Tips and Tricks for Proofreading Resume

The resume of an applicant is the first thing that the interviewers see and therefore, it builds the applicant’s very first impression on the interviewer. Therefore there are many guidelines that are provided to the aspiring applicants to build the perfect resume. However, even if you have created your resume with the utmost care, there are many things that slip our mind which need to be checked at least once before finalizing your resume. Therefore it is very essential to proofread your resume before you upload or send it for a job.

The process of reading and reviewing a piece of writing so as to correct the errors in it is called proofreading. Proofreading helps in finding the grammatical as well as spelling errors that are present in your resume. It can also help you find out the inconsistencies and inaccuracies of the information provided in it. There are many strategies, which can be used for effectively proofreading your resumes. Following are a few tips and tricks for proofreading resumes, which can benefit you a lot.

1. Read Every Line- We tend to skip many parts of our resume because we assume that they are correct and have not errors in them. However, our negligence can prove to be very hard on us if there is any mistake in those parts. These mistakes can be as huge as grammatical mistakes or they can be as trivial as spelling mistake. For e.g., writing ‘Their’instead of ‘There’ or vice versa.

2. Check Through Online Software- There are many online programs, which are specially made to detect grammar and spelling mistakes in a write-up. Popular software's like Grammarly are widely used for this purpose. Just run the spelling check on your resume once, to be sure that there are no spelling or grammatical mistakes in it.

3. Read it Aloud- Sometimes, what is written in paper makes absolute sense, however, when it is read aloud, it sounds awkward and incorrect. Therefore, it is necessary to read aloud whatever is written so that you can understand the parts of the resume, which needs changes so as to sound correct grammatically.

4. Let Someone Else Have a Look- It is always advised to get the help of another person while proofreading. This is because we know what is being said through what we have written ourselves. However, a fresh point of view can help you see through the mistakes and inconsistencies that prevail in the document very easily. That is why you should always ask another person to red your resume for you.

5. Double Check- After making corrections and changes, there are chances that the editing process has caused other errors to arise. Therefore, it is always better to check twice before finalizing the resume. Check the language, grammar, punctuation, spellings, etc. But also check the validity and accuracy of the information that you have written in your resume.

Proofreading can help you create a resume, which is professional and informative with impressive language. Which in turn could help make a good first impression on the interviewer for the job that you have applied for.

3 KEY POINTS TO COMMUNICATE YOUR SKILLS EFFICIENTLY

The only viable way to speak your mind and thoughts out is to communicate. It is pointless to stress how essential communication is in order to effectively let someone know what you want and what you are made of. If you have a lifetime, you can take your time and make your way through it. But what if you have only a short span of time to do so? Then you’d try your best to let it all out in an efficient and meaningful manner. The same happens in an interview. You only have a limited amount of time and you have to make each and every second of it count. One needs to prepare themselves well before appearing for an interview. Letting someone know about your capabilities, skills and experience in a few minutes is really a challenge. Worry not, we’ve got you covered. We’ll help you communicate your skills in an effective way so as to ensure your success. Let’s begin.

1. BE CLEAR

The foremost step is to be able to communicate clearly. Most of the times, we know exactly what we should say but we can’t really get it out properly or we mess it up a bit. Fumbling in front of your interviewer doesn’t exactly say that you are confident in yourself. Whether it is a job interview, a presentation or preparing a resume- just be your genuine, honest self and you are good to go. Along with that, wearing a positive and convincing smile goes a long way. The competition is heating up with each passing day and in order for you to land the position that you want and truly deserve; you must really stand out the rest. Communication is, in fact, the key to that treasure.

2. DON’T UNDERSELL/OVERSELL YOURSELF

It doesn’t just restrict to an interview. Never underestimate your capabilities and skill set. You might not know that yet. If you don’t believe in yourself, how do you expect the interviewers to do the same? You need to believe in yourself that you are better than everyone out there. Same goes with overselling. Don’t exaggerate your skills and never brag about something that isn’t even real. Don’t overdo it, but don’t undermine it, either. The interview’s have had years of experience, so don’t try to fool them because they take a good look and scan the person present in front of them.

3. ADAPT ACCORDINGLY

This is very vital to realize that what exactly the job description is about. There are chiefly two kinds of job-related skills you might want to mention on your resume: soft skills and hard skills. Hard skills are acquired by technical practice, training, etc., whereas, soft skills include maintaining a positive attitude to achieve your goals. It entirely depends upon your position which skills you need for that particular job description. Don’t forget to mention any experience you’ve had in the past that might strengthen your candidature.

How to Write a Cover Letter?

Writing a good cover letter is a crucial step in the job search process yet many people don’t write one or put in the time to write an effective one. So how to write a perfect cover letter is a question asked every so often. An effective cover letter gives you a greater chance of landing an interview.

Job seekers everywhere keep making mistakes regarding cover letters that ultimately prevent them from getting interviews. There’s a good chance you are also making the same mistake. Here are five tips you should follow to make your cover letter correct and all the more pleasing:

1. FIND OUT THE NAME OF THE HIRING MANAGER: Generally, you should write the name of the person in charge at the department you are applying to. If you don’t know the name of the person in charge of the department or the hiring manager, then you should contact the company to find out the name of the hiring manager. Writing the name of manager will leave an impression on them that you have put in some effort to write the letter. Also, it gives a personal touch to the letter.

2. COVER LETTER IS DIFFERENT FROM A RESUME: People tend to write the same thing in their cover letter as they have written in their resume. Actually, a cover letter is where you describe and highlight your unique characteristics and your reason for applying in the field.

3. KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE: A cover letter should not be comprehensive. It should be short, simple, and most importantly dynamic. This basically means that you should cover every point in just about a page or half a page. Try to avoid all the blabbering and jump straight to the point.

4. USE KEYWORDS TAKEN FROM THE JOB DESCRIPTION: Use words from the job description to write your cover letter. This enhances the quality of your cover letter and differentiates it from those of your competitors. Hiring managers use software to find out keywords. If your cover letter doesn’t have any keywords, then your chances of landing an interview are pretty low. Go back to the job description to pick up keywords for the cover letter.

5. DIFFERENT COMPANY, DIFFERENT COVER LETTER: Companies already know what they want in their recruits. Your job here is to identify what the company values the most and try to align your values and beliefs in line with those of the company’s.

The truth of the matter is that hiring is a tedious task and hiring managers are tired of seeing the same old resumes and cover letters. Your primary goal should be to make the cover letter stand out from those of your competitors. Following the above mentioned steps will give you an edge over your counterparts. A good cover letter has the potential of landing you a job without an interview. So, put some effort into your cover letter and write a fantastic one.

TOP 5 TIPS TO WRITE A PERFECT JOB APPLICATION LETTER

You should put just as much energy and focus into your job application letter as you do for your CV. Even if they don’t read the job application letter initially, but when it comes further down to selecting the best candidate among say, 5 candidates, they absolutely go to the job application letter and use that to help make their decision. Here are some tips you can follow to make your cover letter count:

1. Make it personal: Don’t send a job application letter that says – dear sir, dear madam, to who it may concern, dear hiring manager. You need to find out the person’s name. Use Google or LinkedIn or something to find the name of the hiring manager.
2. Tell them why you picked them: Firstly tell them what job you are applying for because lots of companies would be recruiting for more than one vacancy and secondly, tell them why you pick them. This doesn’t mean that you start talking about how fabulous they are. This means that you should make that person feel like they are the only person you want to work for. Basically, make them feel special and you can do that by giving them a real reason. You will find a real reason on their website, their news and about us pages.
3. Tell them why they should pick you: When you have told them the reason behind you picking them, now you should tell them why they should pick you and this part is really very important. For this, you need to go to the job description and align your values, beliefs, and goals with that of the company for which you are applying. Tell them how you will add value to their business and give examples. Examples act as proof that you have done that thing before and you have the capability to do that again.
4. Show passion: At this stage, you need to show them how much you want to work with them. Here you can play with words, for example, instead of writing I would like the opportunity to work for you, write I would love the opportunity to work for you. However, you should write a language that you feel really comfortable with.
5. Show kindness: “I know recruiting is a quite stressful activity and I really hope it’s going as well as you had hoped.” Words like these make the recruiters think that you are an empathetic person. Lines like these tell the recruitersmore about the candidates’ character. Recruiters often look for people who they perceive to be joyful, considerate and empathetic.

Follow these 5 steps, make them know how much you want it and make them feel special. Bonus tip; don’t send an attachment, instead write everything in the body of the e-mail.

HOW TO WRITE AN EFFECTIVE RESUME HEADLINE

Interviewers get a lot of resumes and all of them look pretty much the same. A resume headline is a kind of a testimonial that differentiates your resume from those of others. A resume headline is essentially a phrase that describes you and your values. However, if you are a fresher, you need not put a resume headline but if you have years and years of experience, then a resume headline is a must. Reading the resume headline, the interviewer can get a better idea of your strengths and if the headline is impressive enough, he may directly recruit you. Here are 5 proven headline templates you can steal and use to write your next blockbuster headline:

1. KEEP IT STRAIGHT AND TO THE POINT: The headline is like a testimonial. You should refrain from writing a sentence or a paragraph. And writing a phrase consisting of around 10 words is appropriate and completely makes sense because, during an interview, the interviewer usually doesn’t have the time to go through a paragraph or a sentence for that matter.
2. TURN ON CAPS: This is one of the common mistakes people make while writing a headline. Whatever you write should be in capital letters. What this does is attract the interviewer towards it. Also, it helps to differentiate the headline from whatever is written beneath it.
3. MAKE USE OF KEYWORDS: Use words in the headline that refer to the job you have applied for. It would be even better if you pick out some words directly from the job listing to write in the headline. This helps the interviewers to envision you in the position already.
4. NEW JOB, NEW HEADLINE: You have to put in extra efforts and prepare a new headline for every new job that you apply for. As the headline is written in caps, the interviewer is bound to notice the tailored resume headline. Also, it is always a better idea to hand out a tailored resume rather than sending an age old resume. Do a bit of introspection to find out what makes your USP and write that in the headline.
5. DON’T FOLLOW THE HERD: Interviewers are used to seeing ‘hard worker’ and ‘optimistic’ on resumes. If you also write the same, then there will be nothing that differentiates your resume from that of the others. Use keywords to highlight your values and skills and who knows, maybe the hiring manager gets impressed by your resume headline and recruits you directly.

Always take a reference to write a headline. It should be catchy just like a newspaper headline or an article. Below mentioned are some headline ideas which you can copy:

• Writer, editor, and proofreader with decades of experience.
• Well established and awarded chef.
• A scientist with over a dozen research papers.
• Manager of several successful online and offline sales and marketing campaigns.

CHECK TOP PROFILE SUMMARY IDEAS & TIPS

A resume profile or summary which are pretty synonymous is basically a section at the top of your resume after your name and contact information which just highlights the top skills you have and how they are relevant to your future employer and it is a very helpful thing if you have maybe a lot of work experience or you are making a big career transition or maybe you have had some relevant experience or specific type of technical skills that are very relevant to your future employer but they would probably be at the end of your resume. An example of such thing might be you want to do global health or international development work and you did the Peace Corps but it was five years ago and ever since then, you have been doing domestic work. So maybe you could mention that you have two years of relevant experience in any random country. All this information should be at the top of the resume to grab their attention.

However, the summary is not an essential part of the resume. If your resume is pretty straightforward and you have pretty much had a fairly straightforward trajectory and everything that you have done is kind of similar in that same type of job, then probably you don’t need the summary and you can just leave that part.

Below mentioned are some profile summary ideas:

1. Start the summary statement by writing about your education. For example one can begin by writing, “B.Com Graduate from any random College in your State.”
2. In the second part of your profile statement, you should write about any prior job experience that you have. For instance one can begin by writing “Team Leader with more than 4 years experience in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and team management in XYZ organization. Specializing in increasing the online traffic on the website, which leads to increase in customer leads and sales.”
3. You can start the sentence by writing – “looking to contribute my skills and experience to the….” ,and then complete the sentence with the area of the company such as accounting department, management team, engineering department, sales team and then finally add in the name of the company at the end of the sentence. For example, looking to contribute my skills and experience to the management at the XYZ Company.

If you follow the above mentioned steps and ideas, your profile statement would be complete and a very powerful one too.

Profile summary tips:

1. Make sure that your complete profile statement is no more than four or five line long. You can use sentences or you can use bullet points
2. Be careful with too many adjectives that describe you, your skills, your education, and your experience. Makes sure that the adjectives you choose actually describe you well.
3. Make sure that the profile summary statement is specific to the job you are applying.
4. The biggest tips are; make sure that everything is specific to the job and the company you are applying for.

5 EFFECTIVE WAYS OF MENTIONING JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

An effective job description is a useful, plain language tool, which portrays the crucial functions and specifications of any job position. Job responsibilities are a part of job description wherein all the activities are listed which the selected candidate has to perform. While writing job responsibilities, you need to be very specific because this will turn a candidate on or off for the job interview. Below mentioned are some of the key points you need to keep in mind while deciding roles and responsibilities for a job:

1. USE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE AN ACTION: Job description is what attracts a candidate for the job. A bad job description may result in a low number of candidates appearing for the interview. Words such as collaborate, delegate, communicate and investigate appeal to the candidates more than anything else. They are able to have a better understanding of what the job is all about and whether they will be able to perform that job efficiently. For example, communicate with clients and set meetings, collaborate with team members to design a marketing campaign, delegate responsibilities to juniors.
2. EXPRESS YOUR EXPECTATIONS: This is an important part because this is where you describe the end result. How the work or product looks like at the end is what you should communicate to the candidates in the job responsibilities section of the job description. This is the part where you as a hiring manager tell the expected time the selected candidates have to spend on completion of primary and secondary tasks. For example, add details of any new client in the client database and follow up with the new clients on monthly basis.
3. ESTABLISH STANDARD OF PERFORMANCE: The job description should give a detailed account of the company standards, values, mission, vision, and beliefs. The job responsibilities should tell the prospective employees to abide by the organizational rules and standards. To write standards of performance, refer to the mission statement of the company. For example, make sure that client data remains confidential and is never leaked to any third party.
4. MENTION THE DESIRED SKILLSET: Job responsibilities set the base to evaluate the credibility of potential candidates for the position. As a hiring manager, you should know what the job demands from the candidate. Mentioning the desired skillset in job responsibilities helps to eliminate the candidates who don’t possess them but still apply for the position. Try to connect skillset with the end result and that way, the candidate can also be sure that their skills are actually going to be used in the job. For example, use statistical skills to compile performance of different departments.
5. GIVE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF JOB RESPONSIBILITIES: Detailed job responsibility is what makes a good jobdescription. Be as elaborative as possible. Employees nowadays search for a bit of flexibility in their jobs. Make sure that the job responsibilities section is precise and gives a bit of flexibility to the employees. For example, work with the team to finish the task on time.

KEY STEPS TO GET YOUR DREAM JOB

An interview revolves around you convincing the interviewer about your credibility for the job. You tell them about your skills, knowledge and so on and so forth. To get selected for the role, you have to show motivation and align your goals according to the goals of the company. That way, you can not only crack the interview but also leave a mark on them which they remember you by. Also, you need to follow a protocol to make it through an interview and into the company. Below mentioned are some tips you should follow while preparing for an interview:

1. Be well rested before the interview: This tip may seem obvious but it is amazing how many people don’t follow it. You always need to be well rested that basically means, no all-night cramming sessions. Stay sharp during he interview and show that you are interested in whatever they are saying.
2. Dress appropriately for the job: If you are interviewing for an office job, you probably shouldn’t go in wearing beach clothes, and if you are interviewing for a life guard, you probably shouldn’t go in wearing a suit. If you are appropriately dressed, it will help the interviewer envision you in the role already which can only help you get the job.
3. Clean up your online presence or social media presence: Companies today are being more and more thorough when doing a background check on their potential candidates and this includes Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn profiles. Make sure you don’t have any incriminating photos or foul language written on your wall.
4. Don’t be late for the interview: To ensure that you are on time for the interview, you have to figure out how long it is going to take to reach the interview location and what transport options do you have. One is for sure, if you are late, you have already taken yourself out of the running for the position. It is always good to give yourself about 30 minutes of extra time.
5. Always practice: Prepare practice examples of interview question. Don’t just cram the answers which you find on the internet. Mould your answers according to the mission, vision, beliefs and values of the company. Try to convince them that your skill set is exactly what they have been looking for and for that you have to read the company profile thoroughly.

“Do you have any questions?” This is the most common question with which an interview ends. The answer to this question should never be negative. If you get asked this question, what you can do is ask them something which has not been discussed during the interview. For example, you can ask them about the growth prospects in the company or maybe you can ask them regarding the next step in the hiring process. You can also jot down some points which you want to ask before going into the interview. Following these steps significantly ups the chances of you getting the job.

Want to Crack Any Interview? Find out How

Interviews are always distressing whether you’re a fresher or experienced. There is always a hidden anxiety behind a vibrant smile that every interviewee carries along with them. But don’t panic because it’s absolutely okay to get nervous before an interview. On the other hand, it is crucial to succeed in the interview to get your dream job and accomplish your ambitions. Therefore, you need to surmount the jitters to be successful in any interview and for that always be prepared in advance.

There are some extremely important points that will help you out to crack any job interview. Those are mentioned below:

1. FIRST IMPRESSION IS THE LAST IMPRESSION

As it is said that “The first impression is the last impression”, take full advantage of that opportunity to impress your interviewers. Try to be more influential and make sure your impact should be positive on them. Always believe in your originality and authenticity and if there’s any disagreement during the conversation then do that politely without challenging the beliefs of the interviewer.

2. ALWAYS BE PREPARED

We always prepare ourselves before an interview and still we commit some mistakes during the interview process. To avoid such absurd mistakes it’s necessary to be aware and well-prepared about the organization and the job requirement. Gather information about the organization and understand the roles and responsibilities that you have to fulfill during your job period.

3. DO NOT FOLLOW THE HERD

Most of the times, it happens that all of us are following the herd. We are trying to imitate another candidate and follow the same pattern. To crack an interview, you’ve to be creative and original. Try to be more innovative during an interview, ask questions to the interviewer and be focused towards a logical conversation, rather than passively listening to them. Also, try to be more active.

4. BE FAMILIAR WITH YOUR RESUME

Before preparing yourself for the organization or the job for that matter, first read your resume carefully. It is essential to be familiar with your skills and experience that you’ve mentioned in your resume. And, all the intricate details about previous employment, job experience etc. and be prepared to counter every question that is being asked from your curriculum vitae (CV). Remember not to brag about your skills and qualities!

5. MAINTAIN PUNCTUALITY

The foremost thing that is considered in a candidate is their punctuality. It’s vital to arrive at least 15 minutes early at the interview place because that’s what determines your dedication towards work. Therefore, never disappoint your interviewer by arriving late at the venue. Moreover, always dress professionally and according to the norms of the organization.

Conclusion

Now that you are cognizant about all the crucial points, you can easily crack any interview. Just stay calm, be optimistic, follow your instincts and always end your interview with a thank you note. Don’t get upset if you aren’t selected or don’t get through the process, after all, it’s just an interview which will give you experience do better next time. Best of luck!