Does Your Resume Make Others Laugh At You? Or Pick The Phone And Call You?

Certain messages that convey the wrong statement!

Well, I am talking about an important issue – terms we use in our resume!
Please read through and see the common mistakes people make and leaves a bad impression over all… or at least make some one laugh at your profile…. Do you want to be the victim?

Examples: (Real ones I came across)

Title of resume: Ass for HR Manager

Meaning: Assistant for HR Manager
Why shortcuts and abbreviations that change the meaning??????
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Title: Sr. Qlty Ass Exe
Meaning: Senior Quality Assistant – Executive
What Quality of profile???
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Things that can damage ur image!

Profile: Fresher for Marketing
Achievements:
Won gold medal for Bangalore city level – musical chair game!!
(come on!! I dont gain anything by knowing you ran around a few chairs)

Profile: LSdyna and Ansys tool experienced candidate
Achivements: Winner for weight lifting under men (age group) and – with reference too.
(Fine - but how good are you with the tool?)

Profile: Sales executive
Achievement: Won prize for fancy dress competition in standard 5, 6 and 7 consecutively
(Grow up!)

Hobbies…. Guys please be careful on this.

I love collecting coins (Fine u r talking abt coin collection when u were young, but does not make sense on your resume…. Coin collecting??? Begging??? – My Head HR asked me this abt a candidate)

Collecting old things
(okay u meant antique collection??)

Sleeping
No ur resume is not the right place to mention this.


Jokes Apart –

A resume is something that conveys your career goals, achievements and talks about the Professional you! Be careful not to mention everything – no one wants to know everything. Write only things that would help you in presenting yourself for the job.

• Make sure you dont use abbreviations
• Reduce the word "I" and "me" - infact dont use these words
• Please mention only your professional achievements
• If you are a fresher - mention about your academic performance or your involvement in any college meets (highlighting the leadership role), or areas that people would be interested in knowing
• Avoid hobbies - no one likes to know if you sing or dance when you are free - if possible, they ask you to work even when you are free
• Dont have to write everything about you, keep it short and be very relevant to the position you have applied for

Take care!

Ash agreed with you, but hobbies can be anything; you just can't expect a candidate to post anything relevant to the job. Once in an interview, the HR manager told me bluntly that they were not interested in my hobbies when I had mentioned them.

Anyway, my hobbies are sleeping, chatting, and bird watching. :-P:-P

Dear Ravi,

I would say - don't mention your hobbies at all. Say it as other academic engagements. You could highlight all your extracurricular activities or awards you won in a project/paper presentation. That would help you.

It's not just me; I am sure a lot of recruiters out there who have the chance to source have come across such profiles.

For freshers - Inventory your skills by taking a look at the following:

- Educational institutions
- Relevant courses
- Projects and presentations
- Study abroad
- Paid work/on-campus jobs
- Volunteer work/community service
- On-campus activities / leadership
- Sports
- Internships
- Awards/honors
- Skills
- Interests

If others have something more interesting, please post the same. What are the resume blunders you come across?

Hi Asha,

I totally agree with you. A resume is the first point where you make your impression even before meeting the person, and such grave mistakes can be dangerous. Therefore, one should be very careful when making or editing a CV.

That was a good piece of information. When I was a recruiter, I came across a lot of profiles that sounded like gibberish. For example, some individuals went to the extent of mentioning hobbies such as playing with domesticated pets like pigeons, wife, kids, and cattle. One person even mentioned "thinking and simply sleeping" in the hobbies section.

When mentioning the email ID, please provide a formal one and not a bulk of 4 to 5 email IDs. We are not here to list the maximum number of IDs and conduct a competition. Let the ID be presented in a very professional and formal way. Avoid using numbers and names like James Bond007. For example: [Login to view].

Ensure that the resume does not look bulked up. When discussing accomplishments, focus only on the graduation and grown-up level. For postgraduate freshers, provide concise information about the projects they have completed.

Dear Ash,

Very well said. I completely agree with you. I have also come across such incidents where people come for an interview without having a resume!

Thank you.

If people are behaving like this, you should not arrange their interview because it shows they are not sincere and not very interested in the post. Only interview those persons whom you are really looking for.

Ash agrees with your point. Just one thing to add... Hobbies are not just leisure time activities; they could reflect more on the personality of the candidate. After all, interviews are not just to test your hard skills (relevant technical knowledge) but also about the soft skills (behavioral part, including the candidate's real self).

Thanks,
Kunal

Dear Asha,

I feel that hobbies are as important as work. It is the way one describes them that makes them helpful. Hobbies are a source of rejuvenation and bring energy to oneself. My hobby is reading, and I read management books. There is nothing wrong with it.

So, I would like to add that if one is asked to describe their hobbies, they should depict a positive frame of mind. Otherwise, it adds no value.

Regards,
Rahul Chhabra

"We don't lead by hitting on the head; that's an assault, not leadership."