Sandeep Gangarapu

Resume and cover letter prep

A great resume will give you a shot at convincing the recruiter to move you forward. It also gets you through any automated system the company is using to filter resumes.

A great resume will

  1. Be relevant to the job you are applying (personalize).
  2. Project your strengths without explicitly saying them.
  3. Be very tight. Every section, every sentence, every word needs a reason to be there.
  4. Always be accompanied by a cover letter.
    1. cannot overstate the importance of a cover letter.

Resume is relevant to the job you are applying (personalize).

  1. Prioritize projects so it highlights what the job description says.
  2. Include any relevant projects where you remotely used the tools the job description talks about.
  3. Screening software and some recruiters see if the keywords in the job description matches the keywords in the resume.

Resume projects your strengths without explicitly saying it.

  1. I took Clifton strength assessment to understand what my strengths are and found a way to showcase them through what I did in the project sections without explicitly saying it.
  2. You can take yours here. https://store.gallup.com/p/en-us/10108/top-5-cliftonstrengths
  3. It is $19 and is totally worth it. The assessment not only gives you a path to crafting your resume, but it also gives you language to describe yourself, talk about your strengths and weaknesses.

Resume is very tight.

  1. Every section, every sentence, every word needs a reason to be there.
  2. This is to make sure you think through everything before you decide to keep it.
  3. Follow this rule in writing your accomplishments

    4. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140929001534-24454816-my-personal-formula-for-a-better-resume/

Cover letter is very underrated

  1. I cannot overstate how important this is. I was told repeatedly by recruiters how my cover letter made their job easier.
  2. A good cover letter clearly shows how you fulfill all the job requirements like the example below. Source
    3. image

Other references and notes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aarh4xjDD2g

This is a great video that talks about all things resume. It helped me a lot.

‣
My notes from the video
  1. Does resume match what they are looking for. Match the job requirements
  2. Top mistakes
  3. Resume doesn't match job requirements
    1. make sure the relevant skills are there
  4. Customize resume for what the company is looking for
    1. Add those keywords in linkedin profile
    2. change summary in such a way that it is what they are looking for
    3. add skills that are similar to what they job desc asks for
    4. Keywords are key
    5. Make sure you do this to get through the resume scanner
  5. Make sure you have place and state
  6. 10 second rule
    1. recruiters look just for 10 seconds
    2. single typep face
    3. use sans serif type face (arial, helvetica, calibri)
    4. keep atleast half inch margins
    5. no borders
  7. Keep it professional
    1. this is a job application
    2. keep it professional
    3. no pictures
    4. no non-professional activities
  8. Always proof read your resume
    1. both spelling and punctuation
    2. use present tense for present job and past tense for past job
  9. Have someone else read it through
  10. Resume is too long
    1. always single page for entry level page
    2. May be two pages for past positions and accomplishments (experienced person)
  11. Display both months and years for duration
    1. bonus - add the duration
  12. You didn't describe the accomplishments
    1. dont just explain about the job duties
    2. accomplishments should be highlighted
  13. Always include a cover letter
    1. opportunity to make a good impression
    2. explain the interest in the job
    3. T cover letter
      4. image
  14. Don't mislead or lie

Best way to reach me is via Twitter or LinkedIn DM’s