JobsDB Career Fair – Resume & Cover Letter Guidance And Formats
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The resume critique booth operated by Sandbox Advisors during the current JobsDB Career Fair, was a huge success. Over the three days we reviewed greater than 300 resumes and helped job seekers enhance the quality of their resumes and cover letters.
As is commonly the case, a lot of the resumes we came across had similar and very fundamental mistakes. For the benefit of those who weren’t able to attend the career fair below is a abstract of the commonest mistakes we observed and some fast tips about the way to overcome them:
Poor design and layout: Having a resume which seems good at first glance and is well structured/formatted can make an enormous difference. We shared a couple of examples of nicely designed resumes in the course of the event. If you are interested in receiving these, you can subscribe to our newsletter and/or send us an email requesting for them.
Too much content: Many resumes we reviewed were extraordinarily long, often over 15 pages! While there is no hard and fast rule, for majority of people I’d recommend a 2-3 page resume. This keeps things to the point, while allowing for sufficient room to communicate ample details about your background. Remember that that is only a guideline and your case may warrant some deviation. For instance, as a fresh graduate you might have sufficient materials for only one page and if you are a seasoned executive then you would possibly need 4-5 pages.
Losing ‘prime resume real-estate’: The start of your resume is very important, since that’s what the recruiter sees first. Due to this fact it’s worthwhile to make quick impact in that section. Some methods to do that are by utilising sections like a headline, profession summary, key expertise, accomplishments. Do not waste this space by letting your personal particulars (name, address, date of birth, contact data, etc.) take up majority of the first page of your resume
An excessive amount of focus on job responsibilities: When describing previous work experience, there is a tendency to present details only for job duties/responsibilities. This is not the appropriate approach, since many individuals would have related jobs/duties and that makes it hard for a recruiter to determine who to pick for the interview. You have to write a lot more about your achievements i.e. how well you carried out your responsibilities. Inform hiring managers about the great things did at work and how vital they were
Use of generic resumes: Different jobs need different knowledge, expertise and abilities to perform well. Due to this fact when applying to jobs that are very different in nature, it is advisable to use different resumes as well. The respective resume must showcase solely those expertise, etc. that are wanted for the job you’re applying to. You don’t need a distinct resume for each job you apply to however can use 2-3 resumes for groups of jobs that are comparable in nature
Amit Puri has over ten years of career advisory & business management experience. He heads Sandbox Advisors a career, job search, recruitment & HR consulting firm in Singapore.Visit their site (Career & Job Search Insights for Singapore), for research, tips and videos, on resume templates, job interview training, job search, career choice & more.
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It was really helpful to include these points for those that couldn’t attend. I can’t believe some of the letters were 15 pages long! Keeping it concise but including all the important information is key.