Important tips for writing a resume

During the admission and recruitment process, companies use resumes to learn more about applicants to evaluate whether they are the right fit. Studies suggest that, on average, recruiters spend only six to seven seconds on each resume. Hence, it is essential to get noticed by a potential employer/moderator in this limited time span. And for this, submitting a well-written resume is indispensable.

How do tips for resume help students?

Just like resumes help job aspirants in job search, students submit their resumes to colleges to get admissions and to companies for internships. An updated resume is a crucial document that highlights your skills, qualifications, achievements, ambition and passion for pursuing a course.

So, here are some resume writing tips and samples that will make your job or admission application stand out from the crowd.

Resume Writing Tips

·         Include necessary information: The foremost important thing is that a resume must include some basic information that helps employers to understand who you are, what you have studied, how you are different from others, etc. The basic information comprises name, academic qualification, relevant skills, additional courses/certification programs undertaken, projects or research, extra-curricular activities, internships and work experience (if any) and contact details.

·         Add career objective: Adding a career objective to a resume is essential to tell why you are the right person for the particular position. Keep it short to 3-5 sentences. You can write it in bullet points or a sentence format.

For instance, if you have completed your education in the Engineering domain and looking for your first job role, impress the recruiters by writing your career objective as a “Self-motivated and hardworking individual with exceptional research and data analysis skills seeking the position of Junior Mechanical Engineer in your company”.

Pro-Tip: Tailor the career objective of the resume to suit the position you are applying for.

• Highlight accomplishments with facts, data and figures: Highlighting what you have accomplished in a CV is one of the best resume tips for experienced professionals. If possible, quantify your achievements by stating facts, data and figures. For instance, if you have worked as a Sales Manager in an organisation for 3 years, then emphasise your accomplishments by using statements like “Increased territorial client base in one year by 20%” and “Led a sales team of 30 executives and helped the company to achieve annual sales target by over 35%”.
• Use action verbs: Focus on using simple words and action verbs to highlight your job responsibilities and accomplishments. Strong action verbs like “achieved”, “established”, “handled”, “leveraged”, “coordinated”, and “improved” make you sound confident and your resume more readable for recruiters. For instance, “Achieved 100% sales target month-on-month basis” demonstrates your skills in a better manner than stating “able to achieve assigned monthly target”.

• Accurate format and professional tone: Ensure you add information in chronological order. Choose the right format after evaluating your work history, skill set and the job you are applying for. Generally, the chronological resume format is the best choice. Before sharing the resume, review the format closely by checking alignment, font and spacing. Moreover, maintain a professional tone by avoiding using personal pronouns (I, me and myself).
• Clear and concise: Keeping a resume clear and concise is one of the resume writing tips for freshers and experienced professionals. For a college student, a one-page resume is ideal and limit your resume to two pages if you are a working professional.
• Proofread to emit errors: Ensure to proofread your resume numerous times until grammatical and spelling errors are removed completely.

Resume writing: mistakes to avoid

·         Do not include unnecessary personal information (age, weight, height, etc.).

·         Do not lie regarding your skill set and work experience; be honest.

·         Avoid using hard-to-read fonts. “Times New Roman” and “Arial” are the best fonts for resume writing.

We, at Avanse Financial Services, are committed to make your study abroad journey hassle-free. Hopefully, the aforementioned resume writing tips will help you to gain admission to your preferred institution or grab your first job offer. In case you are facing financial constraints, feel free to share your worries with us. We offer a hyper-personalised loan for education to students and help them fulfil their academic aspirations. For more details, contact us today!