A resume is a collective information about yourself to be used for applying into a company. The very objective of resume writing is to have the company call you for an interview. I will place here all the information that a resume should have and provide you with a few tips along the way. I have divided the series into 3 parts. For this series I shall start with..
1. Personal data
· Name – indicate your birth name here. Nick names aren’t usually needed so let’s skip that okay?
· Address – companies really wouldn’t mind your address too much. However, there are some employers who take into consideration the distance of where you live to the office area and it might affect their decision in calling you. Of course, good companies will clarify about this problem first via phone interview.
For those of you who are concerned about giving out vital information, it might be better to not be too specific in writing your address. Instead of specifying your house or apartment number, just state the city instead.
· Contact number – I’m sure all of you have cellphones. Never skip this as this is the most convenient way for employers to contact you. And it is the easiest way for you to know if the company you applied for wants you. Win-win situation. If by some chance you do not own a cellphone, placing your home number or email address is fine.
· Email address – ah, my favorite. For all of you out there, please please please use a professional email address. Not the one you use for your other internet activities. I have encountered resumes with email addresses as loverboy123 or doctorlove69. Please, you want your resume to get noticed, but never in this way. It only takes a few minutes to create a free email address with your name on it, so please do so.
· Picture – Make sure that the picture you place in your resume is a formal, professionally looking one and not something that has been cropped from your videoke sessions. Place your holloween picture here and you’re sure to get ignored.
If you’re wondering if you really need to place a picture, think of this scenario. The HR needs only one more resume for their first batch of interview. One resume has a professionally looking picture in it and the other doesn’t. Both are qualified for an interview. Which of the two do you think would be chosen?
These are just basic data that should never ever have a problem. Remember that this is also the easiest way for an applicant to get rejected; because a mistake in here will mean that other information will be compromised and lead to your early rejection. Hindi pa nga umaabot sa kalahati, wala ka na kaagad. (your reader hasn't even read half of your resume but it's already forgotten)
2. Objective
The objective is usually used to communicate to the company your own needs.
Example:
To obtain a mechanical engineer position with a reputable company whereby I can contribute my academic skills and technical knowledge.
or
Seeking position in an established company to further improve myself.
· If I were the employer, usually this area would come up to me as vague and sometimes, unnecessary waste of space. So if you’re going to write down your objective, be sure to write it well or forget about it.
· An alternative to an objective is a brief description of your experience like:
3 years experience as junior consultant in IT industry.
Sounds better right? Also, it would show your potential employers an overview of what you can bring to the table. Remember, they are not only looking for people who are interested in the job (they know there are a lot of you already); but more importantly, they are looking for candidates who have the right qualification to do it well.
You can think of your objective as a tagline for a commercial product which is of couse, you.
By now your resume should have something of this format:
Continue to part 2..