Will your resume get you the interview call?

1. Should your resume have a career goal/ objective statement? A resume that is worthy of representing you, should clearly state your career objective. A career objective is an indirect way of advertising what all you would bring to the company/ role. It must display a ‘giving’ attitude and not a ‘taking’ attitude.

2. What sequence should your story follow?
Be it work experience or education, always tell the story from the current/ most recent to the first. NEVER write it the other way round.

3. Does your resume need to mention your marital status?
The new age resume does not require you to mention your marital status. However, if the job advertisement clearly states this as a requirement, do fulfil it. Quick Take

* Include a sharp Career Goal

* Choose the pdf format with discretion

* Fonts: Use Times New Roman, Calibri or Verdana

* Run a spell check

* Tweak to suit position and company of a potential employer

* Your latest work stint must appear first

* save the doc/pdf with meaning full name like : thanooj_j2ee_2.7yrs_25032011.

* writing a cover letter
Dear _______, I am applying for the role of ___________________ at your esteemed organisation _____________________.

4. How should you treat references?

Unless you have been specifically asked to provide references, it is acceptable to state in your covering letter/ email that you will provide references on request. Usually, two references are sufficient. Try to provide references from the two most recent phases of your career.
It is a good idea to inform the referees that you are giving out their contact information. It will also help if they know what kind of jobs you are applying for.

5. Should you send the resume as an MS Word document or a PDF?
Some organisations ask you to upload your resume. Usually they ask for an MS Word document. If you are mailing across your resume, you could choose either format.
A word of caution – do not get carried away if you decide to make it a PDF. Keep it simple – leave out visual histrionics. And whatever software you choose – send the resume in the most commonly used version.
The biggest advantage of using a pdf format is that it preserves the formatting irrespective of the version of the Acrobat Reader version or user settings.

6. Should you incorporate links in the resume?
If you are an engineer who writes a technical blog, go ahead and incorporate the link in your resume. If you are a website developer, the links to the pages created by you would certainly help.