A resume is a two-page document that you must give some importance to because it will pay your bills monthly. Craft it right
Your resume is one of the most important documents one will ever prepare in your career. There is no doubt about the Importance of a resume in one’s career.
The one or two-page document can help you showcase your most relevant skills and qualities, show your expertise and can help you get your dream job.
A resume is one of the first documents to help connect you with a potential employer. Employers use resumes to decide who to hire, and having one handy after filing a job application can help you land your first interview.
In this ever-growing competitive market, a well-written resume is necessary to advance in the interview process. In addition, an excellent and well-crafted resume can show companies why a candidate is a good fit.
Here are some reasons why having a resume is beneficial while looking for a new job: It attracts the attention of potential employers.
8 Key Importance of a Resume
First, let me go through some key reasons why a resume is essential and crucial to a successful career.
Think of your resume as a business card entrepreneurs use to network with others. A business card helps entrepreneurs connect and grow their businesses.
Similarly, a resume can help job seekers progress in their careers. It’s a way to provide all your information in an easy-to-access point.
Your Resume Can Reach Much Faster Than You
One of the most critical aspects of having a good resume is the opportunity to reach more employers quickly. In addition, it is easy to share your work resume with everything you have done and your skillset without telling everyone separately.
As an individual, you can reach a limited number of employers, and the hiring team may not be willing to talk with every potential candidate.
However, the HR team is more than willing to accept your resume and decide, based on the criteria, with whom they want to do a one-on-one interview.
So your resume can reach many more potential employers than you can.
Convince you are perfect for the Job.
You left your resume at an employer’s desk, but that may not always be enough. You have to craft your resume to speak about your capabilities and convince the employer that you are perfect for what they are looking for.
The resume can be the first step to convincing your employer that you are perfect for the job.
To Showcase Your Skills and Expertise
A resume can help you summarise your best and most productive skills. In addition, you can sell the skills you have accumulated over the years through a well-written resume.
You can let the recruiter know what skills you have acquired through the different jobs. They want you to know in which way your skill will provide benefits for their organization. And if your resume successfully tells them so, its sole purpose is done.
To Showcase Your Educational Qualifications
Educational qualifications and certificates are your best items to showcase when you are a fresher diving into the professional world. The resume helps you portray yourself correctly in a simple table format for the employer to review.
Suppose you are unsure how to portray your educational qualification on the resume. In that case, you can look for a professional resume writer who would validate your educational background and articulate it better.
To Showcase Your Past Work Experience
If you are working on something, you can easily showcase your experience on the resume. In addition, one can show them chronologically to help the recruiter review your work.
You can show it in your resume whenever you get a job and project. A resume speaks a great deal about you as a professional. But, first, it says what you have done in the past.
As a suggestion for freshers without work experience, Write about their project, internship, industrial visits, training, and additional value-added course in the work experience section.
It helps you Grab an Interview.
Did you ever have a chance to appear in an interview? If yes, Then can you expect to get that interview call without a resume? I highly doubt it. So one of the importance of a resume is to help you land on that interview table to showcase your talent.
With the help of an interview, You can prove yourself and which justified your capability.
Create a lasting first impression.
You must have heard of the saying first impression is the last impression. So it goes for resumes as well.
Do you remember Aditya Sharma, who created a resume for Google, Amazon, and Netflix using the Ui of the website, respectively? If you don’t, then this image will help you remember him.
Create a resume such that your potential employer is not able to discard your resume. Try to keep it clear, straightforward, and easy to read and understand.
Career Objective
A good resume recapitulates your career so well that recruiters do not need to try to understand you well, academically or otherwise. So make sure that the objective career section of your resume speaks about your career aspiration in the long run.
However, one should remember that career objective is often copy pasted. Therefore, if you are doing it, you are wasting your resume, one of the essential parts.
You want an employer to hire you, but you have not shown any effort to write a few lines about how you want to shape your career.
Moreover, you assume the employer who has interviewed hundreds of candidates will be unable to judge whether the career objective is copied. Now, imagine how good the first impression it will create about you.
A resume can create a great first impression but is also a two-edged sword. It can make an awful first impression as well.
FAQ’s
Should I include my picture in my resume?
This is an essential question that I am sure many people will have. Should I include a picture, or I shouldn’t?
Ideally, you should include a picture, but it is not necessary. However, if you wish to have a picture, you shouldn’t have the one you have on your Instagram profile.
Use a professional photo. If you don’t have such a picture, you should click one. However, if you are not clicking it right now, it is better not to have one.
How Long Should my resume be?
The resume shouldn’t be too long, so ideally, it should not be more than two pages, but you should also not keep it to one page.
So, I suggest you have at least two pages of your resume. You should include details, educational qualifications, hobbies, what you have been doing, and other things.
If you add more details, remember you will also be grilled on those items in a personal interview. And so, do not add details, hobbies, or things that you are not really into.
What fonts are preferred when writing a resume?
The classics: fonts that come standard across various programs and aren’t overly flashy or designed.
Here are some fonts recommended for resume
- Arial
- Tacoma
- Calibre
- Georgia
Arial is the font most commonly recommended.
Should I submit my resume in doc or PDF format?
Ideally, you should always submit your resume in your employer’s preferred format.
However, if no format is mentioned, I recommend always going with PDF format because DOC format has some disadvantages, like the resume in different MS Word versions can be misaligned.
Further, all the employers may not be using MS Word, and some prefer Google Docs, Open Office, or Mac Pages. So Using PDF means your resume remains consistent across all operating systems and software.
What are the critical parts of a resume?
I will say every resume should have the following five parts
- Header: for basic information like name, address, phone number and email.
- Career Objective
- Skills and Expertise
- Education
- Experience
However, if you have more to share, like hobbies, references, etc., it is always good to have it on a resume.