The five C’s of a good resume
How can you ensure that your resume has all the vital components to make recruiters sit up and take notice? Here is a list of 5 Cs that can help you in coming up with an effective resume.
A good resume is a vital requirement when you are out in the job market looking for a job. In the absence of an eye catching resume, your resume tends to get overlooked, regardless of your skill set and experience. A good resume makes sure that you are noticed and are short listed for interviews. But how can you ensure that your resume has all the vital components to make the recruiters sit up and notice? Well, there are a number of things that go into making an effective resume. But, most of these can be summarized in five “C’s”. These Cs can help you come up with an effective resume.
• Content: Make sure that you present everything that a recruiter would look for in a resume for your kind of profile such as skill set, qualifications, references etc. Recruiters spend an average10 minutes browsing through your resume. So, highlight all the important points so that they are easily noticeable. Use a readable and professional font and format your resume properly. Last but not the least, ensure that your resume is free of typos and grammatical errors.
• Character: Till the time the recruiters have not personally met you, your resume acts as your representative. The recruiters try to figure out your personality traits, character, attitude etc through your resume. So, ensure that your resume reflects your personality. Use your resume to highlight your personality traits and strengths such as confidence, problem solving skills, loyalty etc. This gives your resume an edge over other resumes that just talk about education and experience.
• Clarity: One of the most common mistakes that we make while creating a resume is loading it up with information of all kind. Remember, information like your winning a second position in a debate may not be of relevance to the recruiter. So, do not clutter your resume with unnecessary information. An uncluttered resume shows an uncluttered mind. Try to the just focus on the skills that the job demands and ensure that the resume is clear enough for the recruiters to easily find the information they are looking for. Hiring is entirely based on how your skills match the requirements. Try to highlight information that shows your achievements and how your qualifications match the organization needs. If possible, try and showcase your work. For example, you can upload some of the work that you have done on a website and mention the links in your resume.
Catchy: Try to be creative with your resume. A typical run of the mill resume can get lost between hoards of other resumes. Make your resume stand out by thinking out of the box. Try a different kind of formatting or structure for your resume. A graphic artist, for example, can think about adding some elements to the resume to make it look more interesting. Try and create your own template that showcases your personality instead of using one of those Microsoft Word templates that everyone uses.
• You may be at good at what you do, but to prove that to a recruiter, you need a personal interview. And to reach that phase, you need to ensure that you have an effective resume that attracts the recruiters. Just keep the 5 Cs discussed above in mind when you create your resume and see how it takes you places.
