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While we were busy conducting the National Talent Acquisition Test last month in Mumbai, we came across a problem that undergraduates faced, that of Resumes. We had asked the students to submit both hard copies and soft copies of their resume to us while giving the test but we had a lot of students coming up to us and asking us for tips on how to create a resume. While we did solve their queries, we realized that maybe we should do a blog post in order to aid all the students on Switch Idea as well. So this article will help you understand how to create a functional resume which can help you get noticed better for internship applications.
What is a Resume?
A Resume or C.V (Curriculum Vitae) is a brief description of yourself in terms of education, abilities and your objectives. It helps give employers quite a bit of insight about you as an applicant.
What should a Resume contain?
While there is no fixed format as such for all industries, there are some fixed sections that every resume should have.
Personal information (Name, address, contact details)
Your educational qualifications starting from your 10th grade onwards.
Areas of the subject that you are interested in professionally.
Your work experience, in this case, internship or project details. If you're an under-graduate with no prior internship experience, you can mention your achievements or milestones where your work was recognised by your school, college, or established institutions. Examples: Head of Cultural Fest at Festember, NIT Trichy, Secured 2nd Rank in All India Math Olympiad in Class 12, Won two district level Chess competitions in the year 2014, etc
Other skills and hobbies which can aid you in your professional journey.
Here are some additional tips to keep in mind while creating your resume.
Rule 1: Keep it brief (One page)
It is normal to want to pour your heart out into your resume because you feel that you should put everything that you have done into it. That is good but you should also put yourself in the shoes of the HR manager whose job it is to sort through the 100 or so resumes they get whenever they have an internship opening.
They do not have the time to go through all that you have written in order to understand you better. They will end up comparing the data that you have put in your resume to the actual job requirements at hand and then shortlisting the best possible candidates. So let go of long sentences and detailed explanations. Write simple sentences and be as brief as possible.
Go through the job description and the requirements and only put in information that is necessary for the job at hand. Remove the rest. If you do it properly, then your resume should fit in exactly one page.
Rule 2: Stand out
Make sure that your resume stands out in the bunch. This can be done in a number of ways. You can do an infographic based resume which is pleasing to look at. You can also create a professional text resume with great fonts and a good typeset. These may seem like trivial things but they do have great impact upon employers. Resumes like these mean that you have a creative bent, a clear thinking mind and that you understand the art of presentation. All good traits to possess for an aspiring young professional-to-be.
Rule 3: Be honest
It is definitely easy for anyone to exaggerate their abilities and skills while writing something down on a document. Make sure that you only write those things that you can back up during an actual interview. Do not get carried away while making your resume. Understand that being honest is actually a good thing when you are looking to gain the trust of a potential employer. In a competitive environment, it is normal to try to get an edge above others but do not use this as an excuse to embellish your resume or overstate your abilities as they can actually be bad for you in an interview.
Our placement team has hand-plucked few resumes which can help you draft your own. These are some examples of resumes which you can take as a reference for yours.
Note: Please use the above resumes as examples only. Look at both resumes samples before you begin to construct your own. Your resume will serve you best if it is unique and highlights your own personal qualifications. Choosing a format that you like and then blending bits and pieces of a variety of examples will make your resume appear as if it is original. Resumes copied from somebody else or produced from a template are normally not as effective as original resumes.