Writing curriculum vitae is an essential and important task for everyone seeking a job or looking for a change in job. Curriculum vitae are required not only to gain an appointment for a job but also for grant applications, research trials, membership of learned societies, scholarships or when a change in job is contemplated. Sometimes the application forms prescribed by the companies appear inadequate. In such cases you can submit your own curriculum vitae and complete the application form drawing attention to the corresponding pages of the curriculum vitae.
The standard of curricula vitae submitted for posts at all levels is often abysmally low. Most of the candidates even after acquiring very high qualifications from universities are entirely untutored in the art of acquiring an appointment for a job. Resume writing is a tedious job that may engage much of our time. Resumes normally get less than a 15-second glance at the first screening. An astute practical lesson on resume writing is a must for every applicant.
Although most of the candidates are equally qualified, only a few get a call for job interview. The main difference between the candidates is extra efforts taken by some candidates to research about the employer’s need and tailoring of their resumes according to the needs of the company.
Resumes normally get less than a 15-second glance at the first screening. It means that you have only 10 to 20 seconds to persuade a prospective employer to read further. The decision to interview a candidate is usually based on the first impression of the resume. So it’s the first page of your resume that will be decisive for getting you an appointment for job. To write an effective resume, you have to learn how to write powerful but subtle first few lines of your resume. People are usually more convinced with a better advertised product. So if you have a better resume you can get a better response from prospective employers.
Effective resumes:
Any good resume should look original, be visually pleasing and must be inviting to read. There should be a good balance between text and white space. Margins should be even from all sides. Design, fonts, spacing, paragraphs and length of resume should have a professional touch. Appearance does matters. . Do not compromise, you can always afford for it. Choose the best quality A4 size ivory or bright white paper. Use a laser printer or an ink jet printer that produces high quality results. Choose fonts that are easy-to-read, clean and consistent. Font size 11 or 12 point should be okay. The resume should not be more than 2-3 pages long. But there are no strict rules; find out what works best for you.
Various headings should be clearly visible and the candidate’s strongest points should have been best placed and highlighted. Weakness and negativity should not be visible on your resume.
Career goals should always be included and visible on the top place. Resume should be targeted to the career goal. It means that the content of resume should support the career goals.
All the awards and achievements in past should be prominently visible. The employer’s should find the contents relevant and compelling. Create several resumes, each tailored to the type of position you're applying for and select the most relevant one for that job.
Include several keywords that are relevant to your job, your job skills, specific industry words, names of major companies you worked with, name of well known employers. Include these keywords in your resume wherever it is appropriate to do so.
Always show off in your resume leadership qualities, motivational skills, ability to work in a team to accomplish targets, flexibility in your work style and meticulous and organized performances.
Update your Resume: With the availability of computers, keeping a curriculum vitae updated has become easier. Once the curriculum vitae is on the disc one should make a habit of updating it regularly whenever required. As when one’s career is prolific it is surprising how easily publications and achievements are omitted. Keep records of performance reviews, notes about recent accomplishments, letters of reference, awards, training and new skills developed so that you can update your resume easily.