By Nilanjana Chakraborty
Economic Times Wealth (India), August 16, 2017 —
A well-written resume is the best way to make a good first impression on a potential employer.
Statistics show that at the primary stage, recruiters take less than a minute to look at each CV.
So if important information is not highlighted, it can be easily overlooked.
What do recruiters look for?
A TimesJobs study reveals the details that recruiters and hiring managers look for in resumes.
45.5% : Scan for skills first
22.5% : Look for experience
15% : Pore over qualifications
2%: Are interested in personal details
5% : Check for rewards and recognitions
10% : Note the achievements
* It’s crucial to provide the correct contact information in your resume. Make sure you update your address, e-mail and phone number as needed.
* Starting your resume with a summary is not essential, but if you do, make sure it’s no longer than a line or two.
* Sans serif fonts are best for resumes. If you want to change it, use simpler serif fonts for headers.
* Font size should be 12 points. If there’s a lot of information, reduce it to 11, but don’t go any lower.
* Never misspell on your resume. A trivial oversight can make recruiters take you less seriously.
* If you want the recruiter to focus on an achievement or responsibility, put it at the top of the list.
* Put numbers and other important information in the first part of a sentence to draw attention to it.
* Articles and complete sentences are not necessary. Keep it concise and grammatically correct.
* If a piece of information is not strictly relevant to the job applied for, it should be removed. Omission is as important as inclusion.
* Follow a reverse chronological order for listing educational and professional experience, as this is the most commonly used format.
* Use the last section to provide details that aren’t mentioned elsewhere. Include your language skills, but not your hobbies.
* Keep your resume short. It should ideally be only one page long. If essential, you can stretch it to two pages, but keep in mind that the second page will not receive as much attention as the first one.
