With the Indian job market halfway out of the septic tank and the academic year being only a few months away from conclusion, it’s possible that some people have already begun drafting their resumes for the various internships and jobs that lie ahead. To guide these early birds and others who’ve just got their eyes on the worm, listed below are some guidelines to be followed while ‘constructing’ a good BMM resume/curriculum vitae. Here goes;
1. Call me!
Mention important details like contact information first.
The person reading the resume will be most likely to remember information mentioned at the beginning and the end of the document. Therefore, mention your name, address, telephone, email, and date of birth (in that order preferably) so that it’s the first thing they see on your resume (they won’t mind scrolling down a bit to see the details that matter to them, so make sure that they also register the details that matter to you).
Note: Double check your contact details for typos/outdated details. It’s very annoying for an employer to make the much awaited call only to find that they’ve called the wrong number or that it is ‘temporarily out of service.’ Remember, we are BMM students – media and communication are our forte, so all communication media (telephones/email ids/mobiles) mentioned in the resume should be up and running!
2. Do you know who I am?
The personal details must be followed by the information most relevant to the application viz. your job experience.
The first thing to remember when penning down one’s job experience is that it HAS to be tabulated. Do not mention it in bullet points (it’s not an essay). Also, make sure that you mention the most recent job’s details first (such as current position; unless it happens to be ‘unemployed’ in which case you can give that a miss) and go backwards to the least recent job.
Give a brief gist of each previous post just highlighting the employer, post held, and duration. Please do not exaggerate/mention bogus postings just because someone’s agreed to give you an experience letter. That’ll only take you as far as the interview and decrease the probability of scoring any after you’ve been rejected there.
3. I studied hard JUST for you!
Educational details are next on the list after job experience
Needless to say, this too needs to be tabulated as it saves space and is more reader friendly. Your employer/potential employer wouldn’t like to dig past your 10th results to find out you’ve done BMM, so make sure you mention the most recent course, university, date of passing, and percentage/grade first. Go backwards from there on (same format). They will read what interests them.
Note: Do add in any courses, which might be relevant to the job sought. Your having done Level Two of Ball-room dancing is unlikely to create much buzz anywhere but the course in spoken Japanese would help if the company had an affiliation with a Japanese company. So if you are a six-week, off-the-internet, so-called ‘Microsoft certified’ hardware engineer applying for a post as Dietician, it’s more likely to irritate than help. Keep it short, keep it relevant.
4. And the award goes to…
Mention any significant awards/recognitions you’ve won over the years. It helps further the impression.
First in a class running race in 3rd standard doesn’t count. 2nd in a certain event at a BMM festival does. Unless you were a remarkable scholar/athlete in school (state level/national level Olympiad/athletics champ and the like) you can omit details of those exploits. Mention any awards you may have received after the 10th grade. And make sure these are also TABULATED and arranged in an order with the most recent on top going backwards to the least recent.
5. Say Cheese!
Photographs are not mandatory but they do no harm.
Even if the mirror does crack when you look at your reflection, there’s no harm in letting your potential employer know that. If it does matter to them, they’re not going to close their eyes while interviewing you (metaphorically, and literally). Include a photograph with a light background wearing attire that contrasts with the background (formals preferable).
6. Miscellaneous Points
– Mention details about any languages known to you. You never know when it’ll give you an edge.
– Do not bluff about current salary. Someone is likely to do their homework and come up with the correct figure. If you’ve bluffed, you’ve as good as lost the job. Not because you made them work for the data, but because you’re untrustworthy.
– One page is for personal details, one page for education and experience. Long lists of research papers etc. are unlikely to be perused. It can be clumped under – ‘have contributed to numerous research papers in ‘human Psychology’ with the notation that details will be provided if asked. Believe me, if you cannot make an impression in two pages, you aren’t likely to make it in four, except as a boring pedantic loser.
7. Resume Formatting
– Format your resume well. Use page borders. Do not make it flashy. Do not use fonts such as ‘Comic Sans,’ ‘Lucida Handwriting,’ or ‘Copperplate Gothic.’
‘Times New Roman’, ‘Arial’ and ‘Calibri’ are the best picks.
– Enclose a CD with some of the projects you’ve worked on in college (if they’re good). These usually come in handy for making a good impression.
– Mention your interests and hobbies towards the end. It’s a nice way to sum yourself up at the end of your resume.
Hope this serves good enough!
– Raghav Rao –
