How to Prepare a Good Resume

In this post I am going to discuss how you can prepare a good resume. This post will be helpful to students who are in the final year of their study as well as for freshers on job hunt. Even though you have already prepared your resume, do consider reading this post because you may explore what is missing in your resume.


Let us start with the format. If you want to send a soft copy of your resume then make sure it should be in .doc format. Because old MS-Office systems may not recognize *.docx format, whereas .doc format is recognized in older office versions as well as on new versions. (Tip: If you have MS Office 2007 installed on your system then while saving your Resume, save as Word 97-2003 type so that it can be saved in .doc format.) 

While designing your resume leaving appropriate margins is also very much important. Leave a margin of one inch for left, right, top and bottom sides. Set the page to A4 size which is widely used all over the world.

Some times it may be necessary for you to have hard copy(printed resume) of your resume. Always have some quality paper for printing your resume. I recommend you to go for royal executive bond paper which looks great and makes the printout elegant. Never try to make photocopies or xerox of your resume. 

Stick to only one font throughout your resume. Some famous fonts used in resume preparation are Arial, Tahoma and Times New Roman. Remember your font size should not be larger than 12 points except for headings. Also font size should not be smaller than 9 points. Some strong points can be expressed as bold to attract the interviewer.

When mentioning address please include your area PIN code and other ways of communication if any. No need to mention permanent address and temporary address separately. Give your address only once. While specifying contact mention your area code if giving land line number. Provide country code if you are providing mobile number. For instance if your mobile number is 9999999999 then mention it as +91-9999999999 if you are a citizen of India.

As a fresher you may consider your Educational details to be shown in a tabular format. When going for this format ensure that your latest qualification to be appeared first. I mean if you are a B.Tech graduate then mention it in the first row followed by your +2 details as next record and at last SSC details.

Your educational profile table should contain these columns: Course, College/University, Year of Passing and Percentage of Marks. Some students  may have their percentages in decreasing order like their B.Tech percentage may be 65%, 10+2 is 70% and X class is 75%. (Don't try to mention your profile in reverse order like X class details first so that it looks your career graph is increasing :)). These students are requested not to go for tabular form otherwise be prepared with a strong answer for the question why your academic record is falling? 

Mentioning Hobbies in a resume is not a bad idea. Some people try to mention Watching TV as their hobby. Don't mention such silly things. Its just a past time not a hobby. Mention things in which you are really interested. Otherwise don't mention hobbies at all. Collecting stamps can be mentioned as a hobby. But also be ready for any question related to stamps collection.

When mentioning your technical skills prepare a list of skill set categories so that interviewer can easily pick up his/her required domain. For instance in Programming Languages skill set mention all the programming languages you know like C, C++, Java, Python etc. If you think that you are really strong in a particular programming language like C++, mention it in bold so that the interview may be more concentrated on your favorite choice. Don't try to mention all the languages you know. I mean mention only those in which you are confident. 

As a fresher you may not have any real time projects experience. Its not a problem at all. Don't try to fake your resume with a list of projects in which you really didn't involved. 

For freshers a resume of one page is enough. If you think its not enough then only go for a two page resume. Never prepare more than two pages resume as a fresher.

Do make sure there are no spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes consider proof reading your resume with your friends or if possible with some faculty member of your college.

Your Email ID should look like a professional ID. I have seen some resumes where the student mentions his/her email id as anil.crazyboy @ gmail.com or like sneha.charming@ yahoo.com :). Avoid such type of mail ids. Create a brand new mail ID for job purpose and don't share it for other things (like your personal mails).

Always try to send your resume with covering letter indicating the position you have applied very clearly. Don't forward your resume to multiple companies with same covering letter. Have a basic idea about the company and design your objective in such a way that suits the company requirements.

Share this if you care for others. Wish you all a happy exciting job hunting!