Main Points of Resume

Personal Information
Name - your full name, typed in title case.
Address - your address, written out in full, without abbreviations. In fact, it's better to avoid abbreviations anywhere in your resume.
Telephone - your home phone number with area code, also give your mobile number if you have one.

Job Goal
In one sentence, describe your job goal. This tells the employer exactly what type of work you're looking for. Try to link your job goal to the job you're applying for.
Related Skills - List the special abilities and skills that relate to the job you're applying for. They can be from paid or unpaid work, volunteer experience, and even hobbies.

Education
List your education, starting with the most recent diploma or training course and working backwards. Include the name and city or town of each school you attended (secondary and beyond), the type of programmes you took, your areas of interest, and the years you completed. Certificates or diplomas should also be listed, including those for mini courses like a computer or software course, first-aid, small engine repair, or any other training that might be useful to the job you want.

Additional Knowledge
Use this section to include such things as the languages you speak, software programmes you know, and other abilities that relate to the job. If there is a lot of information, break it into separate sections with specific headings. The point is to get everything into your resume that shows why you are the right person for the job.
List all the skills you have in a bulleted format.

Interests / Activities
Briefly outline a few of your interests and activities that demonstrate something about you. Be sure to mention achievements or awards you may have received. If you have volunteer experience that is relevant to the job, make sure you put it in, transferable skills are important. Do not mention all the hobbies you have over here. This might do a bit more to the resume. List only main hobbies or hobbies related to the job applied for.

References
References are not included in your resume, but you should have them ready. Think about who could be your references and get their permission before you pass the names and numbers. Type the names, addresses, and phone numbers of up to three references on a separate piece of paper, which matches your resume. Keep your reference list as up-to date as possible. If you can, give your reference an idea of the type of job you are applying for, and whenever possible, let them know when you think an employer will be calling them, so they can be available and will have some time to think about what to say.

Whom can you ask to be a reference?

• Someone from your school (teacher, guidance counsellor, coach)
  
• Someone you've worked for (summer, part- time employer)
  
• Someone you've worked for on a casual basis
  
• Someone you've helped (as a volunteer or as a friend)
  
• Someone whose opinion is respected (elder, minister, community leader)
  

Resume Writing

Resume is a self-promotional document that presents you in the best possible light, for the purpose of getting invited to a job interview. It's not an official personnel document. It's not a job application. It's not a "career obituary"! And it's not a confessional.

It's not just about past jobs! It's about YOU, and how you performed and what you accomplished in those past jobs--especially those accomplishments that are most relevant to the work you want to do next. A good resume predicts how you might perform in that desired future job.

While writing your resume there are few points that you should remember. Don’t ever leave out your Job Objective! If you don't show a sense of direction, employers won't be interested. Have a clearly stated goal. Decide on a job target (or "job objective") that can be stated in about 5 or 6 words. Don’t use more then 5 to 8 words, because telling more indicates lack of clarity.

There are times when you have gaps in your work experience. Don’t be afraid about the gaps. Include everything you did in those days rather than saying that, you took a gap. For example, you can include all the work done even if unpaid or charity. Or Maternity leave, Study leave, etc. Students can make their resume look neater by listing seasonal jobs very simply, such as "Spring 1996" or "Summer 1996" rather than 6/96 to 9/96. This adds lots of freshness to the resume. Add every small detail like promotions activities, etc. But it is also to be remembered that over doing or writing may led to rejection. Just go around 6-7 years back not more than that unless its very big or important activity that you have done.

The best way to impress an employer is the “Problem – Action – Result” Method. First you state the problem that existed in your workplace, then you describe what you did about it, and finally you point out the beneficial results. This adds lots of importance to your resume.

Including hobbies in a resume is a nice idea. But don't include hobbies on a resume unless the activity is somehow relevant to your job objective, or clearly reveals a characteristic that supports your job objective. For example, a hobby of Book Reading (vocabulary, grammatical skills) might seem relevant to some job objectives (Secretary) but not to others.

Now some minute detailing that needs to be remembered while making that very important resume. Always mention the prefix “Mr.” or “Mrs.” or “Miss” before your name. If your name is Kiran or a name which is common in both sexes, the employer might get confused while addressing you. Mentioning all the degrees you have is not enough! You must also mention the extra activities done by you. It will add to the treat if the activity is related to the work you are applying for.

Use simple while or ivory paper for your resume. Using a fancy or think paper out does the content of the resume making it look like a brochure with only design and no content (unless you are applying for a designers post)

What jobs to apply for

Some people when they are unemployed will figure, if I apply for every job I see I am bound to get one. Sounds good in theory but it really is a waste of your time. If you sent your résumé to every classified ad in the paper, it will cost you a lot of money. Write down what jobs you have had in the past and then make a list of what functions you performed and then a list of the skills you have. Once you have done that, you can begin looking through the paper for a job.

There are many ads in the paper that may have no experience necessary. Only if those ads are legit then apply. Some jobs with that type of description are jobs that have you selling products door to door or in parking lots. Make sure it is an actual job, call and ask a lot of questions.

Apply for jobs you know you can do, don’t apply for a job you think you can do and figure if you get the job they have to teach you anyway. Don’t embarrass yourself; if you can’t do the job don’t apply. When you get there don’t assume they are going to train you as if you don’t anything. Most companies will ask you what you know and begin training you from that point.

Apply for jobs that you know you can reach by any means of transportation. If your cars breaks down you have to make sure you can get there by bus or train. Apply for jobs within a 20 mile radius, don’t take a job with over an hour of travel time because you run the risk of being late. Most likely it will happen often.

Apply for a job that accommodates your home life, especially if you have kids. You don’t want a job where you are constantly leaving early to pick up the kids from school or if they have a school holiday. Make all of those arrangements in case you get the job and not after it.

Apply for a job that you would be comfortable doing. If you have the skills and the situations at home are perfect then you will be more relaxed looking for work if you know everything is settled. Looking for the perfect job is not always easy but it is not impossible.

Choosing the Perfect Resume

If you are preparing to write a résumé, you may be aware that are more than one style. There are 3 major styles of résumé writing, there is the Chronological résumé, the Functional résumé and the Combination résumé. We will go over each style and see if it will work for you. All a résumé is is a sheet of paper with all of your accomplishment in both education and work experience. An interviewer is looking for someone to hire who can get the job done and have the experience they are looking for.

The chronological résumé is formatted to show your employment experience and your education in time order. This can be done with the most current time or from oldest to newest. When an interviewer looks at a résumé he or she looks for the important information first. The will want to see what you did before or while you are applying for their job. They don’t really want to see what you did 10 years ago so try to use the most current jobs first, so they will look at what they need to know and not have to scan the entire document looking for simple information.

The functional résumé is a list of your work experience and skills that you posses and sort them out by job function or skill. This style résumé is not used that often. It works in the sense that the jobs are listed by job function. Interviewers want to see what you can do for them and if the job you were at before or still on is similar to what they need they want to see it. Interviews do not want to spend time reading a lot of information that is not pertinent to them, that is why it is recommended that you keep your résumé short and to the point.

The combination résumé is just that, a combination of a chronological and a functional résumé. You begin with a functional list of jobs and then a chronological list of employers. This style of résumé writing is not recommended. It comes off too confusing. If you send a résumé like that you may not get a chance to explain it, if an interviewer does not like your résumé they will just toss it aside.

Remember a résumé is a reflection of you. If you present a sloppy résumé, they will not give you a chance. A good résumé will guarantee you an interview.