The first step to getting a great job is ‘resume writing’. Make sure it is authentic, reflects who you are and is unique to you.  One thing that we need to keep in mind while preparing our resume is “don’t simply write your resume, build it!”.

In these days of increasing competition, where there are hundreds of similar resumes as yours, how do you differentiate yourself from others?

Do not ever write what you are not! Even if you get shortlisted, you will face an uphill task to stand up to your resume during the interview stage!

Here are some tips to build your resume:

1. First, decide the roles that you target. Usually, it can be more than one so as to improve the chances of getting a job.

2. Thoroughly understand what those roles call for in terms of qualifications, competence and experience.

3. Reflect clearly how close or far is your current profile to the job requirements. In some way, you are assessing your ‘Job Suitability Quotient”. If you are honest in this step, you can assess for yourself the chances of getting shortlisted.

4. Think about what you need to do if you were to improve your ‘Job Suitability Quotient”. It could include acquiring a professional certification in your area, it could be trying out some assignments in your current job to prepare for the next job, it could be sharpening those skills or awareness that your target job requires and so on. This is the crucial stage of building your resume and making it more suitable to your target job.

5. Now attempt writing your resume – it will flow more fluently. More importantly, you will have greater confidence when you move to the interview stage.

The above steps guide you through the process of taking a deeper look at your target job and yourself.

Excerpts from the article: Don’t write your resume, Build it! 
By: Dr.Raj, 
Published in HR Mirror, Hans India.
Follow Dr.Raj on Twitter @drraj29.