MAKING A GOOD FIRST Rajeev Agur

IMPRESSION
WHAT IS A CV/RESUME?
How did you introduce yourself when you met your classmates for the
first time?
If you have to introduce someone who isn’t sitting in front of you, how
will you do that?
Were you ever handed visiting cards? What did you do with them?
Imagine you are at a family gathering. You & your cousins’ job is to
welcome everyone and introduce yourself. Every guest who is
impressed by you will give you a flower. The one with highest flowers
at the end of the day will get a Ferrari. How will you stand out?
Consider resume as your visiting card. How will you capture your
target’s attention?

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FIRST THINGS FIRST: CV OR
RESUME?
CV Resume
➢Used for academic ➢Used for job hunting
purposes
➢Focuses on skills
➢Focuses on entire career
➢1 page max if
➢No page limit experience is less than 5
years and 2 pages max
➢Detailed explanation of otherwise
work and education
➢Mention designation,
➢Details in chronological timeline, firm and 3-5
order achievements
➢Latest experience first

IF YOU ARE APPLYING FOR A JOB: USE RESUME

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HOW TO STAND OUT?
❖Put yourself in hiring manager/HR’s shoes.
❖Make it easy for the target audience.
❖Customize your resume for each and every application. There is no
one medicine for all illnesses.
❖Make sure there are no spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.
❖Use standard fonts, not more than 2 sizes and 1 colour (black).
❖Do not use photo unless specifically asked.
❖Always send a pdf. Never send a word document.
❖Name your file FirstnameLastname.pdf or
FirstnameLastname_Resume.pdf

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SECTIONS
❑Header
❑Name
❑Phone Number
❑Mail id
❑LinkedIn Profile (Customised link)

❑Work Experience
❑Start from latest and go back in time
❑Timeline – Position – Company
❑3 to 5 bullet points of your achievements
❑Quantify your points
❑Phrases over sentences
❑Use action verbs (Liaised, Launched, Led, Headed, Managed etc)

❑Education
❑Timeline – Course - Institution
❑Starting from latest (PG, UG and 12th should be enough)
❑No marks/grades (My personal preference)
❑Major subjects

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SECTIONS
❑Skills
❑Only relevant ones for the job
❑Read the JD to find the key skills. Make sure you use those keywords.
❑Don’t list skills like MS XP, Windows 10/11, etc

❑Anything else
❑Publications
❑Extra Curriculars
❑Volunteering experience
❑Certifications
❑Additional Information

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CV
❖Most universities have their own formats of CVs. You have to check
with their websites before making one.
❖As a general rule, Sections remain the same as Resume, with little
changes
❖Include a profile summary on the top
❖Use sentences and short paragraphs to describe your experience and education.
❖Give as many details as possible
❖Education comes first, followed by work experience
❖Include grades/marks
❖Academic achievements should be highlighted.
❖Give references (professors and latest manager)

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COVER LETTER
➢Always write a cover letter, even if it is not requested.
➢If you are attaching a cover letter, save it as pdf. If you have to mail,
paste the contents of the cover letter into the mail body and attach the
resume
➢Always address it to a specific person (Hiring Manager or HR)
➢This is a chance to show you are eager to work with them, have
necessary skills, and are ready to learn and contribute.
➢Research about the company, position.
➢Showcase that you understand the role, and belong in that company.
➢Convince manager that you are the perfect candidate for the role.
➢Maximum 1 page. Under no circumstance can it go into second page.
➢There is no standard template. You CANNOT send same cover letter to
all applications!

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SECTIONS
➢Heading
➢Name
➢Address

➢Addressing
➢Hiring Manager Name
➢Position
➢Office Address

➢Salutation
➢Paragraph 1: About you
➢Paragraph 2: How your skills are relevant for the job you are applying
➢Paragraph 3: How you are best fit for the role and company
➢State that you are available, looking forward and share contact (Mail
and Phone)

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GENERAL WRITING RULES
❖Avoid pronouns (I, S/He, etc)
❖Write in active voice.
❖Use justified formatting
❖Do not use symbols, shortforms (I am guilty here), links, tables.
❖Keep the format uniform (Use bold, italics and font sizes in similar
way throughout).
❖Make sure you use all the keywords (Identify them before writing the
resume)
❖Show it to your friends or well wishers and ask them to find mistakes.
❖Use Grammarly for language help
❖Use resumeworded for help with resume and JD

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QUESTIONS, REVIEW & FEEDBACK

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