| Resume Format |
Always have a .doc (Microsoft Word) format and .txt format of your resume with you. When you are filling your resume in websites, you need the text format and when you are sending resume through mail, it's better to send the .doc format.
Few companies may ask specifically for .rtf format. In such case, you don't have an option anyway. |
| Resume Size |
| Try to see to it that the .doc resume file size is less than 100 KB. |
| Resume Document |
Don't give some junk names as file name for the resume. If you keep use junk names, there is every possibility that your mail will travel to bulk/trash folder of recruiter. Your resume's file name should ideally denote your name, experience, technology, years of experience and company name. Keep some valid name for your resume.
Example: Resume_Rose_J2EE_3Years_INFOSYS.doc
Example: Resume_Rose_FRESHER_MCA.doc |
| Send from same mail ID |
| While sending the resume, preferably send it from the mail ID you have mentioned in your resume. |
| Subject Line |
If the company mentions that a specific 'Job Code' has to be written in Subject Line, write that. If nothing specific, then give a proper subject line for your mail.Example: Resume_ .NET_ 3YearsExperience - INFOSYS_Bangalore |
| Covering Letter |
Always try to include a "short" covering letter just containing your experience, current location, contact details (address & phone number) current company name, technology you are working in. Don't write too long covering letters. No HR will spend time on reading your long letters. |
| Keep Your Resume Short |
Don't make the resume too long. Keep it short & sweet. It should be less than 3 pages (and up to a maximum of 4). The HR will hardly have 1 minute to glance at your resume. He won't have the time to read story-like resume. So, be precise, clear and straight to the point.Better use bullets for mentioning important points. |
| Include Header & Footer |
Always have a header & footer in your resume.Header can contain a simple heading of your resume.Footer should preferably contain the page number. |
| Include all Important Details in First Page Itself |
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Typically the HR expects all the important details in the first page. He receives hundreds of resumes and hardly gets 1 minute to look at your resume and so he won't bother to search your resume for the required details, if the details are not found in his first glance at your resume. The first page of resume must contain the following things:
personal details: Full Name, Date of Birth, Passport Number.
current contact details : Full Contact Address, Contact Phone Numbers, Mail ID & Alternate Mail ID.
work experience summary : All the companies you have worked so far, Company Address, Website,Dates of Duration in each Company. Don't assume that everyone knows about your company.(You can highlight if your current company has any good quality levels like CMM/CMMI)
job responsibilities: Your job profile in your past companies. For example, you should highlight that you are working as 'Team Leader leading a team of 6 people' in your current company.
skill set summary : Highlight all the technologies you know well. Don't include any technologies you have not worked on.
certifications : Include any relevant certifications you have. That gives you an edge over others.
education details summary: Your Post Graduation, Graduation, Intermediate, 10 th details, Aggregate Percentage, Year of Pass out (Most important).
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| Contact Details at the top |
Contact Details should be at the top of resume, not at the bottom.
Never include the contact details in Header or Footer. They won't be visible properly. |
| Provide an Alternate Mail ID |
Do NOT give more than 2 mail Ids in resume. The recruiters as well as you will get confused which mail Id to send/receive call letters. |
| Reverse Chronological order |
Your latest job profile is more important than your first one. So, always write the details in reverse chronological order (start with the latest) especially when you are listing previous company details or educational qualification details. |
| Write the Crux of Projects |
Don't write all about your projects. That will make the resume very lengthy. Write only the crux of the information like Project Name, Team Size, Client Name, Duration of Project,Short description of project (Not more than 5 to 6 lines),Your role in project (This is very important) and Technologies used in project. |
| Experience |
Project Training done in your final academic year does not come under professional work experience. You can mention it, but not under 'Work Experience' section.Always highlight your onsite (customer interaction experience) in your resume. That gives you an edge over others. |
| Avoid Unwanted Graphics and Fonts |
Do not include any photos in the resume unless specifically asked by the company.Either in resume or the covering letter, avoid jazzy graphic images, emoticons or multiple colors.Preferably use some professional font (Arial or Times or Verdana) and use the same across. Use same font size across the resume (except for headings). Don't write each line in a different font and size.However, you can use some decent shades (preferably gray color), to highlight important information. That makes the resume to look good when a printout is taken. Take a printout of your resume and see. If you do not like it in the first look, the same will be with recruiters.So, revise it again. |
