Many people think that the purpose of a resume is to get them a job. This is not entirely correct. Your resume provides a summary of your experiences, abilities, skills, as well as accomplishments. Whether you have a paper version or an electronic version, your resume is a tool for you to sell yourself to your prospective employers. If your resume is done correctly, you will get an interview. If you are having trouble being considered for one, then there may be something wrong with your resume. However, if you have an interview but not the job, then the problem probably lies with the way that you are conducting yourself in those situations.
Introduce you to your prospective employers:
Your resume allows you to convey your intent to apply for a job to your prospective employer. Regardless of the number of hours you put into writing up your resume, your prospective employers may only glance at it for a few seconds before they decide whether or not to grant you an interview. Therefore, another purpose of your resume is to introduce you to your prospective employers and let you communicate your most important assets to them.
Provide a snapshot of your career:
Your resume provides details of your working life. This includes all the jobs you have held, as well as a list of skills that you have developed throughout your career and education. However, keep in mind that your resume is not your biography. On average, an employer takes at most 20 seconds to screen all incoming resumes and at most 20 minutes once a resume is selected. Therefore, you have to be concise and clear, and highlight all the academic and work experiences that make the employer think that you are qualified for a particular job.
Impress your prospective employers:
Your resume is not a brag sheet for you to hang on your wall, but it does provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your relevant skills and achievements, and hopefully impress your prospective employers enough that they will give you an interview.
Make sure that you tailor your resume for specific jobs by emphasizing your relevant skills for that position and place focus on highlight any previous experience that would benefit you within their company.
Your prospective employers will develop interview questions based on the information on your resume, so make sure that you don’t overstretch your qualifications and are prepared to demonstrate or elaborate on your listed skills.
Demonstrate your communication skills:
To your prospective employers, you are a complete stranger. By looking at your resume, they get an idea of how well you can communicate. It also demonstrates your ability to organize information and write well, as well as to pay attention to detail. Instead of using one resume for all job applications, you should tailor each one to the employer’s needs.
Before sending your resume off, make sure that you have proofread it thoroughly and had someone else read it over too, to make sure it reads well and there are no grammatical errors.
