With the summer vacations around the corner, I am sure a lot of you guys would be applying for internships. That means you will have to send your CV or resume to, hopefully, your future employer. Now here’s the tricky part: You’re not the only one applying. There might be many other students like you applying for the same position. So how do you stand out? Apart from having an astounding skill set, you should also aim to have a professional resume. Your resume is how you sell yourself as an asset to the company you wanna work for. So in this article, I have listed out some of the tips which will definitely prevent your resume from getting rejected on the grounds of unprofessionalism.
1: Know the difference between a CV and a resume
A C.V. and a resume are two different things. Most people aren’t aware of this and they use the
two words interchangeably. There are three major differences between CVs and resumes. A
resume is a brief summary of your skills and experience over one or two pages, a CV is more
detailed and can stretch well beyond two pages. The resume will be tailored to each position
whereas the CV will stay the same and any changes will be in the cover letter. A CV has a clear
chronological order listing the whole career of the individual whereas a resume’s information
can be shuffled around to best suit the applicant. The main difference between a resume and a
CV is that a CV is intended to be a full record of your career history and a resume is a brief,
targeted list of skills and achievements. Send the one which is asked by the employer, it shows
that you know what you are doing.
2: Do not lie about your skills on your resume
Through your resume, your future employers get to know about your skills and
accomplishments. It helps them decide whether you would be a good fit for the role in their
company. Realize that your employers are not fools. They’re going to pay you to use all those
skills you mentioned on your resume. And so, they will certainly test the credibility of those skills
beforehand in an interview. And if you’re not able to showcase those skills, it would result in an
embarrassing rejection. I am sure that is much worse than having an ‘uncool’ resume.
3: Make it personal
This is all about psychology. You have read the job advertisement. You know what your
employer is looking for. Try to alter your resume accordingly. Mention the skills which have been
mentioned in the advertisement above other skills. Try to use words that the employer has used
in the advertisement. It will help him/her connect with you through your resume better.
4: Proofread your resume
I cannot stress on how important this is. Get your resume proofread by friends or family
members. You don’t want your employer to reject you just because you spelt Apache wrong. It
shows a clear lack of efforts on your part. Also, update your resume from time to time. You do
not want to send a resume which was last updated 2 years ago. You might have acquired new
skills which could be listed down or you might have to remove some things because they may
no longer be relevant.
5: Little things that matter much
These are some of those little mistakes that might get you rejected:
● Writing “PFA”, “FYI”, “Please check”, “Reply ASAP”. Your employer is not your college
buddy. Keep it formal.
● Attaching a cropped photo of yourself in some fancy function, along with the resume.
Unless you’re auditioning for a movie, this is a plain bad idea. They are looking for
working skills, not how good you look in your tux.
● CCing all the companies you wish to apply to in the same mail. You might as well not
send the resume at all. Why would any employer respond to a mail which was forward
from a mail previously sent to other companies seeking jobs. It is very unprofessional to
do so.
● Sending blank mail/blank subject line with your resume in the attachment. Let your
employer know why you’re sending him the mail. Do not start the mail with a “Hi”. Stick
to the traditional Dear Sir/Ma’am routine.
These are some things that would boost up your resume if you already have great content in
there. But content is what matters the most. All the best for your applications and I hope this
helps you in some way.