24 November,2015 08:13 AM IST | | Suprita Mitter
Your CV can be a make-or-break factor in the hunt for a perfect job. HR experts share typical errors, strict no-nos and smart tips so your resume is the pick of the lot
"A girl from Jaipur applied recently for a junior executive role; she had said her biggest achievement was 'extracting and testing a rat's blood in a lab.' Another had quoted a Shania Twain song to describe her personality. The funniest line, however, was a candidate who wrote that she had worked at 'Cocks and Kings' (instead of Cox & Kings). The least one can do is spell check!" she suggests.
Match made for the office
"Flowery language and email ids that don't sound professional are a huge put off," says Abbas Ali, who leads recruitment at Henkel, India. Smita Gaur, senior manager human resources, Sula Vineyard echoes the sentiment, "People add personal information like political affiliation, religious preference, place of birth, height and weight. They are unnecessary."
Komal Lath, Founder, Tute Consult
In December 2002, when job-networking platform LinkedIn was launched, it changed the dynamics between recruiters and aspirants to a certain extent.
"It's been 13 years since, and recruiters can identify a good fit and are able to evaluate relevant profiles much before the interview with the help of tools available on the portal. It offers recruiters some of the most powerful search features, with rich insights and a host of recruiting-specific filters," shares Deepa Sapatnekar, head of communications, LinkedIN (India and Hong Kong).
"It is important for professionals to put their best foot forward, and stand out from the rest. Having a complete profile is the first step, to showcase their skills and achievements," she adds.
Komal Lath, Founder, Tute Consult
Hunt for the best
Recruiters admit that they refer to online job networking portals while picking the right candidate. "We are seeing a shift in the role played by social network-based recruitment tools and online job portals in our hiring process. We expect this to increase," shares Ali, "It is a great feature to know common links for reference checks and also prior works," adds Lath. Kaustubh Sonalkar, Chief People Officer, Future Group, tells us that they look for certain specific qualities in candidates. "We look at young people who are achievers. We quickly skim through the section on LinkedIn that lists the last few places that they have worked at and how soon they have grown. People who have independently handled certain sections at work, as well as been team players, impress us. It helps if people list these out clearly in their profiles, without beating around the bush," he sums up.
