The first impression what an interviewer gets about a candidate, is through the candidates’ resume. This impression is something which is made even before seeing the candidate. Yes, our resume talks a lot about our personality and skills. An ideal resume is something which provides a recruiter a brief statement about your skills, goals, qualifications, personal background etc. The main areas which need special focus while preparing a resume are:
Career objective: In this segment a candidate should talk about his goal in life. It may or may not be limited to your profession. However, it is suggested to have a goal which is realistic, achievable and related to your profession. For example: For a CA, his objective can be “utilizing my skills, qualification and experience in an optimum manner to contribute towards the growth of the company, society and country at large.” However, this kind of open ended ststements leaves a candidate with possiblity of questions being asked on it. So if you quote something like this, you shoud be ready for the questions. Also, Please avoid making any subjective statements in this segment.
Academic and Professional Qualifications: In this segment you need to write about your qualifications, both academic and professional, starting from the most recent one. You can also add the qualification which you have not completed but pursuing. It is advised to write the Name of the institution from which the qualification has been acquired and year of completion of each qualification. Mentioning the grades secured is optional.
Experience: In this segment, a candidate should give a brief about the assignments/ work undertaken by him. If you have worked for more number of projects, list only a few in which either your level of responsibility was very high or you got excellent exposure to any particular area. This area is very important for a fresher since he has a limited corporate experience. In this segment you need to advertise about your experience and skills you developed during the articleship.
IT Skills: Mentioning your IT skills highlights your exposure to various softwares and applications. In this segment, add your knowledge of various accounting softwares, office tools, audit tools and ERPs.
Achievements: In this area, you should mention your achievements in academics, sports and social events or any other extra curricular activities. If you have received any recognition ever, let the recruiters know about that.
Trainings and Seminars attended: In this segment add the details of the trainings and seminars attended by you. Don’t forget to mention the organisers and subject of the seminar.
Personal Profile: In this segment, mention about your date of birth, father’s name, proficiency in languages, hobbies, marital status etc. You can add as many details you want. But don’t make your personal profile very personal.
Your CV gives a glimpse of your background, knowledge and experience to the recruiter. So it is very important that you should know and understand what your CV says about you. It is quite often seen that more questions are asked from your CV itself. So it is advised to read your CV properly, frame questions from that and try to find convincing answers yourself. The taste of success depends on all the ingredients of your personality. In today’s world, presentation of your skills is equally important with possessing a skill.
All the best to the freshers!
Queries and comments are welcomed.
Shashank Kumar
ACA, B.Com
CAclubindia
