Interview – Show

How to Write A Good Résumé

How to Write A Good Résumé
This helps you with a few tips about writing Cover Letter and a CV / Résumé and get you that job you want so badly!
Monday, March 24, 2003
How to Write a Good Résumé.

Hints, Pointers, and Tips ‘O the Trade
1. Don’t send your résumé as an attachment. People looking to fill a position can receive hundreds of inquiries, and they’re not going to bother to take the extra time to open and print out your résumé. Put your résumé in the body of the email, after your cover letter.

Writing Letters:
The résumé & the Application Letter gives the prospective employer everything they
Would like to know about you.

You need to format your résumé and Cover letter for the hard copy, which you may send.
1- While formatting leave adequate margins on all sides i.e., top bottom, left and right.
2 – The lay out should be neat and visually pleasing.
3 – The first block on the left of the letter would be the Employers Address.

A It would be better to call up the advertiser and get to know the name of the person who is to receive the letter. Check the spelling. Check it again read out aloud and confirm it. If you do not have a name, if the advertisement gives you no salutation, print ‘The Advertiser’ or ‘The Personnel Manager’.

The title of the employers name can be abbreviated like a Mr. Or Dr. If it is a woman you are addressing, use ’Ms’. Most of the other forms would be a Mrs. or a Miss.

It is a Ms. Laxmi and a Dr. Adam Wheavil and NOT Dr. Vinod Kumar MBBS.

Introduction:
You identify yourself, the position you are applying for and how you came to know about it.

Body:
You mention about your knowledge, your experience and your desire to work for the company and any of your knowledge about the company.

Conclusion:
You indicate the enclosed contents of the résumé and finish with a request.
You may also be proactive and inform that you would call back say in a week or ten days time to follow up your application. You request for an interview.

Ending

It is ideal to close the letter with ‘yours sincerely’ and ‘with regards’ / ‘warm regards’ ONLY when you know the employer.

Signature Block

You put your signature here. Ideally two lines below the ending of the letter. Beneath your signature your name should be printed legibly. Ideally with the first letters of your name in capitals e.g. A. Bill Gates but not Mr. A. Bill Gates. (You never introduce yourself with a Mr. / Ms / Dr. Etc.,)

Check the résumé for spelling mistakes before enclosing. The enclosure should be mentioned in the cover letter.

After your name leave two lines space and type : ‘Enclosure’. You may also type
‘Encl.:’ my résumé or simply résumé or append your name to it, to make it unique. Say for example if your name is Joe Bill, it would read, Joe Bill_résumé.

SAMPLE LETTER:

DATE

dd mmm yy

The date on which the letter was written.

ADDRESS:

The Advertiser (When no name is given) When a name is given Mr. / Ms. / Dr. /Prof. /)
The address in the advertisement.

Dear Sir / Madam

(You use this salutation when you or not aware of the gender of the person to whom you are addressing the letter.)

Sub: Application for the post of (mention the position you are seeking)

This letter is with reference to your advertisement
(NEVER USE THE ABBREVIATIONS) in the mention the name of the publication, and the date
(for e.g ‘The Hindu’, dated 15th August 2003.) I would like to apply (mention the position).

(This paragraph mentions about personality, character attributes that would suit the position you are applying for. These are the qualities that you wouldn’t able to mention in your RÉSUMÉ apart from others. Here you may mention that your résumé is enclosed).

I have ………………………. about ………………as mentioned in my résumé which is enclosed

Kindly give me a chance to present myself for an interview. I am looking forward to an early and positive response from you.

Yours sincerely,

(leave at least five lines space.)

Your signature.

(Your name)

Encl.: Résumé .

A résumé is a document that describes you, your background and the career your seeking
To excel in. This is THE document that creates the first impression of you on the prospective employer.

 try to get to know about the organization.
 Its services / products.
 Avoid length descriptions.
 Combine your knowledge with the experience required by the organization.
 Put it chronologically.
 Mention what ‘YOU’ did for the previous company or the present company with which you are employed NOT what ‘WE’ did.
 Use action words.
 Check your gramar.
 Check your spling.
 Take second opinions.

Résumé should mention your

 Personal Details
 Educational Achievements
 Work Experience
 Additional Skills and any Training
 Extra curricular interests and hobbies

Résumé
(This is to be printed in capital letters and center aligned. Ideally all the heading should be in bold letters.)

Leave three blank line spaces. But should not be less than two lines.

Name: *Start here and align the consequent text to
this margin.
Age: *Leave double / triple line spacing between
Headings. Keep it uniform.

Date of Birth:

Address: 123, abc apts
456, road
Area
City – Pincode (123 456) or zip code in some countries or postal code in some other countries.
State / provice

Telephone No: 91+ (Std Code) 1234 56 78

Academic Qualification:

Degree / Course Year of Passing Percentage

Degree 1999

HSC 1996

SSC 1994

Technical Qualifications
(Mention different h/w and s/w platforms.)

Work Experience:
Interests:

*
*

You can mail me at:

Email Id: the.achievers+résumé AT gmail DOT com
While the help that is offered here is free it would be appreciated if you could acknowledge the use of this material.

How to Write A Good Résumé

This is the full text of the interview in ENGLISH with Malcolm H Wagget, Chief Operating Officer, HSBC Global Resourcing- South Asia, that was published in DIKSUCHI, a book supplement of Andhrajyothy, a Telugu Daily News Paper, on 28th February, 2006.

This is to help those of my column readers who would like to get the original interview in English.

* Work force is now expected to be more skill savvy, knowledge dependent. There seems to be a lot of activity in hiring for the Finance and Banking Industry. Is HSBC looking into this? If so, why and if NOT why not?

– HSBC Global Resourcing is actively involved in recruiting for its businesses to cater to its customers. We have successful operations in all the cities in India that we operate at viz., Hyderabad, Bangalore, Vizag and Kolkata. One of the things that worked for us is our close association with educational institutions and government bodies to develop skills and knowledge of applicants in the Banking and Financial Services Industry.

* What are the basic / fundamental skill sets that HSBC is looking for in the potential employee?

– For a potential entry level employee, HSBC looks at the following skills and qualifications:
i. Excellent communication skills in English
ii. Ability to interpret and handle complex numerical data
iii. Strong customer service orientation
iv. Excellent interpersonal skills
v. Negotiation skills
vi. Good Keyboard skills
vii. Flexibility to work in shifts
viii. A 12th pass or graduation certificate

* Do / are the aspirants meeting the challenges when offered a position with the corporate entity?

– Upon joining HSBC all new employees undergo a comprehensive training to understand the job requirements and gain the skills required, they are also given support while they are new on the job. This enables the employees to meet the challenges of a position they are recruited for.

* Are they helping your productivity?

– During the training period all employees are trained to perform to an expected level of customer delight, which not only helps the employees maintain emphasis on productivity but also on quality.

* Is HSBC looking at Freshers?

– Diversity has always been a key element of HSBCÂs people Strategy. At HSBC Global Resourcing, we look at a diversified set of skills and age groups. It is interesting to note that in the entry-level while we recruit candidates with less than 2 years of experience, we also have a considerable number of employees above 30 years of age.

* Is it just plain academic brilliance, excellent people skills or a mix of both- if so could you be more specific

– In todayÂs competitive employment market one cannot succeed with just one or two skills. While recruiting for HSBC, we look at an array of skill-sets along with a high level of general aptitude in all the candidates. Good customer service skills, ability to work well with a team and pro-activeness are some of the facets we look for in a potential employee.

* When the aspirant or the job seeker doesn’t have the access to these so called life skills (soft skills like – communication, presentation, leadership skills in addition to the academic excellence what do the corporate entities do?

– Learning is an ongoing aspect at HSBC Global Resourcing. We have a state-of-the-art Learning & Development Centre with a well-experienced training team. Employees are provided with opportunities to develop their communication, leadership, presentation anbehavioralal abilities along with technical training about their job-role.

* Presuming that the applicant gets into HSBC, does it upgrade her skills?

– HSBC recognises the importance of a trained workforce in order to meet change positively and seize opportunities for success. We are wholeheartedly committed to the development of a learning culture and training is at the forefront of many of our strategic initiatives. We therefore encourage each individual to consider the benefits of being involved in some form of learning, either to build on their strengths or work on their development areas.
– Apart from the traditional medium like classroom training, we continue to provide alternatives and are moving towards solutions that offer full training programmes using a variety of blended media including e-Learning through the intranet.

* What are these skills that HSBC feels that the applicant is lacking?

Could you be more specific like at the entry level, and @ the middle level managements?

– When we talk about the ITeS industry, proficiency in English is one of the key skills required. Though generally speaking, Indians have considerably good English speaking skills, we could do with some improvement especially at the entry-level.

* Could you, yourself, in a few words tell us about what the situation was say a five years ago in

your own domain?
– We are happy to note that the outsourcing industry in India has reached a certain level of maturity today, than about five years ago. Awareness has been created about the industry in different tier cities and more and more young individuals are choosing the industry as a career choice today.

* Where do you think it would be, say three years hence? What could be the basic / fundamental

needs of entities in your own field at that point of time?
– According to an analyst report by the year 2008, the Indian ICT services and back office work is expected to swell five-fold to a $57 billion employing 4 million people and accounting for 7 percent of IndiaÂs gross domestic product.
– There will certainly be a greater need for ready to employ talent in the market. However, fundamental needs will be to focus on Talent Attraction, Acquisition, Development and Retention.

* What is HSBC’S contribution to the society in this regard and what is your advice to the job

seekers & Freshers in particular?
– When we talk about the ITeS industry, proficiency in English is one of the key skills required. Though generally speaking, Indians have considerably good English speaking skills, we could do with some improvement especially at the entry-level. We are also faced with such situations more than often. We are glad to inform you about the imminent launch of HSBC Global ResourcingÂs English Language Development Program, which will cater to the youth who wish to enhance their Spoken English skills and brighten their prospects of employment in HSBC or in the ITeS industry as a whole.

– HSBC is also working in close association with NASSCOM and APSCHE for supporting initiatives on Industry awareness and curriculum changes to be able to nurture a greater talent pool

– We would advice job seekers and Freshers who are aiming for this industry to focus on the key requirements of the job and develop their skills accordingly.