Streamline your resume

This post came out from The Straits Times (26 March 2016)
Title - Streamline your resume

Some pointers that I've got are:
1. Think before you write
2. Include a well taken studio photograph
3. Customise your cover letter and resume
4. Sell your skills and experience
5. Use a professional email address
6. Make your resume appealing
7. Sum up each job scope effectively
8. Show your personality
9. Highlight your achievements
10. Keyword-proof your resume

On Think before you write

• Be focused about what you want to convey in your application. Which are the key areas which would be more pertinent to the hiring manager? Frame this in your mind before you start any writing.

On Include a well-taken studio photograph

• This makes your profile much more memorable

On Customise your cover letter and resume

• A resume must include the type of information that employers want to see and read. Show they that you have done research on the company and have understood their most pressing challenges. Targeted, customised cover letters always get read by the hiring manager

On Sell your skills and experience

• Experienced workers should remember a resume is an advertising tool or sales brochure to sell themselves, instead of writing resumes or CVs in response to job postings. 
• Make it obvious that you are the perfect candidate. Highlight your relevant skills by tailoring your executive summary and content to fit the position. 

On Use a professional e-mail address

• Set up an email address that is as professional as the business you will conduct through it.

On Make your resume appealing

• Too many jobsekers will stick to the same Microsoft Word document template they used a decade ago. Having a well formatted resume show you have put in effort. But avoid using hard to read fonts or making your resume too colourful.

On Sum up each job scope effectively

• A recruiter or human resource manager reading your resume should know, in one line, exactly who you are and what you do, and why they should keep reading. This applies to both your executive summary, and each of your job scopes.

On Show your personality

• If your resume is ordinary, it is likely to be cast aside. Employers want to hire a person, not just someone to fill a position.

On Highlight your achievements

• Accomplishments should be presented as: Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z]

On Keyword-proof your resume

• To get past the initial round of resume screening conducted by automated robots which scan for keywords in the applicant's resume, applicants need to identify and use the right keywords in their resumes. 

Yours,
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