Over the years, we have been asked a lot of questions about resumes and what goes into them.
Our answers have always been the same.
So today, we have collated some of the more common ones here in this 10 pointer FAQ.
Read on.
Question: Should I make video resumes?
Answer: It’s great, but not necessary.
Question: Should my resume be a 1 pager or 2 pager?
Answer: ALMOST everyone needs only 1 page. A focused resume for a relevant job usually only needs to cover 1 page.
Question: Do font size, margins, colour, formatting matter?
Answer: No. If the resume is legible and has no typos or glaring grammatical mistakes, everything else is okay.
Question: Should I mention hobbies, extra curriculars?
Answer: Depends. A resume only really needs two sections – Experience and Education. All the rest is irrelevant unless you have something amazing to share. Are you a national level sports champion? Did you win a trip to NASA during college? Were you a social activist? These points count. Your chess club membership doesn’t.
Question: Do I need to elaborate points?
Answer: Keep it to short bullet points. Every word needs to earn its way onto the resume.
Question: Is it okay to ‘embellish’ certain points?
Answer: Never put any data point you cannot verify or explain with reasoning.
Question: Should I mention my volunteer activities?
Answer: Yes absolutely.
Question: Should I include my GPA on my resume?
Answer: If you are a student and don’t have any other experience, yes you need to. Also, if you have really good grades, absolutely flaunt them.
Question: Do I need an objective for my resume?
Answer: Be very careful about this. Most objective statements are very banal. Use them only if there is a very specific point you need to make, which is not conveyed in the rest of the resume, or if you have a well-rounded elevator pitch which you want to convey.
