A resume, commonly spelled resume, is a formal document that gives an insight into your education, experience, skills, and accomplishments. A well-drafted resume convinces employers to hire a candidate. The term resume translates to a summary, and as the name suggests, the purpose of a resume is to give a summary of the candidate to the employer. A resume is a basic requirement to apply for a job. Unfortunately, there is a wrong assumption among job-seekers that a resume is supposed to provide a complete overview of their professional history. A resume should not be too elaborate but be crisp and to the point; though it may be short, it can still speak volumes about a candidate.Â
Parts of a resume
A resume can be broken down into five parts, they are:
- Contact details
- Introduction
- Educational background
- Work history
- Relevant skills
Ideally, a resume of a person whose work experience is less than ten years should be one page, and more than a decade of work experience should be summed up to two pages. This is to provide room to allocate all the relevant details.
Purpose of a resume
The purpose of a resume is to tell employers that you are qualified for an interview. In an interview, a candidate is marketing themselves, and resumes are a form of advertisement. It should emphasize your most relevant experience and skills while listing down all your notable achievements and strengths. Hiring managers will pay attention to you and invite you to more interviews if your resume clearly communicates to them that you are capable of handling the work.
What is to be included in a resumeÂ
According to the expert, the information you should include on your resume will depend on the position you’re looking for and your pertinent professional experience, but at a bare minimum, the following details are to be included.
1. Contact information
Be sure to include your first name, last name, phone number, and email address. Additionally, you can include details like a LinkedIn profile.
2. Introduction
It can be in the form of a resume objective and should be a concise overview of your professional background.
3. Education
It should include your school and college name. Your degrees and CGPA or percentile, whichever is applicable.
4. Experience
Summerise your relevant work experience, including notable achievements in the field. Include the name of the companies you have worked for and mention the roles and responsibilities, preferably in bulletins.
5. Skills
Include skills possessed by you. Highlight those relevant to the particular job role being applied to. Make sure it is a mixture of soft and hard skills.
Types of resumes
There is a common misconception that resumes can only be written in a particular way. There are several ways to write a resume, and they can be categorized on this basis.
Mainly there are four types of resumes:
- Chronological Resume
- Functional Resume
- Targeted Resume
- Combination Resume
1. Chronological resume
A chronological resume begins with an introduction before providing an overview of your professional history in reverse chronological order. The most popular resume format used today by job seekers is chronological, which may be used by applicants with different levels of experience.
2. Functional resume
A functional resume is set up to highlight your skills and aptitudes rather than your professional development. Professionals who want to distract attention from their job history, such as those who are changing careers or have long gaps in their careers, are likely to use these resumes.
3. Targeted resume
A targeted resume is one that was written with a particular job in mind. Use this structure to highlight the abilities and experience relevant to the position that you hold, making sure to write each section of your resume in a way that best highlights your requirements for the role.
4. Combination resume
A combination resume combines the features of a functional and chronological resume. While a functional resume places more emphasis on abilities and a chronological resume places more emphasis on experience, a combination resume often balances both to show your qualifications. Candidates that want to highlight their extensive experience or highly developed skill set should use combination resumes.
Your resume is a crucial component of the hiring procedure and the basis for being taken into consideration for a position. A resume is something that the managers first notice in your resume and create an impression of you. Therefore your resume should be able to convey what you want to deliver to the recruiters.