Putting the content together while writing your resume is an overwhelming task for many and I have noticed the anxiety is even more about how to start writing.
One of my friends dealing with a similar situation met me a few years ago and said that it is very important for him get his resume done and that he has been procrastinating on this one for some time now – he had no clue on how to get started! A brief conversation followed and then I pulled a few tissue-papers out and made a few quick mind maps to illustrate to him on how to get started. What came up was a simple and step by step method to overcome the inertia of getting started with writing your resume!
So, this one is for all the professionals who may be in a similar situation. I have reproduced those mind maps here for your reference with a few additional tips – here we go…
A Tissue-Paper Plan for Getting Started with Resume Writing
The headings and sub-headings from the mind map were listed down in a desired sequence as follows –
1] Resume Title – Full Name, Contact Details, Location
2] Objective – The statement giving the What (the targeted role/management level), Where (type of Company/Industry/Function), Why (couple of your key skills/competencies)
Example – Seeking a Mid Management role in a Delivery Function of Mid to Large size company in IT sector where extensive client handling and managing large team across technologies will be useful.
3] Summary – Brief of your Experience and Achievements
This space should be used to highlight the achievements and your experience that will be valuable for your targeted role.
For IT professionals – Technical Summary should be presented
4] Professional Experience – Name/s of Companies, Duration, Designation/s, Roles and Responsibilities in each role that you may have played in one organisation by virtue of promotions or job rotations.
For IT professionals or where ever work is executed in Project form – the Project Details are a must, which Includes – Project Description, Project Durations, Team Size, Roles and Responsibilities in each project, Technologies used in each project.
5] Educational/Academic Details – Level (10th, 12th, Diploma. Graduation, Post-Graduation, PhD), Years of Passing of each level, Details of School, Board, College, University, Grades/Percentages/Ranks/Marks, listing any Significant Training & Certifications (provide specific details)
6] Personal Details – Date of Birth/Age, Full Address, Nationality, Gender, Languages known etc. The personal details should be given as per the norms of given geographies and requirement of the job.
The following are some bonus tips to consider while you make your resume –
1] The resume should look consistent – Consistent in terms of Font Type, Font Size, Choice of Bold, Italics, Underline, Spacing between lines/paragraph, graphics etc.
2] Mind the spelling mistakes and grammar.