Flawless Resume Writing Activity –
It is one of the most common topics we search over google these days. But still, the irony is only 10 percent of professionals can excel in this art, and the rest either hire consultants or keep dwelling for a sound break in their career. Why are you reading this article when you have tons of knowledge about developing a great resume? The answer is simple – the results have not been satisfactory.
My motto in writing this article is that while you may know the facts about resume writing, what you truly need is the methodology to develop that artful piece! This is where understanding the “Pay to Paper Perks” comes in—it’s about mastering the art of translating your skills and experiences onto paper in a way that truly stands out. In this article, you will learn how to develop the skills required for effective resume writing techniques. With this knowledge, your resume can outshine the rest. So without wasting much time, let’s get started with the tips for a successful resume writing activity.
10 Steps to Writing the Perfect Resume
Step 1: Homework
Rather than start a resume writing activity immediately, you should sit with a pen and paper and write down what you are. It is a lot easier to say than to do!!! Yes, for this, you need to know yourself. The chances are you have yet to reveal your true self in the professional world, but you should know what you are best at. By knowing this, you will be able to jot down a few things about yourself:
- What are your interests?
- What do you want to do in life?
- Your personality type introvert or extrovert or both
Now that you have known yourself this much, you can develop a few sections of your Resume, such as your hobbies, area of interest, and goals in life, which is your career objective or two initial lines in resume writing techniques. They are resume taglines of an individual.
Let me relate this:
- Career Objective or tagline: “A determined professional with a pleasant personality has the confidence to crack any sales deal with innovative selling ideas. The capability to develop from zero to finalization of the deal is what my convincing skills can do for any organization”. I have done a few things while resuming writing activity for this Career objective.
- Playing with words: I have tried to be fresh, innovative, and creative. Why? Because there are tons of resumes for the sales position, but my Resume can make a difference when I have beautifully developed my taglines in such a way that they convey a professional meaning but with freshness.
- Confidence to show your skills on paper; often, we need more confidence in writing our fundamental skills in our Resume. The Paper Perk provides an advantage by allowing you to clearly and effectively highlight your abilities. This is where the discrepancy comes in—the recruiter has seen something in your resume but actually, you are different from what he assumes you to be.
- I am a great communicator, a traveler, and a creative person. I can do this easily when I have done the homework already.
- Further, we can add one or two more lines if you have done your MBA from the premier institute or scored excellent marks in your last education.
- Further, if you have experience, you can write about your achievements in your past organizations. You could have other things in you, but you need to dig within yourself for that; homework is the best tool.
A word of Caution: I suggest you write your achievements and awards in context to the job you applied for. Let’s say you received the award in dramatics, but writing in the career objective is not advisable, as this is not relevant to your job. It will create a negative impression of you on the recruiter.
Step 2: Develop Headings
I’m afraid I have to disagree that you should follow a set format available over Google these days’ blindfold. One thing should be evident in resume writing. Remember, it is all about reflecting on everything which is best about you. While I write this line, I may need clarification on some.
Let me elaborate more upon this: Considering the sales position again: comparing two people from the same sales team, however, you have not done well in your academics, but now in your job, you are the best performer, so for such people, the following heading should be of “professional Achievements” and not Qualifications.
Example two: If you are a fresher but have been working part-time, you should showcase this in your career objective. Again your work experience heading should come first, and then you can place your qualification below that.
You see how we can tweak the Resume when you wish so that you can highlight the best in you first, and the rest can come later on.
Tips:
- When you don’t have achievements: you can mention your best qualities/hobbies: such as stability, honesty, networking, event planning skills, taking an interest in academics, writing books, poetry, sports knowledge, finished freelance assignments, photography, etc. writing what your real passion, not just because you have to fill the CV is.
- It is essential to manage space, so finalize the headings according to the area. The matter within the titles should also be in an appropriate format; let’s say: Achievements can be in points. Your qualification can be in tabular form.
Step 3: Selection of Format
It is ranked three and not two because one must develop the headings first, and you should work on the format and spacing later. I include the look and feel as well in the format section. If you are from the art field, your CV headings should be in a stylish font. Your CV should be simple and systematic but not clumsy if you are a teacher.
Moving on to formats:
Many formats are available for you; I differ again that CV formats are new or old, but your format should suit you best. For this, you can try a few formats before finalizing one. But the format should be such, which should grab attention.
Tip: It is the first seen format, not the content or words! So always remember that your format should shine out and say loud, pick me, and give those 30 seconds to my Resume.
Step 4: Resume Writing activity Content
Since your format is fantastic, the content should not lack behind; your format has given your content that chance to get a call for an interview. However, if you need to catch up on your content, you may lose the opportunity of getting an interview call.
Within content as well I divide this into three parts:
1. Deciding what to write: While the resume writing activity, you should write professionally required qualities, hobbies, and interests. If you are in sales better to report I am a communicator rather than writing. I am a dance topper. Further, in reading here, you can take the name of books related to finance and marketing from your domain. In newspaper articles, my morning routine includes reading the marketing segment, where I can keep myself updated with the latest happenings in the market. BUT WRITE THIS ONLY WHEN YOU DO IT REALLY ON DAILY BASIS, or else you can mention that I am keen to know more from my network about the new development in our industry.
2. How to present: In your resume writing activity, your content has to be systematic, synchronized, and presentable. It means the headings should be bold, and all headings should be of the same size and font. Further, your heading has to be apt, like education or qualification, which one to choose from these two—similarly, professional snapshot or professional highlights or professional achievements. Decide very carefully what should be the correct heading.
Tip:
- First, develop the content, and lastly, decide on the heading.
- Deciding about a heading depends upon the profession you are in, your years of experience, and your content.
- Knowing how much to write: You know of an incidence where you have done exceptionally well. But here you have to write in one line. Write in rough and reduce it to one line. Further, you still need to learn more about that subject; you are writing I know about this, I have excellent knowledge about so and so, and this will only generate a negative impression. Mind your words, where you need to emphasize – suppose you are an expert in one area – say I have mastered this domain. For others, you can say I have fair good knowledge about this. Or I am a beginner in this domain; this will give me your actual image.
- Should I use percentages and figures in my content or adverbs for exemplary work: In case you have been working for target-oriented roles, heading a large team, or being head of an institution? It would be best to write figures, revealing figures to you in all these conditions. But in case you are in the Operations department, where quantifying output is sometimes challenging, you can use words instead of figures.
Step 5: Analysing Overall Presentation of CV
It happens that you have given undue spacing to low-weight headings. Suppose you gave seven lines to the hobbies section and 3-4 points towards your professional growth. It will reflect that you have been giving more emphasis on your hobby and less on your profession. If you need more points/content to write towards professional growth, I suggest cutting down on your hobbies as well.
Tip: You can introduce another heading if you have a lot of vacant space.
You can play with font size and paragraph spacing to increase the space or vice versa.
If you are too lengthy, try using proper words to reduce the sentence length. Like I have been doing this – you can replace simply with one word “Did presentation during the first quarter with elite clients.”
Step 6: Review Content again
You should review content for three essential categories.
- Grammatical and language correction
- I am using correct sentences under the defined heading.
- Lastly, modify language for crisp and SEO-friendly Keywords.
Step 7: Evaluate and compare
- Show it to someone who knows you in and out, could be your best friend, your parent, or your mentor, so that he can make out what you are and what is written making sense as per your personality and you have not missed on to anything.
- Evaluation means to rate your Resume; better will be to show your Resume to an experienced person. That person can check your Resume for formatting, overall look and feel, and any errors he finds.
- Next, show this to the language expert or someone good at English.
- Now, you can search Google resumes for a similar position you have applied for. Now, you can have more ideas and concepts of formats, presentation style, etc. It was absent initially because your Resume will not be original.
Step 8: Final Revision
By now, you have your resume writing activity done and ready with you. It is 90% job done, as there are many more chances that you have missed some vital information in your Resume, which you can recall later. The best is to have a pest inspection done for the work; you can check your emails for that. In case you maintain a diary, check with that. Or you can connect back with your JD and KRA. Referring back to all these things, you can find missing links.
Step 9: Continuous Process
Resume writing activity is a one-time thing, but it is always good to keep updating the Resume for better opportunities. You can develop a new format or give a new look and feel to your old Resume. Ideally, when you have completed five years in your career, it’s time to change the format and make it more enjoyable. Regular reviewing will give a better understanding. You can also compare your old Resume with the new one. Or you can make different resumes according to varying roles over the years if you have acquired them.
Step 10: Resume is your reflection
If nothing is interesting in your Resume regarding achievements, rewards, promotions, and job accomplishments. It’s time for introspection and acting accordingly. You can pursue any further educational course, attend Conferences and build your repo in the present organization. Participate in the events happening in your organization rather than leading a dull life. See your Resume and check which sections you can add.
Keep building on. It’s never too late to have a great resume!
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