Resume building and interview tips:

When looking for a new job, you join several job seekers targeting a particular segment of the job market. No matter where the current economy is, you will always have to go through some competition for a particular position. Obviously you need to stand out of the crowd and get noticed so that you can land into your dream job. The first step to get noticed is through your resume.

If you are fresher, there is not much you can do in your resume, apart from using a good template and writing a good objective statement at the top. You can get a sample template from Internet.

If you have at least 3-4 years of experience, here are some tips to build a good resume:

1. First think about your strengths and what areas you are good at.. both technically and soft skills wise. Try to highlight your strengths in your resume.
2. Just like people say "First impression is the best impression.", first page of your resume should also create the best impression on hiring manager's mind.
   First page should be a complete summary of your skills and expertise. It should give a hint of what you have done so far.
   The following information must be there in the first page of your resume:
   • Number of years of experience.
   • Your career objective as what you are expecting in your new job.
   • Highest education degree.
   • Skills and technical environment you are good at.
   • Summary of past experiences and engagements. (Details to follow on remaining pages).
3. In subsequent pages of your resume, you should put as much info as possible about the companies you have worked for. You should also specify your roles and responsibilities, domain and duration of the individual engagements.
4. When a hiring manager looks at your resume, he or she might not have the right knowledge to judge whether you are apt for the position. Hence you should try to include all the relevant terms and jargons regarding your work.

If your resume is selected for interview, you will notice that people want to know two things about your previous work:

1. What have you done in your previous projects? Some people tend to put too much details about the project which might have been done by other's. There should be statements, which sound like "I have done XYZ in ABC...".
2. What are the challenges you faced? The challenges could be both on technical or at  communication level. How how did you resolve them?

Last but not least, have another person go through your resume. Sometimes there are annoying grammatical mistakes and some stuff doesn't make any sense at all.

Interview Tips:


There could be a written test based on aptitude and technical skills. This method of filtering is used when large number of applications are received or for people with less experience.

Well you made it for your first interview. Usually the first interview is about the core skills required for the job. The person taking first interview could be junior to you. The questions are usually to the point and most of the time there is only one right answer. However companies like google, amazon or microsoft tend to ask tricky puzzles and riddles as well. If you don't know the answer, do not try to make up something. Next question could be something you can answer very well. Usually these interviews are time bound and the number of questions you answered correctly is weighed for results.

Now you have your second interview. Sometime this is the last and final interview, if the company is hiring too many people. If this is your last interview then skip this paragraph. In second interview, people try to judge as what kind of job your are looking for and whether you are fit for that. They ask about your past projects and questions are usually created on the fly around them. Be prepared with small notes and keys about your past work. It is not easy to recollect what you did 5 years back.

Third interview is usually face to face interview, done at company's office. Dress in formal, even if it is not asked for. It shows that you are serious about your job hunt. The interview is 3 or 4 step process where people from various roles interact with you in their capacity. You have to adjust to the interviewer's frequency and talk in the language they can understand. For example if a technical person is taking your interview, do not try to give very broad answers. They look for specifics. Again most of the companies base the interview on a scenario based question and you have to create a white board solution. If the interview is for whole day then you can expect lots of brain teasers with several possible solutions. You will be asked to justify your solution. Learn about the company, its history and work culture. It will help you answer the universal question " Why do you want to join us?".

If you got the offer, congratulations, otherwise do not loose hope and learn from your experience. You can apply for companies which you will never join but use these interviews as a practice ground for the big fight. After all you want to be fully prepared for your dream company. Believe me, most of the companies account for such cases while selecting people. Not every time organization want to pay large salary and get cream of the industry. Most of the workforce in majority of companies are reasonably good people with salary expectation in line with company's budget.