Wednesday, June 17, 2009

What most people forget to mention in their resumes

As you might be aware, your resume is the most important part of your job hunt and you should allocate atleast a week for preparing and fine-tuning your resume.

Here's what most people forget to mention in their resumes:
  • Understand how Job portals work - You know very well that "WinCE", "Windows CE", "Windows Embedded" all mean the same thing. But if a prospective employer (or a dumb job consultant) searches only for "WinCE" and your resume only mentions "Windows CE", his search will not hit your resume. So sprinkle all sorts of abbreviations in different places of your resume.
  • Awards and appreciation received - Even if you have got a small award or an appreciation mail from your client/boss, mention it in bold on the first page. This is a crucial factor in impressing your prospective employer and getting an interview call.
  • Client interaction and communication - Impress upon people that you have great communication skills by telling them how much you interact directly with clients through mail/conference.
  • Business angle - The manager who decides to call you or not for an interview will be impressed if you mention how much business (in dollars) your software has earned/saved for the client. This shows that you understand the business angle.
  • References - Mention (in the last page) that you can provide references on request. This gives them the impression that you are a genuine candidate.
  • Leadership role - Have you ever handled a small project/module on you own? Even if its a Proof-of-concept, mentioning it on your resume will boost their impression of you.
  • Design - Even if you do not know anything about UML or Design Patterns, mentioning that you have done some sort of small design work (Data structure design, for example) will earn you an interview call
When you apply for important companies, remember to customize your resume based on each company's requirements. For example if the position requires UML expertise and that's something you have worked on, highlight it in boldface. I know it's lot of work, but for dumb people in Hiring department who screen resumes, it becomes important

Avoid gramatical errors in your resume. If necessary, ask somebody to give your resume a reading.

Categorise your skill set based on your profeciency and be honest about yourself as you might be quizzed about each and every detail in your resume.

Last but not the least, your resume reflects your personality. If you take extra care in making your resume stand out and articulate your expertise in a neat and presice way, your employer will have a positive image of you.

All the best!

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