Recession is a new age word which terrifies almost everyone who is mainly a part of the service sector, especially when you realize that you never saw it coming. Although you cannot imagine yourself to be the next target, you need to be realistic in your approach and think without getting overtly emotional. This does not mean you start hunting for alternate jobs right away. Instead, what you can do is take little steps in the right direction.The fi rst thing you can start with is updation of your résumé. You may not have paid any attention to it in a long time, and hence it may need many fixes. Making a résumé from scratch, at times might be easier than fi xing one created ages ago. If you keep a few essential must-does in mind, the process can get very easy and you can be armed with an impressive résumé in no time at all! Let us guide you through some tools which may come in handy.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BIODATA, A CV AND A RÉSUMÉ
Although the words are used in the same context, they serve very diff erent purpose. A bio-data is typically useful if you intend to show your lineage, family history or personal background. A bio-data typically has a pass-port size picture of the applicant followed by his name, his father's name, nationality, father's occupation, date of birth, followed by education details in tabular form. This format is very ideal for a marriage proposal, not for a job profi le. A CV, on the other hand is, a detailed chronology of professional experience. CV is an acronym for curriculum vitae is usually over two pages long and at times even contains samples of the applicant's work.The CV is a preferred job application format in the United States, Canada, and some European nations. It is usually advisable to submit your CV when you are not applying for any specific position in the company and would prefer any openings that suit your profile.
CV's are considered ideal for people who have published work and wish to enter the educational or academic field.
A résumé also spelt as resumé or resume is a concise summary of events your work experience. A résumé is considered to be a marketing tool which is to be used if you have a specifi c position to apply in a company. In an ideal résumé, career objectives and work history are given more importance and visibility than academic qualifi cation. It is more about where you worked than about what you did. It's a very nice technique to market yourself especially if you are a part of the middle or senior management and have worked for stably long periods with good organizations.
CV's are considered ideal for people who have published work and wish to enter the educational or academic field.
A résumé also spelt as resumé or resume is a concise summary of events your work experience. A résumé is considered to be a marketing tool which is to be used if you have a specifi c position to apply in a company. In an ideal résumé, career objectives and work history are given more importance and visibility than academic qualifi cation. It is more about where you worked than about what you did. It's a very nice technique to market yourself especially if you are a part of the middle or senior management and have worked for stably long periods with good organizations.
GOING ONLINE
There are several online options available to create a basic résumé absolutely free of cost. Some such web services include the "resumizer" and the "emurse". To use the resumizer, you can visit http: //resumizer. com/resume_creator. htm. The website is extremely user friendly and easy to use. The other notable features on the website are the covering letter and references page formats which can be used to enhance your resume. These formats are quite preliminary in approach, and hence you may require using alternative solutions to build a more constructive resume. Moreover, if you try to save an editable version of your online resume, it is saved as
a webpage. You can copy-pasted the contents on a word document to create a local copy or your résumé, covering letter and reference list.
Alternatively, you can use the emurse. Visit www. emurse. com/resume/content to create your résumé. Just like the resumizer, the website is equally easy to use. But emurse scores over the resumizer because of its customization options. Moreover, you can save the copy of your résumé locally on your computer as a MS Word document, an OpenDocument, an HTML page,
a PDF, a Rich Text Format or a plain text document as per your requirements.
You can navigate to the design page to change the layout of your résumé. The emurse web service, however, does not provide additional services like the resumizer does. Also, you are required to create a login for the website before you can start using its services.
a webpage. You can copy-pasted the contents on a word document to create a local copy or your résumé, covering letter and reference list.
Alternatively, you can use the emurse. Visit www. emurse. com/resume/content to create your résumé. Just like the resumizer, the website is equally easy to use. But emurse scores over the resumizer because of its customization options. Moreover, you can save the copy of your résumé locally on your computer as a MS Word document, an OpenDocument, an HTML page,
a PDF, a Rich Text Format or a plain text document as per your requirements.
You can navigate to the design page to change the layout of your résumé. The emurse web service, however, does not provide additional services like the resumizer does. Also, you are required to create a login for the website before you can start using its services.
THE WORD WIZARD
The MS-Offi ce Word has been an international favorite for creating résumés, curriculum vitae and bio-data for a long time now. The newer versions of the application suite provides additional support in terms of tips and pre-created templates. If you use Word versions 97-2003, or XP, you can use the "Resume Wizard" to guide you to create your résumé through the "File |
New | Templates" menu option. You can visit http:// offi ce.microsoft.com/en-us/templates and click the "Resumes and CVs" category. Here, you can browse
for a résumé format on the basis of your requirement. It is advisable to use Internet Explorer for browsing the offi ce sites, as none of the other browsers support ActiveX components like the Internet Explorer.
This task gets easier, if you are using Word 2007. Open a Word 2007 document, and click the "Office" button. Click "New" and browse through the "Microsoft Office Online" templates in the left-side panel of the "New Document" dialog box. Select the "Resumes and CV" category. You will fi nd the same subsections like that on the website. You will however, be required to validate the genuineness of the Office 2007 application suite if you download templates contributed by the Microsoft community, either through the Word 2007 application or the website itself.
New | Templates" menu option. You can visit http:// offi ce.microsoft.com/en-us/templates and click the "Resumes and CVs" category. Here, you can browse
for a résumé format on the basis of your requirement. It is advisable to use Internet Explorer for browsing the offi ce sites, as none of the other browsers support ActiveX components like the Internet Explorer.
This task gets easier, if you are using Word 2007. Open a Word 2007 document, and click the "Office" button. Click "New" and browse through the "Microsoft Office Online" templates in the left-side panel of the "New Document" dialog box. Select the "Resumes and CV" category. You will fi nd the same subsections like that on the website. You will however, be required to validate the genuineness of the Office 2007 application suite if you download templates contributed by the Microsoft community, either through the Word 2007 application or the website itself.
USING THE RIGHT APPLICATIONS
If you are still unable to get the desired results from your resume, you can use tools available across the Internet. Some of these tools cost quiet a lot and come with limited trial period. But the biggest hindrance in using a resume creator tool is that most of them save files in formats which cannot be read by any word-processor. Let us take a look at some of these applications in more detail.
THE RESUME BUILDER 4.8:
The Resume Builder 4.8 is a comprehensive and easy to use tool, which enables you to create very professional yet to-the-point resumes which will enable you to achieve the full attention of your target organization. You can visit www. sarmsoft . com/product/ resume builder to download a trial version of the application. All the features are available to you for use during the trial period and you can use the application for up to 14 days after installation with registering for the serial key. Although a résumé file created in the application is saved in the *.rb4 format, you can however export the file as HTML, HR-XML, Microsoft Word or Text Format files. You can even export your completed resume to be uploaded via FTP servers, so sent to your saved
contacts using an SMTP connection. The application provides you over 30 diff erent résumé styles to choose from. Also, you can attach your picture to your resume and add sections and sub-sections of your choice, as per the requirements of your job profi le. The
application however does not provide you with any assistance to create a covering letter or a references list for your résumé.
The Resume Builder 4.8 is a comprehensive and easy to use tool, which enables you to create very professional yet to-the-point resumes which will enable you to achieve the full attention of your target organization. You can visit www. sarmsoft . com/product/ resume builder to download a trial version of the application. All the features are available to you for use during the trial period and you can use the application for up to 14 days after installation with registering for the serial key. Although a résumé file created in the application is saved in the *.rb4 format, you can however export the file as HTML, HR-XML, Microsoft Word or Text Format files. You can even export your completed resume to be uploaded via FTP servers, so sent to your saved
contacts using an SMTP connection. The application provides you over 30 diff erent résumé styles to choose from. Also, you can attach your picture to your resume and add sections and sub-sections of your choice, as per the requirements of your job profi le. The
application however does not provide you with any assistance to create a covering letter or a references list for your résumé.
THE RESUMEMAKER PROFESSIONAL:
The “ResumeMaker Professional v14” is a neither a freeware nor a shareware application. You will have to purchase the application in order to use it. But the application is well worth your time. You can visit www. individualsoftware.com/software/resume_career_
development/resumemaker_professional to purchase the latest version (v15).
The software provides essential features like contact manager with mail merge facility, and free
professional fonts, just to name a few. The application not only helps you to create your not only a well guided résumé, but also a host of other important résumé accessories like a covering letters, list of references and addendum to your résumé. You can also make a job portfolio which collates your resume, covering letter, list of references and resume addendum into one PDF fi le. The application provides documents samples and expert tips as per your needs.
You can save your résumé in the application format (*.rmr fi le) or as a MS Word document (both the *.doc and the *.docx formats), the Rich Text Format (*.rtf), ASCII Text (*.txt), Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf) or a Web Page (.html).
THINGS TO REMEMBER WHILE DRAFTING
You should not add personal details like your age, date of birth, gender, marital status, number of dependents or health status for legal reasons. Such details may be a cause of discrimination.
A cover letter adds more genuineness to your résumé. Create a covering letter especially if you choose to omit the "Objective" section, which is ideal if you are applying for specific positions in an organization.
While filling academic details, be concise. Include details such as course name,program/degrees completed along with graduation dates which may be optional, unless you are applying as a fresher.
Details like work experience and academics should appear in the reverse chronology, i.e. mention the most recent details at the beginning itself.
When you are applying for a specific position, tweak your résumé details accordingly. You may keep different versions of your résumé for different target industries.
Keep your résumé up to two pages or less. Ensure the spacing is adequate and you have highlighted key words.
Keep separate addendum for key sections such as list of articles written, detailed job specifications and references etc.
Use action words effectively instead of phrases like "was responsible for" or "duties included" to make your résumé more vibrant. Some of the commonly used action words include led, achieved, arranged, accomplished, guided, facilitated, etc.
development/resumemaker_professional to purchase the latest version (v15).
The software provides essential features like contact manager with mail merge facility, and free
professional fonts, just to name a few. The application not only helps you to create your not only a well guided résumé, but also a host of other important résumé accessories like a covering letters, list of references and addendum to your résumé. You can also make a job portfolio which collates your resume, covering letter, list of references and resume addendum into one PDF fi le. The application provides documents samples and expert tips as per your needs.
You can save your résumé in the application format (*.rmr fi le) or as a MS Word document (both the *.doc and the *.docx formats), the Rich Text Format (*.rtf), ASCII Text (*.txt), Adobe Acrobat (*.pdf) or a Web Page (.html).
THINGS TO REMEMBER WHILE DRAFTING
You should not add personal details like your age, date of birth, gender, marital status, number of dependents or health status for legal reasons. Such details may be a cause of discrimination.
A cover letter adds more genuineness to your résumé. Create a covering letter especially if you choose to omit the "Objective" section, which is ideal if you are applying for specific positions in an organization.
While filling academic details, be concise. Include details such as course name,program/degrees completed along with graduation dates which may be optional, unless you are applying as a fresher.
Details like work experience and academics should appear in the reverse chronology, i.e. mention the most recent details at the beginning itself.
When you are applying for a specific position, tweak your résumé details accordingly. You may keep different versions of your résumé for different target industries.
Keep your résumé up to two pages or less. Ensure the spacing is adequate and you have highlighted key words.
Keep separate addendum for key sections such as list of articles written, detailed job specifications and references etc.
Use action words effectively instead of phrases like "was responsible for" or "duties included" to make your résumé more vibrant. Some of the commonly used action words include led, achieved, arranged, accomplished, guided, facilitated, etc.
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