14. Why is a cover letter required?..................................................................................................... 10
15. How should a cover letter look? ................................................................................................... 11
16. References .................................................................................................................................... 11
17. SUMMARY..................................................................................................................................... 11

Efficiency at its Best...
Résumé Building
1. Introduction
Your résumé is seen as the reflection of you and it is unique for every individual. It is the
most important element in the process of employment. It provides your first look to the
perspective employer about who you are. So it is necessary that your résumé should be
convincing and must be easily read. It works as a marketing tool which allows you to sell
yourself before the perspective employer. You must be really careful on not giving the
employer any reason to eliminate you from their consideration. It is very important that your
résumé needs to be clear, relevant and accurate in terms of the job description and it has to be
focused on the industry or the employer.
Who is the best person to write your résumé? It is none other than you who can write the best
résumé as you know yourself and the kind of job you are seeking better than anyone else.
Keep in mind that a well crafted email is the only thing which will set you apart from other
candidates. It has to do a bit more than summarising your educational qualification,
professional experience and your skills.
2. Significance of a Résumé
A well written résumé makes a significant contribution in you getting a job. All though there
are no hard and fast rule for writing a résumé, but the basic purpose of résumé remains the
same with any kind of résumé. The purpose is to get you a job. The primary assessment
necessary for evaluating the best candidate for job is done through a résumé. Hence it is
pretty much necessary that the résumé in the most effective manner so you could have a first
good impression on the potential employer.
3. Course Objectives
· To provide you with tips to build your résumé in such a way that it creates a lasting
impression on the reader
· To convey a clear understanding of your academic qualifications and professional
experience
· To present your strengths in such a way that it should add value to your potential employer
· To portray your personality in a way that the potential employer must give you an interview
4. What are the principles of résumé?
A résumé is supposed to convince the employer that you are worth an interview. It is
necessary that a résumé is to be kept as brief as possible without sacrificing any relevant and

essential information. It tells the employer about your academic qualifications, qualities,
skills and professional qualifications.
You need to keep the following principles in mind before you draft a resume.
· No Ugly Résumé : It is very important that the résumé should look good and should be
pleasing to the eyes.
· Your choice of words : Do not lie, exaggerate or use words that the interviewer has to look
up in a dictionary
· What to Highlight : You need to focus on your Strengths and Accomplishments
5. Five steps for building a good resume
Analyse Job Description:
It is quite essential that you thoroughly read the job description provided. Later you must
highlight the key words which show the preferred and required abilities, qualifications and
skills. For instance, if the employer is looking for an individual who is attentive, punctual and
innovative you may use similar words for highlighting such qualities and skills.
List Your Accomplishments:
It is advisable that you create an inventory of your skills, accomplishments and talents. You
also need to include your educational qualifications, trainings, projects or assignments, travel
or team work. It is advisable to focus more on the outcomes than the efforts. If possible try
and quantify your results and do not be too humble here. Remember, a resume is a
professional tool.
Identifying your areas of skills:
Your experiences need to be framed in such a way that they focus on your achievements and
skills needed for the given position. Ensure that every accomplishment listed highlights a skill
which the employer is looking for.
Writing a descriptive phrase:
Always ensure that the phrases you write are clear and concise. The accomplishments
mentioned on the resume needs to ultimately target the need of the employers. You need to
put efforts for ensuring that the information on the resume is relevant and the most relevant
has to be on the top.
Choosing a format:
It is essential to choose the right format while formulating your resume. It may be tempting
for you to choose different templates or may be even to combine two templates. However,
they may tend to be inflexible. It may even be possible that the employers may be familiar
with them and it may be perceived as you lack ingenuity. It is recommended that you mention
your actual qualifications and experience with appropriate justification which will make your

resume unique and interesting. Even if your work experience, highlight other
accomplishments. Take time while drafting your resume and if possible have a word with a
GEC career counsellor to get some advice on resume building.
6. Types of Résumé
Although the resumes may the sole purpose of a resume is to get you a call for the interview
and most of the time it does not matter the type of resume you use. However, it is important
that you are aware of the types of resumes which you may use. With the knowledge on
different types of resumes, you will be in the position to choose the best format which suits
your profile. Remember, your resume is the reflection of you. I would recommend you to go
through number of different resume samples to get ideas about style, layout, and content.
Your resume gives the prospective employer a first look at who you are. You must take time
and develop a format that enables you to present your qualifications in the best possible
manner.
You must always keep in mind that the primary purpose of the resume is to get you a call for
the interview. It is always challenging to match your profile as per many different preferences
in a resume like length and amount of details on the job experience. Writing a resume is an
art. It is written in various types and forms.
7. The Résumé Anatomy
The anatomy of a complete résumé includes:
Header Objectives Academic Qualifications Professional Experience
Relevant Courses Skill Set Projects Undertaken Hobbies & Interests
In the Header
The first line of your résumé should always be your name nothing else apart from that.
Ensure that the font size has to be the largest for the name in the entire résumé. Do not use
shaded backgrounds for your name. It does not look professional. Never use fancy or
decorative fonts it may not create the right impression before the reader. Ensure that the
header is formal.
The address
It is always better to mention both the permanent address and the current even though they
may be the same. In some formats the residential address is mentioned at the bottom. It would
still be fine if the address is mentioned on the top after the header.
Your email address
Always mention your personal email address. Ensure that the email id is formal. Do not use
flashy or juvenile email id’s. It does not create a right impression on the reader. Remember,
employers are looking for professionals not for college students. If you are already working

with some company do not use your corporate email id. It is better to use your personal email
id on yahoo, gmail, rediff, etc.
Your phone number
Always include area code and the country code. It is always advisable to mention a secondary
phone number. Just in case if the employer is unable to reach you due to certain reason, he
may not have time to get back to you or he may find someone better than you.
Objectives
This section is considered to be optional but we would suggest you to include it. It creates a
good impression on the reader. However, it does not mean that you can write anything in this
section. You need to ensure that your objective is to the point and it should be clear as well as
concise.
These are a few examples you must keep in mind while formulating your objectives.
Bad: "To get a job /as soon as possible“
Weak: "To attain internship in a renowned computer company“
Good: "To attain internship in a renowned computer company, to enhance my knowledge and
experience in network security and database management"
You must also ensure that you are not over specific towards one company. Following is an
example, were we can see that, being over specific towards one single company may create
an awkward statement:
"To attain a position at IBM to enhance ...."
This is a good example for Objective where the statement has been written from companies’
perspective.
"To attain a position of web application programmer where my knowledge of Java will add
value towards the development of the process"
Academic Qualifications
In the section for academic qualifications, include your qualifications like Secondary School,
Higher Secondary, Graduation, and Post Graduation with the month and the year you cleared
and with the percentage, grades or marks attained. It is also advisable to include
extracurricular activities if you may have any. It is always an added advantage for you to
mention the awards received in your academic career.
Professional Experience
This is one of the most important sections in the entire resume. You must be very careful
while drafting this section. Do not include any professional experience which may not be
relevant to the job which you may be applying for. You need to ensure that a proper format

has to be followed while showing professional experience. It is advisable for you need to
mention the position and the tenure with the employer on the second line. You must also
mention the month and the year for the beginning and end of the employment. This will
display the actual term of employment with a given company. It is always a good idea to
mention your roles and responsibilities as per the expectations of the potential employer. We
would advice you not to show any gaps in the employment unless the reason can be justified.
Always mention the most recent and relevant experience on the top as that would be the one
which the employers would be most interested in. Explain about the contributions you made
towards the company and emphasise more on outcome rather than duties. Following are a few
examples:
Ex. 1 Increase in efficiency by 10%
Ex. 2 Significant improvement in user navigation
It is also very important for you to mind the tenses as many people make mistakes in this
section of the résumé. While mentioning previous jobs people tend to use past tense for the
current job as well.
This will straight away create an impression that you have poor control over your grammar.
· For previous job use past tense
· For current job use present tense
Relevant Courses
This is the section where you need to mention any relevant courses what you may have done.
While mentioning the courses show what you have done. Ensure that you only include
relevant courses, irrelevant courses may distract the reader and may create a doubt in their
mind. Do not include Basics in Computers or do not include Data Structures and Algorithms.
Only mention the courses which are either relevant or unique. Courses like Computer
Graphics, C, C++, Java, Artificial Intelligence, Networking, Data Mining, etc look good in a
software engineers resume. It will be assumed that you are aware of the basic courses.
Skill Set
While mentioning your skill set Emphasise on your technical skills. In terms of platforms, it
is better to list Windows & Linux as per your understanding. In terms of packages, mention
MS SQL Server, Eclipse, Oracle, etc. In the case where you are mentioning Methodology for
Development, mention methodologies like: Agile Development, Extreme Programming,
Rational Unified Process, etc.
Projects Undertaken
This is the section where you need to mention the projects that you may have undertaken. If
you have undertaken any projects, you must use this section very carefully as it will set you
apart from other fresh graduates. Do not show any projects, show the once which are
impressive, lengthy ad relevant where you made significant and relevant contributions.
Ensure that you briefly explain each project focusing on your contributions and outcomes.

Your Hobbies & Interests
Ensure that the hobbies and interest you mention are the real once not just any as there are
major chances that you will be asked questions on and about them. In most interviews for
checking the communication skills the interviewers do tell the candidates to speak on the
hobbies and interests they have mentioned on their résumés.
Do not mention more than 3-5 hobbies or interests as they judge your personality based on
the hobbies and interest mentioned. If you mention too many of them, the interviewer may
sense that either you are confused or they are not the real once.
Ensure that you have complete information on the hobbies and interests mentioned as you
may be asked probing questions on the hobbies and interests mentioned during the interview.
Keep in mind that your hobbies & interests reflect your personality so be very careful while
listing them on your résumé.
8. Most popular formats
· Chronological Résumé
This format presents facts in reverse chronological order. Start from present job or position
and move date wise backward. This type of resume is mostly popular in our country. With
this resume format the problem what occurs at times is with the filling up the gaps. If you
show a year or two where you have not been doing anything, it creates a bad impression. It is
necessary that these gaps should be filled sensibly telling what you have been doing, e.g. you
were busy with your father's business, or you were on foreign tour etc.
· Functional Resume
This format allows you to organise your accomplishments and skills in the functions
performed. If you have worked in any organization, the skill and expertise what you may
have learnt has to be mentioned. For instance, you may mention that you have team building
skills or you are well capable of organising events.
· Targeted Résumé
This format has the primary focus on the specific jobs which has been targeted which just
holds information relevant to the target. No matter what format you chose, it would provide
the best format for you to portray your most relevant skills. You need to first mention what is
required and what you need to offer. Matching your skills and requirements does significantly
help you to get a call for the interview.
· Creative Resume
This format requires you to present your skills and qualifications in the most creative form.
Your resume has to be creative not created. It means that it should not create false facts. The
format for a creative resume is most suitable for jobs which involve creativity. The generally
accepted approach is to be creative when submitting résumés. For building such resume, the

job seeker needs to be aware that the employee would be verifying the facts mentioned on the
resume.
· Gimmickry Resume
The primary purpose of this type of resume is also to get the attention of the prospective
employer. When your background does not fit the position, emphasize skills and experiences
that would contribute to success in the job under consideration. When you do not have the
experience or skill directly required for the particular job, you can mention your skills which
are most relevant for that specific job.
9. Interview Request
The basic purpose of an interview is to get you a call for an interview. Your résumé has to
capture the attention and interest of the employer and convince him that you are the best
person suited for the job you are applying for. It will act as your calling card, so it is very
important for you to remember that the very first impression that you create will remain the
last one.
10. Using your résumé as a marketing tool
It is very important that you use your resume as the most important marketing tool to sell
your skills, qualifications and experience. Your résumé will provide a first impression of you
to the prospect employer. It will work as a selling tool which will allow you to highlight your
potential and the contributions you can make towards the company. None the less your
résumé can also act as a very important and a basic tool which helps you to build your career
allowing you access to better opportunities and higher career prospects.
11. Is the first meet between you and your employer?
No, it is not. The first meet is when, the potential employer looks at your résumé. It serves as
an introduction to you and your job history. There’s no second chance to make a first
impression, so it’s vital to make sure that your résumé is well-written, properly formatted and
that it effectively communicates your professional background.
12. Balanced Résumé
You need to ensure that a proper balance is maintained between information and presentation.
Here you do not have the choice to compromise either on information or on presentation. You
can achieve the highest possible positive effect only when you share the right information in
an easy-to-read format which looks professional!
13. Do’s & Don’ts
What are the do's while formulating a résumé?
· Ensure that you present your qualifications as per the specific job you are applying for.

· Always try and keep the length of your résumé to three pages or less
· Label every new page
· The email id you mention on the résumé has to look professional. Try not using email id's
which look like "naughty.girl@gmail.com".
· Thoroughly revise your résumé to ensure that there are no errors.
· The layout has to be pleasing. It should not look unorganised.
· List relevant work history…no more than 15 years back
· Maintaining Your Attitude
· Ensure that you use terms like:
· Team Player, Involved with, contributed to, served on, volunteered to, etc in your résumé
What are the don’ts while formulating a résumé?
· Avoid using abbreviations and acronyms as they may not be understood by many.
· Avoid using pronouns such as: I, me, my
· Never type - Use a laser jet printer
· Do not use fancy fonts or binders
· Do not use incorrect layouts
· Always try avoiding lists of boring sentences & Photographs
· Never mention personal, family or health information
· References should be sent separately
· Never fold your résumé
14. Why is a cover letter required?
A covering letter is a very sensitive document. The primary purpose of a covering letter is to
put flesh and bones on your résumé. The cover letter you add will demonstrate your writing
style. They way you write your cover letter will show that you have all the qualities needed to
do the job in an effective manner. Then cover letter answers the question why should I see
you in person with a personal touch.
Covering letter acts a very crucial supplement to your résumé. The way you write your
covering letter will decide if the recruiter will look at your résumé or not. It is a very short
piece of document so the words have to be carefully chosen.

15. How should a cover letter look?
A cover letter is a formal document which works as a supplement to the resume. It should
give the employer a reason to look at the résumé. So it is very important for you to ensure that
it is the most convincing piece of formal document which you may have created.
It should have just 3 to 5 bulleted points leading to the résumé. Remember if the cover letter
does not “speak well,” the résumé will not be read! Be sure to check out the wealth of books
about cover letters and résumés located in the Job Link Resource Room.
This is the section of cover letter you need to mention your qualities and skills. You may
possess numerous skills, but the once you need to mention are the once which the potential
employer would be looking for. Your cover letter must effectively describe your skills as
your selling points in maximum two to three paragraphs. When it comes to closing the cover
letter, always close the cover letter with a promise of action.
16. References
While getting a reference sheet ready ensure that you keep the following points in mind.
· The document for reference sheet should go along with the résumé
· Always carry the reference sheet when you have to attend an interview
· Do not attach the reference sheet with the cover letter and the résumé
· Reference sheet should be presented separately on request
Remember that, the supplement for references does not go with the resume. It should be
given only when requested. It should have the same header as on the resume. You also need
to ensure that the contact details arranged are presentable.
In terms of the kind of references you need to use. You need to ensure that the individuals
mentioned have a good image of you and the individuals mentioned are familiar with your
job roles and responsibilities. You also need to make sure that the individual is aware that his
name has been sent in the reference sheet and he should have the details on the projects you
have worked on. It is advisable for you to inform them if it has been a long time that you have
been in touch.
17. SUMMARY
Do a thorough research on the company and yourself and ensure that the Cover Letter,
Résumé and the Reference Sheets are presentable. You also need to ensure that you are in the
position to backup everything on the résumé. Always keep the Do's and Don'ts in mind and
focus on the résumé format.

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