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Introduction

Resume Writing

Cover Letter

Interview Preparation

What next?

Step by step guide

In this chapter, we would learn about different sections of a resume and how you can present information contained in them in an effective manner. As you learn to write different sections of resume, we recommend that you create your own resume in the process. Use sample resume below to createyour own resume

Download Sample Resume (/uploads/workshop_images/internship_preparation/sample_resume.docx)

Introduction (/content/internship_preparation/27)

Presentation and Layout I (/content/internship_preparation/28)

Presentation and Layout II (/content/internship_preparation/29)

Step by step guide (/content/internship_preparation/36)

Frequent Resume Questions (/content/internship_preparation/37)

TIP

Whenitcomestocontent,twothingsmatterthemost1.Howrelevantistheinformationtothejoborinternshipthatyouareapplyingto.2.Howspecificistheinformationwithrespecttokeydetails.

1. Resume HeadingYour name, your primary email (please make sure it's professional and not something on the lines of iamcool21@gmail.com), your mobile phone number,your current status (optional, Ex.- 4th year B.Tech, Computer Science, IIT Madras), your current address (optional)

An example

Try Yourself:Write Resume Heading for you own resume.TipsDonotputyourphotograph,yourcollegelogo,word 'Resume'or 'CurriculumVitae'atthetop,yourpermanentaddress,yoursecondaryemailid,gender&age(Ex.Male,20)someoftheseyoumayneedtokeepasperyourcollegeguidelinesbutifyouhaveachoice,don't.

2. Career ObjectiveA very specific statement of your career interests and kind of opportunities you are looking for. If you have something specific figured out, great! Else it isOK not to mention a career objective if you are still figuring out your interests and career goals.

However, if you mention one, remember that is essentially setting up the tone for rest of your resume and information contained in rest of the sectionsshould support your claim in this section. For example, you should not call out working in social sector as your career interests, and have rest of yourresume no mention of any activity or achievement in this area or talk about something completely different later on.

If you need to submit the same resume to different kinds of opportunities without getting a chance to customize it for each job/internship, ourrecommendation would be not to have a Career Objective section at all.

An example4th year B.Tech Computer Science student at IIT Madras with excellent academic record and keen interest and practical exposure in the field of information security,especially web applications security.

Try Yourself:Write Career Objective for your own resume.TipsDonotcopypaste,grandiosestatementlikethisSeekingasummerinterntoutilizemyskillsandabilitiesinanorganizationthatoffersprofessionalgrowthwhilebeingresourceful,innovativeandflexible.

3. Academic QualificationFollowing details for your postgraduation (if applicable), graduation, 12th, and 10th standard in reverse chronological order (i.e. most recent first) -

1. Year of completion/Duration (Ex. - 2014 or 2010-14)2. Qualification (Ex. - B.Tech, Computer Science)3. University/Board (Ex. - IIT Madras, CBSE Board)4. Performance(Ex. - 8.5/10, 85%) This information can be presented either in a tabular format or as given below.

An example

Table

List

Try Yourself:Write Academic Qualification for your own resume. Tips

4. SkillsIt usually refers to technical skills such as knowledge of programming languages (C, C++, Java etc.), softwares (MS-Office, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator) etc.It would be great if for any skill that you mention here, you have some supporting project, internship or training that you can showcase in your subsequentsections.

An example

Try Yourself: Write Skills section for your own resume.Tips

5. Internships & TrainingsA list of all the internships & trainings that you have done in reverse chronological order (i.e. most recent first). Please include only those internships &trainings where you have spent atleast 2 weeks or more. Work from home/campus internships, long term volunteering assignments can also be includedin this section.

The format should be profile (Ex. - Web Development Intern), organization name (Ex. - Internshala), and duration (Ex. - Jun-Jul'13) in first row. This shouldbe followed by a 2-3 lines description of work you did, technologies you learned/worked on, any achievement/outcome etc. Again, be as specific as youcan.

An example

Try Yourself:Write about Internships and Trainings (if any) section for your own resume.Tips

6. ProjectsIt usually contains following in reverse chronological order (i.e. most recent first) -

1. Any indenpendent academic project that you may have taken under a professor in your college2. Any significant project that you may have done as part of a course and which is relevant to the job/internship you are applying to3. Projects developed as part of your participation in a competition - for example, say you developed a racing car prototype as part of Shell Eco Marathon.Usually these are projects which require significant time and effort on your part.

The format should be project title, mentor name and designation, and duration (Ex. - Jun-Jul'13) in first row. This should be followed by a 2-3 linesdescription of work you did, technologies you learned/worked on, any achievement/outcome etc. Again, be as specific as you can.

An example

Try Yourself:Write Projects section for your own resume..Tips

7. AchievementsIt should contain any significant and relevant achievements in reverse chronological order (i.e. most recent first). By definition, 'achievement' refers to aspecial positive outcome such as winning and can include following -

1. Your performance in competition exams (such as JEE, AIEEE, state level entrance exams)2. Any major academic/technical competitions you may have won - this may go into co-curricular activities section also, especially for technicalcompetitions3. Any award, scholarship etc. that you may have won because of your academic performance

Achievements are mentioned as a numbered or bulleted list. Keep in mind following 3 things, to make the content effective -

1. Always quantify your achievement by indicating scale of your achievement. 2. Highlight (by making it bold) the achievement part of the sentence3. Mention the year month (Ex. - June 2011) for each achievement

An example

Secured 1st rank among 200+ participants in a national level XYZ competition in Jun'11 is better than Secured 1st rank in XYZ competition

Try Yourself:Write achievements (if any) section for your own resume.Tips

8. Cocurricular activities

Co-curricular activities refer to your activities outside classroom but still related to academics and can include information on workshops, seminars, shortterm trainigs attended, technical competitions, B-plan contests participated in, industrial visits etc. As always, please mention these in reversechronological order.

Co-curricular activities are also mentioned as a numbered or bulleted list. Keep in mind following things to make the content in this section meaningful -

1. Wherever possible, mention the scale of event (National, State level, Distric level) or competition you participated in.2. Mention the year month (Ex. - June 2011) for each activity

An exampleCo-curricular Activities:1. Attended one day workshop on Analytics organized by Internshala in August-2015.2. Attended 1 week online hacking training in Deccember-2015.

Try Yourself:Write Co-curricular (if any) section for your own resume.Tips

9. Positions of Responsibility (PoR)These refer to various coordships, club secretary duties, student representative role (say Branch Councilor) that you may have discharged. These areprimarily used to showcase your leadership, team work and coordination skills.

These are mentioned as a numbered or bulleted list in reverse chronological order.

1. Always, mention the scale of responsbility you handled in terms of size of the team you led, number of participants in the event you organized or clubthat you led, budget you handled, number of students you represented etc.2. Mention the duration (Ex. - Jun'11-Apr'12) for each PoR

An example

Try Yourself:Write Position of Responsibility (if any) section for your own resume. Tips

10. Extracurricular activitiesExtra-curricular activities refer to your activities which are not related to academic learning but are essential for your all-round development. These includeinformation on any literary, fine arts, cultural, or sports activities and achievements, any volunteering activities you may be part of plus mention of yourhobbies and interests. Positions of Responsibilities also can be mentioned in this section if you do not have a separate section for them.

These are also mentioned as a numbered or bulleted list.

1. Wherever possible, mention the scale of event (National, State level, Distric level) or activity you participated in.2. Mention the year month (Ex. - June 2011) for each activity

An exampleExtra-Curricular Activities:1. Participated and got Second Position in state level badminton tournament in January-2014.2. Volunteered for Clean India campaign organized by NDTV in August 2015.

Try Yourself:Write Extra Curricular (if any) section for your own resume.Tips

11. Additional InformationOften, having all of the above 9 sections in your resume may make it cumbersome and tiring to read. Moreover, you may not have enough or any points tolist in all of these sections (especially section 7-10).

Hence, it is a good practice to bundle all of the above 4 sections (Achievements, Co-Curricular Activities, PoRs, Extra-curricular activities) in one sectioncalled 'Additional Information' and list 3-4 major points in total in this section in reverse chronological order.

This makes lot of sense when you are struggling for space and especially for jobs/internships where primary selection criteria is going to be your academic

performance, skills, internships & trainings, and projects.

The guidelines on how to list points in this section remain the same as in above 4 sections.

An example

Try Yourself: Write Projects (if any) section for your own resume.Tips

TIP

ItisperfectlyOKifyoudonothavecontenttowriteforeachofthe9sectionsaboveandhenceifyouhavetoomitcertainsectionsfromyourresume.Pleaseensurethatwhateversectionsyouhave,informationpresentedinthemisaspersuasiveandasprofessionalaspossible.DoNOTattemptto'invent'thecontentor'exaggerate'ratherinsignificantactivities/achievementsforaparticularsection(seeimagebelow):)

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For any queries, please write to us at workshop@internshala.com (mailto:workshop@internshala.com) Copyright 2015 Internshala(http://internshala.com)