Handling Interviews - Series -5 ( Building your stunning Resume)

Hello everyone !! Welcome back to the TAX DESTINATION blog. Heartly Thanks for your continuous support towards our blog and current series on Handling Interviews 

Check out the previous series if you haven't done it yet.

Series -1 (Decoding HR ROUND)

Series -2 (Personalized replies to the questions that can be asked in HR Round)

Series -3 (Decoding Interview for Statutory & Internal Audit Role)

Series -4 (Decoding Interview for Accounts & Finance Role)

In this series, we are gonna share with you how to prepare a Stunning resume that grabs the attention of HR & will make your resume stands out from the crowd.

RESUME BUILDING TIPS :

01. Make sure your contact details are accurate.

If you are in a situation where you need to update your resume quickly, make sure you triple check your contact information. If you use links to email, your LinkedIn profile, or URLs, click each link and make sure it's going where you intend it to go.

(How much patience will a hiring manager, looking at tens or hundreds of resumes have if they try your phone, email, or LinkedIn and can't reach you?). They will definitely not try to reach you again.

02. Objective & Long statements are out

It is not advisable to use Long long objectives & paragraphs instead use Summaries and/or a list of skills and/or a job title. HRs won't be having time to read long paragraphs that we were making.

But you still have to have an objective in mind. Your summary, list of skills and job title all need to support your (unstated) objective. Try to use Table formats in resumes.

03. Is it ok to add a little colour?

Not sure about whether to add colour or what colour to add on a resume?

A safe bet is to add shading around section headings (e.g. "Professional Experience"). Give it a try and compare the before and after. If your resume becomes more eye-catching and easier to scan you've done a great job with colour!

04. Which font to use in your resume?

Not sure which one? Calibri is a safe bet & the most commonly used format, but there are lots of others. But we personally suggest you use Libre Baskerville to use to make your CV attractive. More than one resume pro has recommended staying away from the Times New Roman font. (Overdone apparently).

05. What about font size??

You can use different size fonts in your resume but use them consistently. Section headings like "Experience" and "Education" can be in a larger font but make sure all the section headers are the same size. Similarly, company names need to be the same size even if this is a different size than the supporting information under each company name. Consistency is key.

06. Make your section headers, like "Work Experience" and "Education" stand out.

Try shading or borders to set off the section headers from the other parts of your resume.

07. Where to Put the Education section ?? where it makes the most sense ?? Starting or Ending??

If you are a student or a graduate without much work experience, consider putting your education at the top of your resume. 

If you have roles in detail, then your education can go towards the bottom of your resume.

And yes, you can leave off the date you graduated :). We advise you to use tabular formats while mentioning Educational experience instead of long long paragraphs.

08. Whether we can disclose company names in our resumes?

Yes, you can. Add a note to explain the companies you worked for  It is helpful for a hiring manager to understand the context of your role if you add a line about the size of the organization and/or what products or services they provide. 

09. Hyperlinks in Resumes

You can link to your email and LinkedIn profile. You can also link to a portfolio of work, git projects, your website or an article you published. Save the hiring manager a few keystrokes and provide links!

10. Experience section in resume. Don't underestimate your experience

Whether we are trying to be humble or we just don't know how important it is, we often understate our contributions. Consider putting context around your achievements. It's not overstating if you are adding facts to frame the value you added.

It is better to elaborate on your experience section and the works you have undertaken in the recent past. But once you have mentioned the same, make sure you are able to answer all the questions that HRs can ask related to the experience & works that you are referring to.

11. Use each line on your resume wisely.

If one or two words at the end of a sentence spill over to the next line, see what you can do to reword so it all fits on the first (or second) line.This way you have another line to add another great point about how you are the right person for the role! Try to make your resume as crispy as attractive as possible

12. How many bullet points do you have in a row on your resume?

In the past, it was common to see a dozen or more. Today, the modern resume has 3 or 4 in a row. If you have more to say, group the bullets and add a header. For example, you might have a header for "Leadership" with a few bulleted highlights followed by a header for "Public Relations" or "Projects" with a few bullets of info.

13. Be concise.

You already know you don't need to use "I" in front of your verbs (it's not expected and would make for a very repetitive read). Read through your resume and see if you are using articles like "a", "an", and "the." When you take those out does it make any difference? If the intent of the sentence or statement is still clear, save some space and remove the articles! You'll end up with more room as either whitespace to let your reader feel at ease, or you'll be able to add more highlights!

14. Make your contact info stand out!

Modernize your contact info by:

1. Saving space by putting contact info on one line

2. Separate your name from your contact info with a line

3. No need for your address - city and state will do in most cases

4. Add hyperlinks to your email and LinkedIn profile

15. Update your resume according to the Job Profile

Do not send the same resume to all Companies & for all roles. Keep updating it according to the Job description & Job Profile. There are high chances of not getting selected if you send the same type of resume to all profiles & Job roles.

16. Last but not least

In the past, you might have had a lot of white space on the left side of your resume where section headers like "Experience" and "Education" were placed.

While that does make it easy to find those sections, it squishes the amount of space you have to write about your accomplishments and skills. If this sounds like your resume, consider placing section headers on a line and use the margin-to-margin width (and appropriate indenting) for the body of the section. Always try to make your resume as crispy as possible

So friends here are a few tips to make your resume stunning to grab HRs attention. 

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Thanks & Regards

TEAM TD!!