Skillset Development of Resume Making

The Department of Data Science, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Pune, Lavasa Campus, conducted a club activity on 'Skillset Development of Resume Making' on 10 April 2021 and 24 April 2021.

The resource person for the session on 10 April 2021 was Ms Zahida Mariyam, Behavioural Coach, ESL Trainer, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. She began by listing down the difficulties and challenges students face while preparing their resumes for the first time. Ms Mariyam started the training with the very foundation of Resume writing, focussing on primary answers to all the w's. She explained the prime objectives of resume writing, such as: identifying the real purpose of the resume and focus on that, identifying relevant competencies, follow the strategy 'One resume not for all jobs'. She stressed the point of building a non-generic resume that should always fill a particular job purpose.

She further explained the stages in building an appropriate resume. Stage 1 includes the time and effort involved in preparation for the write-up. It involves deep research and introspection on the company requirements and qualities of the job seeker, segregation into several skills like technical, business, soft and social skills in a creative manner. Students were asked to do this as an activity to have a clear understanding of the task. The focus of the activity was on listing down the relevant competencies like strengths based on opportunities, technologies we are good at, other opportunities, and skill set. Finally, the real task of bringing all the above points together and moulding them to form the resume.

She explained that resume writing has essential four parts. The personal profile goes at the top of the CV, which showcases an introduction about the candidate, important skills, career goals, and contact. She asked the students to write their profiles for hands-on training. She gave an example of a good profile structure that they could be referred to. She moved on to the next paragraph, which focuses on the candidate's experience or employment history. She briefly explained some of the guidelines that must be kept in mind while writing, such as correct tenses, appropriate use of adjectives and verbs, and the basic chronology should always be followed while listing down the jobs.

The next step involves educational details, including institution information, qualifications, relevant modules studied, projects undertaken, or thesis. Following this, candidates should write about their skills and hobbies. Towards the end, the CV should point out proficient languages, certificates, software skills, necessary job interest, etc. She said that resumes should be formatted appropriately, and must have a professional look. An activity was given to the students where they were asked to identify any mistakes found in some of the samples resumes helping them avoid making the same.

Session 1 concluded with very apt knowledge about resume writing skill development. The students were informed about their homework and competition on resume writing which included cash rewards. Students actively participated in this and eagerly awaited the next session and the winner's call.

Session 2 was conducted on 24 April 2021. Mr Vimal Velayuthum and Mr Asad, who have experience in managing manpower management functions and Talent Acquisition Space, joined us for a more insightful session on resume writing and the topic of Interview facing. The mentors portrayed detailed knowledge about interviewing and a candidate's mental condition from the HR's and interviewer perspectives. They threw light on the common tendencies from both sides and the required behaviour or body language in response to it.

The session had majorly focussed on QnA-based training, wherein the mentors addressed all the basic and advanced issues faced by the students during resume writing and interviews. Students enthusiastically participated in clearing all their doubts and shared their personal experiences to learn from the mistakes. The session was very interactive, and relevant questions were asked. Some of the pertinent questions were asked, such as 'How to deal with distractions created by the interviewers while answering some questions?', 'Does GPA matter over skills?', 'How much importance to give for communication skills or fluency in English?', 'Is it good showing the interviewers that the candidate has a high and deep interest in getting the job throughout?' etc. Mr Vimal and Mr Asad answered all questions with apt and practical answering, clearing some of the doubts students face during interviews.

The session concluded on a strong note about being yourself and staying true to the job role and company while facing the interviews. The students extended their hearty gratitude towards the teachers Dr Preethi N and Prof. Ravikiran Naik, for organizing the event. They thanked Ms Zahida Mariyan, Mr Vimal Velayuthum and Mr Asad for engaging the students in such insightful sessions based on students' needs. The session ended with the winner's names announcements for the resume writing competition. Shebin Benny, 4 Semester BSc Data Science and Yash Lucas, 2 Semester BSc Data Science won the competition winning cash prizes.