Characteristics of Good Resume
Resume describes one’s education, employment experience and other personal data. It can be defined as a written declaration that includes a person’s personal data, education, and employment background etc. A successful resume inspires a prospective employer to employ the resume holder. An ideal resume should posses the following features/qualities:
Honesty: An effective resume should always include accurate information. It should be free from exaggeration and false information.
Cleanliness: Employer gets a primary impression about the job applicant from the appearance of the resume. It indicates the carefulness and eagerness of the applicant towards the job. Therefore, the resume should be neat, clean, and attractive. Its attractiveness depends on clear typing or writing, layout of the writing, quality of papers, necessary margin, etc.
Full disclosure: An accurate and effective resume gives detailed information about the applicant. The related information includes identifying information, career, or job objective, educational background, work experience, references etc. Without full disclosure of these facts, employer cannot evaluate a resume.
Brevity: Resume should be concise in nature. Inclusion of unnecessary information or repetition of information may irritate the employer.
Appropriate format: Resume can be drafted in three different formats such as chronological format, functional format, and combination of chronological and functional format. Selection of format depends on nature of information to be included in the resume. Selection of an appropriate format for particular information will obviously enhance its acceptability and appeal.
Updated information: A good resume always contains updated information. Resume is the only information sheet that an employer has in determining whether to call the applicant in the interview. Therefore, the resume should be updated including new skills, experiences, and abilities.
