A resume is a definitive guide when it comes to expressing your skills and qualities. A resume speaks volumes about yourself, your achievements, and what can be expected of you. It also creates the first impression for you. So creating the perfect resume is an essential task for every job seeker.

Since recruiters these days spend just a few seconds looking at the resume, it is crucial that your resume stands out by effectively highlighting your achievements and your career objective. In short, a quick ten-second scan through the document should be more than enough to catch the recruiter’s attention.

So if you’re applying for jobs after completing your distance education or correspondence course, these tips will help you make an effective resume.

Outline objectively

You need an effective and eye catching “objective” statement. It answers the question of why you’re applying for a job in the company. What is important here is that the statement should hit the point, so that the recruiter can match the position requirement with your career objective.

Important tip: Try including the profile of the job itself, as it will definitely catch attention.

For example: If you’re looking for a Managerial position after the completion of your MBA or BBAcourse, this would be a good objective line:

Objective: Seeking an opportunity as an Assistant Manager in the Sales department.

Concisely enlist your academic qualifications

Secondly, you’ll have to list out your personal details in an orderly fashion. Again, conciseness is the key here. Highlight the name of your college, the year of passing, the stream you had chosen and the percentage or GPA you secured.

This can be showcased in a tabular column as the data is easy to absorb and looks more professional and neat as well.

For example:

Education:

Highlight your achievements

 You’ve only mentioned your basic details in the resume so far. This is where it gets interesting. You might have a lot of achievements under your belt, but there would be a few which, you are confident will capture the recruiter’s attention. Mention them briefly, be it one or more.

Important tip: Highlight the achievements related to the job you’re applying for. This will help the recruiter understand that you have the relevant experience and passion required for the profile.

 For example: If you’re applying for the post of an Assistant Manager in the Sales department, highlight any of your internships or work experience related to the sales division. Also, mention the tenure of the experience and briefly explain the nature of the work or training.

Achievements: Internship Program at TATA Motors Sales division (July 2015-July 2016). Work involved analysis and improvement of existing sales strategies.

Another important thing to be noted is that a resume doesn’t have to be a lengthy one to fetch you a job. Even a single page resume can get you a job offer if it is good enough. In fact, most recruiters prefer a one-page resume, maximum two.

Furthermore, when you’re applying for jobs at different companies, you just can’t go on with the same resume everywhere. The jobs may differ from company to company, so you’ll have to make changes to your resume accordingly.

An impactful resume can do all the talking for you. Conciseness is the key, and so is aligning your objectives with the profile you are applying for. A recruiter has his/her own job to do, and needs to be quick with it. So if you can apply these tips and make your resume impactful, that dream job could well be yours!