The old is no longer gold.
The name, address and phone number at the top, the date on the left side, followed by a chronological order of education, work experience, and certain personal information such as date of birth, name of guardian, etc. This is what a summary of the bygone era looked like. Resumes are our identity on paper. With such a resume in hand, the chances of you getting that elusive call from the potential employer are pretty slim.
Renewing Identity
Over the past decade, resume writing has undergone a major overhaul. A resume has evolved from an informational document to a marketing document. Every candidate for a job wants to differentiate himself from the competition and with the emergence of new trends in the writing of resumes; New ways of achieving this differentiation have emerged. In new style resumes, the focus is primarily on your professional background so that the company has a fair idea of the value you can add to its processes.
The beginnings
While details like name and address are still at the top of the page, what follows below is not the traditional sequential order of your personal details, work experience, education, etc. A professional writer today, as a widely followed practice, would include summarizing the candidate’s skills and accomplishments, followed by experience in certain areas. This is where the marketing skills of the resume writer come to the fore. Cleverly shaping an individual’s skill set into marketable attributes is a writer’s way of trying to differentiate the candidate from the competition.
When we talk about starting a CV, a big change that has been observed is the absence of ‘objective’ statements. Factual statements are seen more or less as a waste of space as they can be a very clichéd set of lines that in no way shed light on the caliber and skills of the prospective candidate. In this age, it’s all about getting to the point without wasting time.
Elaborate work experience
When it comes to work experience, we just don’t * mention * our work experience by the conventional method. The current practice of writing about work experience involves including all the highlights of the season at a certain employer. Emphasis is placed on how that person participated in the growth of that company. Work experience is described by mentioning the roles that the individual played with each employer at all levels of management.
Highlighting professional highlights
One thing that has apparently remained constant is the professional or academic achievement section. This section is particularly critical in case it is more recent, as employers are always looking to judge a candidate beyond their grade sheets. Education and other certifications follow in chronological order, while hobbies, which took up space quite gratuitously on older resumes, are dropped.
Social media connection
Social media has become our new direction. Although it is not mandatory, mentioning your Facebook or LinkedIn address on your resume gives transparency to your profile and opens new doors to opportunities, helping you to establish professional contacts.
Resumes are taking notice of the latest trends and market requirements. They are created to position candidates as viable and up-to-date personnel for a position. And for people who are still clinging to conventional ways of creating their resume, it’s time to catch up.