Writing your first resume

Fresher resume requires different focus as it relies on projecting a candidate’s potential and skills based on mainly his/her academic record. Here are some tips for getting started on the same.

Preparing a resume is a daunting task for fresh college graduates – no work history to support your professional capabilities and the need to bank upon your enthusiasm and proposed skill set to the prospective employer. Here are some tips on getting you started on your first ever resume:

Summarise your profile – Getting started on your resume, the key to developing a fresher CV is to convey ‘potential’ rather than ‘experience’ and ‘work history’ for more experienced professionals. Begin by identifying keywords that best describe you and what you aim to set out to achieve in the long run, and list these in the top section of the resume.

Highlight coursework – Elaborate upon courses that were part of the curriculum and the knowledge of which would be an essential job skill for that position. Listing academic achievements and awards shows that you have good domain knowledge, and that you are an active and fast learner who can add value to the position. Include projects, training experience – As a fresher, you will not have work experience to showcase how good a worker you are, but that should not stop you from mentioning trainings and projects undertaken by you either as part of your graduate course or voluntary assignments during vacations.

Keep it relevant – Be very particular about the information you want to share with recruiters. Your resume should speak about your professional profile – qualifications, skills and your career goals. For a fresher, it is important to realise that a hiring manager reads a resume to ascertain whether a candidate fits all requirements of the vacancy, and if the job is the right break for the latter in the corporate world.

So, create a resume with the sole purpose of marketing your skills and academia such that it reaches the right hiring audience.

Be clear and informative – Be sure to mention all details in an orderly manner – skills that will land you in good stead in your chosen profession and academic details (course name, date of graduation, etc) to provide a clear snapshot of your education. Also, refrain from fitting in too much information in the minimum space possible, leaving the resume look cluttered. Give adequate spacing between different sections to make the resume look presentable.

Last but not the least, proof read – Nothing puts a recruiter off more than finding errors in a resume – a document that YOU sent in order to be shortlisted for a job position! Regardless of the magnitude of the error, grammatical or spelling errors convey only one thing to the employer – the candidate is careless and possibly not serious enough about working for the organisation.