Résumé Building
By: Medha Bakhshi
Etymology
Latin Resumere
(to take back)
French résumé
(to summarise)
English résumé
(appropriated from French)
Conflicting, Confusing Terms
Résumé
• Generally used in USA
• Gives select information
according to the job profile
being applied to
• Apt for commercial positions,
directors, media, audio-visual,
creative
CV: Curriculum Vitae
• More popular in Asia, Europe,
Africa
• Is a summation of all
academic, extra-curricular and
work related information
throughout
• Apt for academic positions,
scientists, doctors, research,
technologies
Definition
A Résumé is an account of one’s employment
history and qualifications often for presentation
to a potential future employer when applying for
a job.
Remember:
No matter how advanced the technology gets,
getting in the door still depends on a well written
Résumé.
Résumé Unravelled
• It’s a summary of important career related
information not a paean
• It’s a marketing piece, an advertisement of your
unique set of skills, abilities and experience
• It’s more than a simple list of jobs one has held
• It’s like a billboard that shows only that
information that shall interest the employer
• Its purpose is to stimulate employer’s interest
and get you an interview
What can a Résumé do for you?
• It gets you an interview
• Enables you to assess your strengths, skills, abilities
and experience - thereby preparing you for the
interview process
• Acts as a reminder of you to the
employer/interviewer after you're done being
interviewed
• Be a basis for the interviewer to justify your hiring
Résumé Facts and Fallacies
Fallacy
Facts
• The purpose of a résumé is to
list ALL your skills and
abilities
• A good résumé will get you the
job you want
• Your résumé would be read
thoroughly and carefully by an
interested employer
• The more GOOD information
you provide about yourself in
your résumé, the better it is
• If you really want a good
résumé, have it prepared by a
résumé service
• The purpose of a résumé is to
kindle employer interest and
generate an interview
• All a résumé can do is get you
in the door
• Your résumé probably has less
than 45 seconds to make an
impression
• Too much information on a
résumé may actually kill the
reader’s appetite to know more
• Prepare your own résumé,
unless the position is
specialised
The Employment Process
Build
Toward
Career
Follow-up
and Accept
Offer
Prepare
Résumé
Participate
in Interview
Understand
Interview
Process
Prepare for
Interview
Build Toward Career
(Make thyself more valuable)
•
•
•
•
Keep an employment portfolio
Take interim assignments
Continue to polish and update your skills
It’s the tangible evidence of your professionalism –
you may be able to attach your e-portfolio for certain
positions
Build Toward Career
(....cont)
Continue to polish and update your
skills
•
•
•
•
Acquire as much technical know-how as you can
Develop social skills
Learn to respond to changes positively
Keep up with developments in your industry and
economy at large
• Read widely, subscribe to e-newsletters of
pertinent commercial/news bodies
• Take on as much responsibility as you can
outside your prescribed boundary of work
Prewriting Steps
• Analyze your achievements – discover a pattern of
skills
• Jot down 10 achievements you are proud of
• Think of the skills these achievements demand of
you
• Know thyself:






List your educational credentials
Extra-curricular achievements
Strengths
Weaknesses
Aptitude
Interests
• Take aptitude/ creativity/ personality tests
To Do:
List three things you can do before you graduate
that’ll make you more valuable to the employers
What employers look for:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Team spirit
Leadership
Versatility
Diversified skills
Varied job experience
Sensitivity to intercultural differences
Sound understanding of national and
international affairs
• Sound technical knowledge
7 Qualities sought by employers that a
Résumé should reflect:
•
•
•
•
Think in terms of results
Know how to get things done
Are a well-rounded personality
Show signs of career progress and professional
development
• Have personal standards of excellence
• Are flexible and willing to try new things
• Can communicate effectively
Three Step Résumé Writing Process
Plan
Write
Complete
Plan
• Analyze the situation
• Keep the purpose in perspective
• Gather information about the industry, the job
and the position for which you plan to apply
• Select the right medium
(Scanable, HTML, Traditional)
• Organise the information
Write
• Adapt to your audience; align your career
objectives with the needs of your target
employers
• Glean the information the employer seeks and
prune the information to be put in the résumé
• Compose the message keeping in mind the tone
of the resume remains professional
Complete
•
•
•
•
Revise the draft for clarity, accuracy and readability
Produce the message
Proofread the résumé
Remove or tone down the Red Flag Triggers
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
Frequent job changes
Gaps in work history
Inexperience
Over qualification
Long term employment with one company
Job termination for a cause
Criminal record
• Send out the résumé
Résumé faux pas
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Grammatical errors
Typos
Copious use of stylistic variations in formatting
Too many abbreviations
Little white-space
Long-windedness
Pompous
Remember:
A résumé should not read like a treasure map,
full of minute clues to the whereabouts of your
jobs and experience
Styles of Formatting
Chronological
Functional
Combination
General tips for writing a Résumé
• Don’t work yourself into a panic
• Treat your résumé with the respect it deserves
• Until your interview, you ARE your résumé, so
don’t overlook anything important
• Don’t try and whistle-up your résumé in one
sitting
• Let it stew, try new phrases/ideas till you find
the perfect one
General tips for writing a Résumé
(...contd.)
•
•
•
•
Learn from good models
Résumé writing is more art than science
If you’re stuck, swap writing with your peer
Keep your résumé honest: fudging facts is NOT
OK e.g. organising a company picnic is not
project management
• Translate your past accomplishments into
perceived future potential
General tips for writing a Résumé
(...contd.)
• Use short, crisp phrases
• Avoid ‘I’ as it may seem self-absorbed or
repetitious
• Start your phrases with strong action words e.g.
Coached a team to regional playoffs
• Have a ‘you’ attitude, keep the employer in mind
• Most importantly, give a generous sprinkling of
COMMON SENSE 
Elements of a Résumé
•
•
•
•
•
•
Address
Objective
Education
Work Experience
Activities and Achievements
Personal Data
Address should include:
•
•
•
•
Complete name
Full address and permanent address if needed
A link to your website
Contact Details
▫ Phone number
 Landline number
 Mobile number
▫ E-mail ID
A word of caution:
• Create a professional sounding mail ID
• Do not use Ids like psychodawg@yahoo.co.in or
gabroojawaan@hotmail.com or
2hot2handle@rediffmail.com
Objective
• It tells the reader why you are sending the
resume, i.e., what position or type of position
you are seeking.
• It should be very brief
• An objective is like the thesis statement of your
resume.
• Try to include job title desired, position level,
field, industry, and/or company name or a
summary of your qualifications.
A Bad Example:
A fulfilling position that provides ample
opportunity for career growth and personal
satisfaction.
Objective - Good Examples
• “Sales manager position where my skills and experience can be
effectively utilized for increased profitability by developing a dynamic
team.”
• “Seeking a project management position with leadership
responsibilities including problem solving, planning, organizing and
managing budgets.”
• “Obtain a position as a team-player in a people-oriented organization
where I can maximize my customer-service experience in a challenging
environment to achieve the corporate goals.”
• “Customer care representative position where my customer relations
experience can be fully utilized to improve customer satisfaction and
enhance the company brand name.”
• “Create business strategies and develop existing customer sales,
marketing tools and product launching.”
Objective - Good Examples
• “To obtain a human resources management position
where I can effectively utilize my expertise in
employee relations and staff recruitment.”
• “Product Marketing position that utilizes my
marketing experience and enables me to make a
positive contribution to the company.”
• “To secure a position that will lead to a lasting
working relationship in the field of accounting or
bookkeeping.”
• “To obtain a position that will enable me to use my
strong organizational skills, educational background
and ability to work well with people.”
Education/ Technical Training/
Academic Preparation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Name and location of each institution
Term of enrolment
Major and minor fields of study
Significant skills
Abilities developed in course work
Degrees/ certificates earned
Expected date of completion of the course
Off-campus training
Seminars attended
Certificates received
Work Experience/ skills/ accomplishments
•
•
•
•
Don’t glamorise
Use the reverse chronological order
Give a functional title of your last post
Group special skills, if any, separately
Activities and Achievements
• List volunteer activities
• List projects done that require
•
•
•
•
•
•
▫ Teamwork, organization, leadership skills
Speaking, writing , tutoring experience
Participation in athletics
Creative projects
Fundraising activities
Community service activities
Politico-religious organisations may trigger the red
flag, so use your judgement
• Any awards won
Activities and Achievements (...contd.)
Classify activities if they are diverse as:
•
•
•
•
•
college activities
community service
Professional associations
Seminars and workshops
Awards and honours
Personal Data Shouldn’t have:
Information like:
▫
▫
▫
▫
▫
Age
Marital status
Gender
Ethnicity
Religion, religious affiliations, political affiliations
As these just may trigger some sort of
discrimination
Personal data
•
•
•
•
•
(...........contd.)
The word ‘Résumé’ at the top
Any statement that begins with ‘I’ or ‘My’
Reasons for leaving previous job(s)
Picture of yourself
Salary Information for previous positions or
Salary Expectations
• Reference names
Résumé hits the recycling bin if it’s:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Too long
Too short or sketchy
Hard to read (white space, formatting, indentations)
Wordy
Too slick
Amateurish
Poorly produced (paper quality et al)
Misspelled and grammatically condemned
Boastful
Gimmicky
Formatting tips
• KISS : keep it short and simple
• Use standard font styles like Arial or Times New
Roman
• Use white or off-white paper of good quality
• Avoid using colour
• Remove anything that ‘jumps at you’
• Don’t put your creative drive in over-drive 
Cover Letter
An application/ cover letter is a
must because:
• It tells the reader WHAT you are sending
• It tells the reader WHY you are sending it
• And it tells HOW the reader will benefit from
reading it
Purpose
Cover Letter
Generates interest so the employer may:
Read the Résumé
Generates interest so the employer may:
Call for an interview
Pre-writing Preparation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Do your home-work
Find out about the organisation you are writing in to
Focus on your audience
Show how your background and skills fill a specific need
the company has
Find the name, designation, department of the person
you’d be writing to
Avoid using canned phases like ‘To Whom It May Concern’
Respect reader’s time
Steer clear of gimmicks
Keep it short, straight-forward, up-beat, fact-based and
professional
A Few Tips
• Be specific
• Never volunteer salary information unless asked
for
• Keep it short and e-mail letters even shorter
• Show some personality
• Aim for high quality
Key Points
Para I: Solicited letters- no special opening
unsolicited letters- needs to capture the reader’s
attention
• State your reason for writing
• Give the receiver a reason to keep reading
Para II:
• Put the strongest selling points here
• Mention what YOU can do for the organisation
• Personal characteristics
• Refer the reader to your Résumé
Para III:
• Ask the reader for a specific action
• Facilitate a reply
Happy Writing!!! 
Queries???
Idioms for the day
•
•
•
•
•
Make cold calls
Copper-bottomed
Corner a market
Do the spadework
In the doldrums