The Importance of a Resume

The resume acts as a bridge between you and the prospective recruiter. Hence the importance of a resume can never be underestimated. So, to make the first impression, it is imperative that your resume stands out from the crowd first.

It is up to you how do you want to be remembered by the hiring manager? Since companies do not have that much amount of time to interview each and every candidate, they require resumes from candidate to select the best ones to work with them.

Rejection happens, and it goes on and on until they find something interesting in one particular resume. This is the time when a well-structured, clean and precise resume plays its part.

You might be thinking why is it so important to have a resume? Let’s find out:

• Resume reaches the recruiter’s table much before than you do: Yes, before you reach recruiter’s office, your resume does so. Generally, every company asks for your resume first, they go through the work that you have done so far and if it matches their requirement, thumbs up!

  So, a well-written resume does half of the work for you here only. Hence it is very much important to have a structured and concise resume to make the first impression work for you.

• Resume tells about you: A resume speaks a great deal about you as a professional. It says what you have done in the past. What are you doing currently and where exactly you are heading towards?

  Just imagine a small piece of paper talks so much about you including past, present, and future. Doesn’t that sound amazing? But remember this story of past, present and future needs to be conveyed quickly, else they will lose interest. So, this job of telling a short story can be little tricky. Hence you might need help in drafting your resume by professionals.

• To convince that you are the one: You must be thinking that it is easy for you to convince the recruiter that you are the most suitable candidate for the vacant position. But that will only be possible when you are there for face to face round.

  Before you appear for the face to face interview, your resume would convince them first that you are the most eligible candidate for the position offered or not. Now you must have understood what important role does a resume play for you.

• To sell your skills: Through a well-written resume, you can sell the skills which you have accumulated over these years. You can let the recruiter know what all skills that you have acquired through different jobs and how you are going to utilize them for the betterment of the prospective organization. This is exactly what recruiter need to know now-a-days. They want to know in which way your skills will prove beneficial for their organization. And if your resume is successful in telling them so, the purpose is served.

• To grab an interview: Unless and until your Dad or a very close relative owns a company, where you can easily join without much ado, you are surely going to need a good resume. And ultimately the purpose of the resume is to get an interview. And writing a resume is the first step towards that direction. So, do not ignore the importance of writing a good resume.

• To Brand Yourself: It is very essential to create your own brand in this professional world and this journey starts right after your college and studies. When you enter a professional world to work, it is essential that from the very first day you have to set things right.

  To showcase your knowledge, your skills, experience, expertise, and accomplishments, it is necessary to have a perfectly written resume which can portray you as a good professional or a budding professional who is ready to face this challenging world.

• Quick but lasting first impression: You must have heard of the saying that the first impression is the last impression. It goes well with the resume as well. In the bulk of the resumes, if one resume stands out and it gives a feeling that yes, this is the one, then working hard on your resume is worth it. The recruiter would likely ignore the resume which is text heavy and difficult to read. So, you now get the point what your resume should NOT look like. Try to keep it simple, easy to read and easy to understand.

• Summarize your career aspiration: A good resume recapitulates your career so well that recruiters do not need to put in the hard effort just to scan and go through your resume in details to understand your profile. So, make sure that the summary section of your resume is robust enough to give a good glimpse of your whole career in short.

  For those who have no work experience so far and applying as a fresher, it is suggested that they talk about their projects, internships, industrial visits, trainings and additional value-added course in the summary section, so that even if a recruiter chooses not to go through the entire detailed resume, at least the summary section will be good enough for him to understand and gauge your worth as a candidate.

• To show your achievements: You cannot wait for the recruiter to call you to know about your career history and accomplishments so far. That sound something like you have not written and posted the letter to your friend, and you are expecting him/her to understand your feeling/situation. So, it is imperative to write a good resume to showcase your achievements to tell your success story so far.

• Just resume: While looking for a job, it is essential to have a good resume but make sure it is just the resume. Do not make it so fancy or full of jargons to make it cumbersome for a recruiter to read. And also one thing you need to keep in mind that when you are sending your resume to a recruiter, send the resume only or at the most attach the cover letter. Do not include or attach a letter of recommendations, copies of your education mark sheets, reference letter or anything else unless this is asked for.

• Your are sure of your work: Many a time it happens that we plan and execute something, even be successful in our endeavor, but after sometime, may be a year or so, we tend to forget those. We see the current challenges and try to cope up with them.

  So, if you have a good resume, you will remember each and everything you have done and achieved in your professional career. It will happen if you keep updating your resume whenever you change a job and join a new company, whenever you get a new role, a new project, a new team to handle.

  Take a note when the company is rewarding you for your work. That does not mean that you make your resume, a daily diary, just keep note of the important happenings in your professional front. And you can always edit your resume keeping the master copy with you. And remember even the greatest writer in the literary world need the help of the editor. You can read it, re-read it, proofread it ten times, but it is always good to take a second opinion.

A professional writer would understand your requirement, evaluate your work history, validate your educational background and articulate it in a better manner. So, there is no harm in taking professional help in making your resume a perfect one.

Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

The article is Written By “Prachi Juneja” and Reviewed By Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. We are a ISO 2001:2015 Certified Education Provider. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.