A winning resume for gunning a dream job………..

A wining resume is the best weapon you can have in your arsenal for a successful job search.

How to craft a winning resume?

There are some extraordinary articles written by experts on this subject. This article presumes that the readers have read and are aware of the basics. This article goes beyond the basics and generics and focuses on the specifics related to job search in Asia region. If you are in west, some of the things mentioned may not be applicable.

The difference between West and Asia is, where as in west, it is recession ridden business environment where survival and staying out of the firing line is the job priority, where as in Asia which has two of the fastest growing economies, India, & China, and one of the biggest Japan The resume and job application should aim at objectives beyond getting a job.  It should make a statement that you are ideal case to be counted for succession management. It should also give an impression that you are fast in changing gears, and cope with the Positive Change Management Strategies. Positive change I have to stress, because, post recession, it has acquired a new meaning. It relates to cost cutting, managing with less resources, and all the negatives you can think off. In Asia it means growth management as has been shown by Japan, Korea, and now India & China. Indian Management style and Indian Leadership are now much discussed topics in leading B School. In such a circumstance, how can a resume, structured by the western experts for western job be applicable for Asia.

There is nothing called standard resume which can be used for all job requirement. Each job has a very specific requirement, technical knowledge, work culture, language, loyalty metrics, behavior pattern, leadership qualities, Corporate Social Responsibilities. You need to factor your resume according to these requirements for each job. You need to craft a separate resume for each job. The resume should be short not more than two to three pages. If you need to give details of the projects handled create separate files and attach them. You can also attach a power point presentation detailing how you could impact their bottom lines positively. The advantage of this is that, during interview the discussions will center on these documents and you can confidently answer questions and   score points.

How to go about it?

You have to prepare a master resume (This doesn’t go to the employer.)Make it as expansive and detailed as possible. It may go up to ten, twelve, or more pages. This is ware house and from here you can draw your inputs craft customized resumes for each job.

Please keep all your appointment orders, appreciation letters, and testimonials ready. Please also jot down all details about your deliveries at various levels in different companies.

Please note your failures and how you recovered from them, learned from them, made dramatic come backs and delivered extraordinarily. Mentioning a few failures in the early part of your career make your successes in the later part of the career looks more credible.

Make a hierarchical chart describing growth and the contributing factors for it. Write honest reasons for staying or not staying longer with company. Try to justify your stagnation periods.

Similarly make a monetary chart underlining growth and reasons. If you have made lateral shifts in the career, please be ready with the justifications and reasons.

If there are terminations in service, try to find honest reasons and justifications. Employers take terminations more seriously in Asia than in west.

Please gather details about community activities, social service and CSR work during your studies or employment.

Language and demographics:  It helps to know more languages as the interactions with the workers are generally in the native local language. Knowledge about demographics gives you inkling about their behavior patterns and helps you to handle workers better. And also gives the prospective employer the confidence that you would be able to handle the manpower diligently and intelligently.

Mention how you managed emotional conflicts among your tem members, or with your immediate manager. If you are fresh out of the college, you can mention how you tackled crisis situation with your colleagues or the teaching staff.

Next you should mention personal & family details, your education, your achievements, and accomplishments in sports, cultural,& social activities.

Now that your master resume is ready, you need to research and analyze each of your prospective employers. Whether it s family organization or professionally managed organization what are the values they are looking for, if you know what they are looking for, you can craft your resume to detail the attribute they are looking for  and just mention the other ones.

Some organization will look for family values, environment where you have grown. How long you stick with your jobs. How much your performance has encouraged retention rather than attrition in your jobs.  How you have worked for the developing and encouraging leadership and entrepreneurial qualities in the people reporting to you. W Mention the situations where you have allowed diligence, controlled discretion, and your ability to manage crisis & resolve problems.

Some organization will concentrate on professionally deliverables. They will not mind a little attrition for achieving high growth curve. They will see how fast you have grown in your profession. They will also be interested in your money curve. For such organizations concentrate  on3deliveries and professional aspects only.

Your technical attributes have to match the requirements of the prospective organization. Your expertise in a programme they are not using is of no consequence; instead give detailed information about the small knowledge you have about the programmes or software they are using. However you can detail points which show you as a fast learner with high degree of adaptability.

Once you know what an organization requires or what is relevant for them, take it from your master and include it in your crafted resume.

Include some discussion buttons in the form of bullet points.  This will include information about your work attributes and achievements and would create curiosity and trigger discussion during interview. It would give an opportunity for you to give more information, and convince them better. Each button should not be more than one line.

Make your duties look like accomplishments

You often hear that your resume should list your accomplishments, and not you job duties. And it’s true—accomplishment statements are the best way to showcase the amazing things you’ve done at your past jobs, plus show prospective employers what you can do for them. Your list of weekly assignments?  Not so much.

So, why do the majority of resumes out there still look like job descriptions? Well, because turning job duties into accomplishments is a tough concept to grasp. But once you get it—I promise, you’ll have smooth sailing in your career. So grab your resume, and sit down with our step-by-step guide to ditching the duties and making those bullet points sing your praises.

1. Know the Difference

Plain and simple, a duty describes what you did and an accomplishment describes how well you did it. For example, “planned events” would be considered a job duty, whereas, “raised Rs.5, 00,000 by selling out tickets to a 200-person charity event” is an accomplishment.

Why is this so important? You want to tell the person reading your resume something He/she doesn’t already know. For the most part, hiring managers will understand what duties are associated with your job titles. It’s common knowledge that, for example, an Executive Assistant will answer phones, manage files, and provide customer service. On the other hand, by including accomplishments, you paint a picture of your abilities—one that will sell yourself.

So now that you understand the difference, how do you make the change?

2. Make a List

Get started by compiling a list of all the things that set you apart. For each of the positions on your resume, ask yourself the following:

• What did I do that was above and beyond my normal job duties?
• How did I stand out among other employees?
• Was I ever recognized by a supervisor for a job well done? When and why?
• Did I win any awards or accolades?
• What new processes did I implement to improve things?
• What problems did I solve?
• Did I ever consistently meet or exceed goals or quotas?
• Did I save the company money?
• What made me really great at my job?

3. Paint the Picture with Numbers

Then, take your list, and add in as many facts, figures, and numbers as you can. How many people were impacted by your work? By what percentage did you exceed your goals? Instead of saying you effectively managed a budget, list how much money you managed, and how much money you saved.

By quantifying your accomplishments, you not only make them easier to understand, you really allow the hiring manager to picture the level of work or responsibility you needed to achieve this accomplishment.

4. Add the Benefit

Then, take each statement one step further and add in what the benefit was to your boss or your company. By doing this, you clearly communicate not only what you’re capable of, but also the direct benefit the employer will receive by hiring you. And let’s face it, everyone wants to know what’s in it for them!

So, say you have “created 20 client reports each month” on your list. Instead, write something like “created and prepared 20 weekly and monthly status reports to ensure clients consistently received timely and complete information.” Reading that, a hiring manager will automatically see that, if she hires you, you’ll be able to develop ways to provide great service to their clients. When you include the benefit, you more effectively sell the tangible things you can bring to the company.

A resume full of accomplishments is the best way to show off what you can do and set you up for your next success: landing a great new job.

Warning

Your resume should be strictly need based and should have information related to job and organization requirements.

 It is always better to be honest with your information. That will allow you to be relaxed in the interview as honesty does not need any defending. 

If your attributes do not match job requirements, it is better not to send your job application. There is no point piling up rejections .rejections result in dejections and may negatively impact you preparation for other job where you have better chances.    

If you are not satisfied with the position, pay and perks offered, do not apply for the job. It would   result   in permanently shutting a door on you, and may influence other doors also.   

Conclusion

Finally I would like to state that resume only helps to mirror your abilities, it cannot create them. Your high aspirations should be always be backed by past performance. In case you are able to secure a job with structure of resume, do write to me. So that it would be an encouragement to others. Please do not send the resume to me, I do not have the time to critique and evaluate individual resume.   In case you already have a winning resume that has successfully got you jobs stick with it. You don’t need to change. In case your organization or education institution wants me to conduct a workshop on this subject, as per my availability I can travel anywhere in India and conduct workshops on this subject.

Best wishes, for your next job,

Shyam

Shyamsunder Panchavati 

Please also read my wikiHow article.

How to Craft a Winning Resume for Jobs in Asia