You may have excellent technical skills, business skills, soft skills and personal strengths, says rediffGURU Nayagam PP, career coach and founder of EduJob 360. But ask yourself: Are they relevant to the job you're applying for?
Until a few years ago, job seekers would rely on readymade CV templates to create their resume.
With the rise of AI, the process has become far more personalised and convenient.
In Part 2 of his series on CV writing tips, Nayagam PP, career coach and founder of EduJob360, explains how making simple edits can improve your chance at scoring an interview.
1. Keep it concise and selective
Including more information in your CV will not make your resume stronger.
Since recruiters need to be able to spot relevant information quickly, adding unnecessary details can weaken your most important qualifications and your overall profile.
Keep your CV concise, ideally within two pages, and include only information that is relevant and carefully selected.
Concentrate on the experiences that support the post you are applying for rather than listing every activity from your whole career.
For example, instead of mentioning the 15 responsibilities you handled from an earlier position, choose five or six of the most relevant achievements and back them up with specific results.
2. Avoid/Replace cliches
You may feel tempted to use phrases like go-getter, team player, hard-worker, dynamic, self-motivated, results-driven and strategic thinker.
However, they say nothing about your personality if you don't support it with evidence.
Instead of using general descriptions, provide specific evidence displaying your personality or achievements.
Let your achievements show off your strengths rather than just stating them.
Instead of saying 'a team player who is results-oriented and has excellent communication skills' you can say how you managed a sales team consisting of five members, achieving an 18 per cent surplus over its quarterly target.
The second statement highlights your results and leadership rather than just asserting them.
3. Highlight relevant skills
You could be an expert at Photoshop and video editing but if you are applying for a banking role, these skills may not be relevant.
Do not list every skill you have. Instead, select your strongest skills and focus on the ones that are truly relevant to the job in question.
You may have excellent technical skills, business skills, soft skills and personal strengths but ask yourself: Are they relevant to the job you're applying for?
This is especially crucial for experienced professionals, since their resumes have a tendency to become overloaded.
4. Write like a professional, not like a storyteller
When you are drafting your CV, you have to be economical with your language.
Avoid unnecessary articles, personal pronouns, repeated words and long phrases.
Double verbs should be eliminated.
Use short bullet points over lengthy paragraphs.
Instead of saying 'Responsible for managing a team', you could say 'managed a team'.
5. Personalise your social profile
Your profile should be simple, professional and easy for recruiters to contact you.
If your personal e-mail address is too casual, switch to a professional one.
If you have a LinkedIn profile, customise the URL for it.
For example, instead of coolboy123@gmail.com, use rahul.sharma@gmail.com.
Your e-mail ID, Twitter, LinkedIn and social media URLs offer a glimpse into your personality. Keep it professional or don't mention it.
6. Your LinkedIn is an extension of your profile
Your CV and LinkedIn profile should be consistent with each other.
A good LinkedIn profile features an appropriate headline and a professional photograph.
Think carefully how you'd describe yourself in the 'About' section.
List your experience, include your skills and recommendations.
If you work in HR and your CV lists 'HR manager ' Talent acquisition ' Employee engagement' on your resume, your LinkedIn headline should also make it clear that you work in those areas rather than just mentioning 'HR Professional'.
And if you want to build a network or a social community outside of your office, you can post or repost content by incorporating industry-relevant keywords.
Keep your profile up to date at all times.
7. Prepare more than one version of your resume
Sometimes, one resume doesn't do justice to your skills and abilities.
If you are multi-talented and capable of pursuing different career paths, you must draft separate versions which are tailored to those positions.
In each CV, you can highlight different achievements, skills, keywords and experiences without altering the basic facts.
This is particularly advantageous for people who are thinking about making a change in their careers or want to apply for positions in related areas.
For example, a professional with experience in both HR operations and talent acquisition could maintain:
Resume A: Focused on human resources operations, with an emphasis on employee relations and HR processes.
Resume B: Focused on talent acquisition, emphasising the metrics related to recruitment, sourcing and hiring.
Prefer simplicity to attractive design. Just because a resume looks attractive doesn't mean that it is effective.
8. Avoid attractive fonts and designs
In the age of AI, almost everyone wants to get creative with their CV.
Resumes with too many graphics, decorative features, odd formatting and complicated layouts can divert attention from your qualifications making it difficult for ATS software to correctly read and categorise your profile.
Use professional fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri or Georgia.
Maintain spacing, with appropriate margins, and leave enough white space between sections.
9. Proofread to avoid errors, typos
One spelling, grammatical or typing mistake is enough to weaken an otherwise good resume.
Double check your name, dates, job titles, the numbers, formatting, grammar, spelling and consistency.
It would be best to read the resume more than once; ideally, get someone else to look at it as well.
10. File name matters too
A resume that is well written can still make a bad first impression if the name of the file is carelessly chosen.
Instead of using generic titles like Resume.pdf, CV final.pdf or Resume New Latest 2.pdf, opt for a professional file name.
This will make it easier for recruiters to identify your document and show that you are serious about the role.
Ideally, the file name should include your name and, if appropriate, your field of expertise or level of experience.
Instead of Rahul_Resume_Final_New.pdf, your file name could be Rahul_Sharma_HR_Manager_7Years.pdf
The latter appears more professional when the file is saved or shared.
*Minor details like these will go a long way in improving your chance at scoring an interview.
The next time you apply for a job, before you hit 'send', go through your resume as if were a recruiter.
