How to grab the recruiter’s attention with your resume?

Did you know that the average recruiter spends about 8 to 10 seconds glancing at your resume before s/he moves on to the next? So, whether you can get that dream job or not is decided in 10 seconds.

You might wonder how to fit a 15 year long career into a page. It’s not hard to do. Stick to one or two pages at most for your resume.

Your review of your objective and background will be the most effective guides to selecting the best format for you. For instance, you could choose a chronological format, where your employment record reads like a job-by-job historical narrative of your work effectiveness.

You can also use a more functional format, where your skills, knowledge and related accomplishments are the primary organising principles as the proof of your ability to contribute.

Combining these two format is something that many people go for these days, as it recognises the flaws in both formats and tries to assimilate the good points into a whole.

Here, you retain the basic structure of key skills, knowledge and accomplishments.

Include vital points

Make sure that your resume has the following points:

1. A clearly stated job objective
2. Your educational qualifications
3. Your professional qualifications
4. Details of relevant skill sets and experience
5. A timeline of your work history

 

For your educational background, put down the names of the school(s) you attended, with the dates and credentials. Personal study in your field (classes, workshops and other informal ways you have learned) along with other relevant credentials won’t go amiss.

Next, work out a rough list of the jobs you have done. List the dates started and ended, your job title and the name and city of the company or organisation. Put these jobs in chronological order.

Compose a clearly stated job objective for yourself. Don’t ramble. Be as concise as you can while answering basic questions such as what you want to do, where do you want to do it, goals etc.

Once that’s done you can focus on identifying your skill sets. This might take some time, but the result will worth it, so don’t worry. Put everything together in the order you like and type a draft.

Always proofread and edit

Edit out irrelevant details (your marital status, hobbies etc) or information that might mar the image you wish to present.

Keep the CV to a page, but if runs into two, don’t staple them together. Place the pages side by sideso that it is easily viewable. This will set your resume apart from the rest and ensure that you catch the head-hunter’s attention.