Effective Resume Writing

By Imran Hayee, Mohtamim Senato-o-Tijarat

To write something effective especially on "Effective Resume Writing" is like adding a small pitcher of water to an ocean. What I mean is that so much is already available on the Internet that one can be overwhelmed with all sort of information containing useful and effective tips to write a job-guaranteeing resume. If you still are unsure, try to google "resume tips" or effective resume writing" and you will get the concrete idea of what I am talking about. Furthermore, there are professional services available which offer to write a successful resume for you at a nominal cost. In spite of all this, there are still people who are looking for jobs and sending there resumes to many places without a single interview call. Of course not all the unsuccessful resumes are ineffective because there is so much help available out there. The first question is whether a resume can be revised or improved so that it has better chances of fulfilling its intended mission i.e., to get an interview call. The answer is a simple "yes". The second and more compelling question is how to write/revise/improve a successful resume for maximizing chances of getting a job interview.  Please keep in mind that resume does not do anything more than getting you a job interview. And the job interview is actually the one that gets you the job. In the next issue of Mujahid, we will inshAllah write about effective interview skills. In the remaining part of this article a simple 5 step strategy is drawn out about the process of effective resume writing to maximize the chances of securing a job interview.

1) Start with Prayers

This is the tradition of an Ahmadi Miuslim to start everything, however important, with prayers. The Quran teaches us:

"My Lord, I stand in need of whatever good Thou mayest send down to me"

(Chapter 28, Verse 25)

Following this teaching of The Holy Quran and continuing on the noble Ahmadi Muslim tradition, if you are about to write/revise/improve your resume, you should start the process with sincere prayers and good intentions. By doing so, you will experience that Allah, the Almighty, will open those hidden doors about which you never knew before.

2) Be Concise and Well Organized

Your resume should be a well-organized profile of your qualifications for a career. To prepare a successful resume, you need to know how to review, summarize, and present your experiences and achievements on 1- 2 pages unless you have considerable experience. A rule of thumb should be that every 5 years of work experience could warrant one more page on your resume with fresh graduates starting with single page resume. Therefore, it is important to outline your achievements briefly and concisely in the best possible way. You can accentuate your most marketable skills and experiences instead of getting yourself bogged down in wordy details that are of no interest to potential employers. Please note that it is equally important to choose the appropriate font type, size, and formatting which looks neat and is easy to read. We learn from The Holy Quran that:

He is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are the most beautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise.

(Chapter 59, Verse 25)

Following the attributes of Allah, you should try to make your resume not only a conglomeration of information but rather the most beautiful presentation of the most relevant information in the most stylish (fashioned) way so that the potential employer not only finds it to be useful but enjoys it. That is when you maximize your chances of success in terms of getting a interview call. Your resume is going to reflect your image, so you should not only just make your resume rather create your resume in the most presentable fashion. While doing so, please don't go that far that you start printing your resume on colored papers (a big negative for employers!). Your qualifications are your might and you should use your wisdom to present that might in such a way so that the potential employers think of you highly rather than negatively or even keep neutral. You should consider looking a few sample resumes on the Internet before you actually start formatting your resume. A step before formatting is to make sure you know the most important information which needs to go to the resume. A well accepted resume should have the following sections of information.

I.      Personal Identification Information

This should contain only your name, permanent address, phone number and email address. Sometimes, people give out other personal information e.g., gender, age, nationality and hobbies which should be avoided unless there is a specific reason to do so.

II.      Objective

This is the most important section and sets the theme of your resume. Most experts advise writing only 1-2 line objective which should clearly state the field or position in which you are interested in. If you are interested in more than one career fields or positions, you may need to have different resumes for each professional objective. Although, objective gives the potential employer a direction of what the candidate is looking for, it has tendency to limit the chances of candidate's interview calls to only those jobs which he states in his or her objective. Due to this very reason, some experts suggest leaving out the objective completely and writing only an overview (see next section) of your experience which gives the reader a broader view of your skills and potentials and helps him determine what you could do other than what you have done or want to do. I would not advise a beginner to do so. However, if you have accumulated enough experience and skills over time, this might be a good strategy.

 III.      Overview or Executive Summary

After stating the professional objective, a 3-5 line overview should be given to support your objective. As a matter of fact, the overview summarizes the remaining sections of your resume up front and makes it easier for the potential employer to form an impression of your relevant experience and skills. The importance of including a brief overview or executive summary can not be overemphasized as the most potential employers generally make their decisions fairly quickly about inviting the candidate for the interview. Remember! The first impression is the last impression. You should write your most relevant and most important accomplishments in this section preferably in the form of bullets. Some example statements to include in this section are

IV.      Education

In this section you should list your each post secondary degree (most recent, first), stating the name of the college or university followed by your degree, major and graduation date. You should also indicate any honors if you received and your GPA only if it is 3.0 or better. If your GPA is less than a 3.0, you may want to identify only your major GPA or not mentioning all together.  If your degree is not yet completed or you have degrees/credentials from some other country, you can say something like

 V.      Professional Experience

In this section, you should list your work experiences in reverse chronological order (most recent first). Experiences may include full-time or part-time employment as well as summer jobs, volunteer work and internships. You should consistently give the names and locations of organizations whom you have worked for. You should list position, title, and dates you were employed as well as a brief description of your actual work experience. While writing the work experience section, you should keep the following guidelines in mind.

2002 - 2003 Maternity leave and family management -- or

2005 Travel and study -- or Full-time student -- or

2001 - 2002 Manager, Trade and Industry, MKA, USA

 VI.      Honors and Activities

In this section, you should list any honors which indicate your strong academic abilities, e.g., honorary societies, scholarships, awards and dean's list. Also include any honors related to character and/or community service. You can also state some extracurricular activities which show your leadership roles or problem solving skills.

 VII.      References

If you do not have space on your resume for references, it is a good idea to state, "References are available upon request" at the bottom of your resume. You should prepare a list of your references with work addresses and phone numbers on a separate page which you can either attach with the resume as separate page or take it with you at the time of the interview. Please make sure that you have permission from individuals before listing them as references.

3) Don't Inflate your Resume

Although you want to present your accomplishments and qualifications in the most marketable way, you should never try to inflate your resume with incorrect or falsified information. We learn from The Holy Quran:

Why do you say what you do not? It is most hateful in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not.

(Chapter 61, Verses 3-4)

A dishonest resume will hurt you ultimately in one way or the other. As a matter of fact, one may be able to get a job interview with falsified resume, but he is likely to tumble during the interview. Sometimes, he may get lucky and pass through the job interview successfully but is likely to tumble sometimes in future while performing his job functions. When something like this happen, it is not only about closing down one door, but about ruining your future prospects, reputation and morale. If you don't have any experience in an intended career choice to put on your resume, the best way to go around is not to invent some but to find a place that will let you do some volunteer work right away. You only need a brief, concentrated period of volunteer training (for example, 1 day a week for a month) to have at least SOME experience to put on your resume. Also, look at some of the volunteer work you've done in the past and see if any of that helps document some skills you'll need for your new job.

4) Strive for Constant Improvement

We learn from the Holy Qruan that

And the man will have nothing but what he strives for; And that the result of his striving shall soon be known; Then will he be rewarded for it with the fullest reward.

(Chapter 53, Verses 40-42)

Allah will never let our hard work go waste and we will be amply rewarded for what we strived for. That means that we should continue to struggle for constantly learning and acquiring new skills throughout our careers. Especially, with the rapid advancement of technology, we need to keep ourselves up to date otherwise we may loose the competitive edge and may end up lacking the material to beef up our resume. In this regard, I would like to mention that you should use internet as a resource to be aware of new advancements in your field. At the same time, you should also try to stay connected with other professionals in your field so that you can enhance your learning experience by taking advantage of multiple minds at the same time. Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya's department of Senat-o-Tijarat (Trade and Industry) offers Mentoring Program which provides an opportunity for networking and advancement of your careers. For more information on mentoring program, please log onto http://www.mkausa.org/jobs-and-careersjobs-and-careers.

5) Be grateful to Allah

Being an Ahmadi Mulsim, you should always be thankful to Allah for He is the one who has actually gotten you the successes and rewards by granting you the opportunities to acquire valuable skills which made your resume look good. The Holy Quran says:

"Be grateful to Allah", for who so is grateful, is grateful for the good of his own soul.

(Chapter 31, Verse 13)

At this stage, I want to emphasize one last point about getting unlucky in spite valuable work experience and well made resume. What possibly could go wrong? Are you not getting your promised reward? Sometimes if you don't understand then may be Allah wants a totally different career for you. In that case you may consider employing yourself! Yes, you may start thinking to start your own business. There could be plenty of opportunities to do so; you just need to think and work hard. After you narrow down your options, you may consider seeking consultation from one of your brother through mentoring program as mentioned above. And remember, Allah is not limited in his bounties and rewards, the more grateful we are, the more rewards he bestows on us as stated in The Holy Quran elsewhere:

If you are grateful, I will surely bestow more favors on you.

 (Chapter 14, Verse 8).

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