Making the Shortlist:CV Workshop

11th August 2008

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Agenda

•What this session is about?

•What is a CV?

•How to write a “killer” CV?

•Common CV pitfalls

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Objective of today’s session

This session is meant to be…

“Useful for you” - a session to give you a jumpstart on CV making

“As you want it” – with lots of live examples

“An interesting and interactive session” – Informal and fun

…and NOT …

A pre-placement talk

A lecture on consulting

A part of the evaluation process

Boring ☺

Help you understand the art and science of writing a good CV

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Agenda

•What this session is about?

•What is a CV?

•How to write a “killer” CV?

•Common CV pitfalls

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What is a CV?

Curriculum Vitae

Personal Interviews

Tests

Group Discussions

A Curriculum Vitae is your first communication with your potential employer – mostly, in your absence

It is your marketing tool – companies use CVs to identify potential candidates2

During initial short-listing, the panel spends less than 5 minutes on a resume!

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It doesn’t end with short-listing. It is the anchor for your personal interview –Be comfortable with it!

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IIT Bombay – the rules of the game

Three types of resumes allowed for submission

No major restrictions on content, structure and flow

Fixed time-line for submission defined

1-Pager

2-Pager

• One 1-pager allowed for specific companies

• Two 2-pagers allowed – typically one management and one technical

Standard student information (Name, DOB, CPI etc.)• For 1-pagers, only one-fifth of

the page to be used• For 2-pagers, one-fourth of the

first page to be used

ASCgenerated content

• To be announced by the IITBombay Placement Team

+ +

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How does a typical IITB CV look?Sample 1-Page CV

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• Academic section:– Consists of ASC generated student and

academic information– Other scholastic achievements

• Positions of Responsibility– Leadership positions held by the candidate

• Awards and Honours– Medals/Certificates/Special Mentions

• Projects and Internships– Academic/Non-academic projects and

internships undertaken

• Extracurricular activities– Participation in other extra-curricular

activities

Five major sections in a CV

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Sample 2-Page CVHow does a typical IITB CV look?

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4a

5

4b

No major structural difference between the two except that

one is more detailed

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Agenda

•What this session is about?

•What is a CV?

•How to write a “killer” CV?

•Common CV pitfalls

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5 steps for a killer CVThink “achievements”• What have you accomplished so far? • What are your major strengths and

weaknesses?

Think “research”• What is the employer

looking for?• What types of students

have they recruited in the past?

Think “impact”• How would you write

in a way that conveys outcomes or impact?

Think “evolution”• Whose opinions should you

take?• How should you incorporate

feedback?

Write your CV

Review your CV Know

yourself

Know your target

Plan your message

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Think “selling”• How will you tell your story in a

compelling, effective way?• How are you going to highlight

your uniqueness?

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Know yourself

Think “achievements”

• What have you accomplished

so far? • What are your major

strengths and weaknesses?

List down all achievements and activities

Filter on the basis of impact/ end-result

Understand self’s strengths, weaknesses, successes and failures

– Derive from past experiences– Talk to seniors/wing-mates

Categorize achievements and check for emerging “spikes”

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Know yourself – Case example

Think “achievements”

• What have you accomplished

so far? • What are your major

strengths and weaknesses?

Activity Achievements

Strength (quality reflected)

Weak-ness (if any)

Invited for guest lecture on it

. . . . . .

5 publicity articles in national media

. . . . . .

Poster from research in PT

Presented a poster in an international conference

Problem-solving

. . .

Based on PT work (which also gave performance bonus)

Dedication . . .

Selected as top enterprise in a SJMSOM competition

Passion . . .

Founded a website Mobilemart.com

Student company, average hits of 2000/month

Leadership . . .

. . . . . . . . .. . .

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What they are looking for?

Know your target

Think “research”

• What is the employer

looking for in the

position?• What types of students

have they recruited in

the past?

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Research! Research! Research!

• Attend all talks/PPT

• Reach out to the presenters – take their contact

• Talk to alums/old-friends in the company

Understand what the qualities mean (e.g., what is problem-solving?)

First, define your target

Consulting Co.

• Problem-solving (analytical)

• Communication• Teamwork• Drive/ Aspiration/

Passion (signified by “spikes”)

I-Bank (front-end)

• Problem-solving (analytical) – esp. with numbers

• Academic performance –department, rank, CPI

• Communication

Technology firms

• Academic concepts• Academic

performance –department, rank, CPI

• Research excellence• Problem-solving• Programming

languages

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Think “selling”• How will you tell your story in a

compelling, effective way?

• How are you going to articulate

your uniqueness?

Plan your messages

SportsInter-nship

Po-sitionof resp.

Acad-emics

Put the “relevant-spikes” lens –depth in a relevant area is more impactful than breadth in many• There’s no necessity to have a

spike• A spike with no relevance is of

little value

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Get the order right – what should go on the first page?

Do a “hygiene” check – is the CV consistent and coherent?

Best-practice: Elevator-story - If you had 30

seconds with Prashant, what would you tell him?

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Plan your messages – Case example3

Three questions to ask yourselves,• What are the “relevant – spikes”, if any?

• Is the grouping of points and order of points useful?

• Is the CV coherent and consistent as a whole – what’s the feel?

Think “selling”• How will you tell your story in a

compelling, effective way?

• How are you going to articulate

your uniqueness?

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Think “impact”• How would you write in a

way that conveys impact?

Write your CV (1/2)44a. Content“Impact, not activities” - Companies are more interested in knowing what you have achieved, delivering “impact” first is ideal

“Use numbers” – Wherever possible, use numbers to quantify impact. Numbers add significant weight to your claim

“Be Relevant” – Don’t include personal details that have no relevance (e.g., political views, favourite EPLclub)

4b. Style

“Concise, crisp sentences” – Avoid using long, confusing, repetitive sentences (e.g., Demonstrated, in a way, leadership capabilities by…; A paper, in all probability, is expected out of this research)“Action verbs” – Start with action verbs, wherever possible, to increase impact (e.g., Organized, Coordinated, Assessed, Evaluated, Conducted)

“Sell subtly, don’t oversell” – Do not over-engineer your cause. Selling is crucial, but in the right way

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Write your CV (2/2)44c. LanguageGrammar: Give preference for active voice – more impactful, get your grammar double-checked. Use short sentences instead of long sentencesWords: No room for slang and abbreviations (e.g., interned with EPFL)

Spellings: Use spell-check ☺

4d. LooksConsistent: Be consistent with your writing format. (e.g., If you are putting dates in square brackets – [ ] – always put them in square brackets)Avoid Excessive highlighting: • Use maximum of two formats ( bold, italic, underline,

CAPS, (brackets)) to highlight• Don’t follow “Spray and Pray” – use highlighting judiciously

Font: Use a true-type, conventional font (e.g., Arial, Times New Roman). Avoid very small font-size (must be greater than 10). Make sure that the bullet-spacing is consistent and paragraphs are justified

Punctuations: Use proper punctuations. Avoid tendency to include everything in one sentence by using commas

Think “impact”• How would you write in a

way that conveys impact?

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Write your CV – Case example

Check for the following,• Content – is it conveying the right message with

impact? Is it relevant?

• Style – Are the sentence lengths ok? Action-verbs? Overselling?

• Language – Active voice? Grammar? Punctuations? Slangs and abbreviations?

• Looks – Looks great at first reaction? Readable? Consistent? Spray and pray type?

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Think “impact”• How would you write in a

way that conveys impact?

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Review your CV

Think “evolution”

Whose opinions should

you take?How should you

incorporate feedback?

55a. People who should review your CV

Seniors in your target organization: Take organization specific inputs from them

Friends: Check whether your key strengths are coming out or not

Family members in corporate world: Check whether your key strengths are coming out or not. How does your CV fare against the best they have seen?

5b. “Watch out for” areas before finalizing your CV

Don’t over-sell yourself: Always remember your CV will be referred to during the recruitment process many times. So, be yourself

Be focused in selecting achievements for your CV: • Don’t mention various participations to show enthusiasm• Focus on your key strengths, they are enough to sail you

through

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Agenda

•What this session is about?

•What is a CV?

•How to write a “killer” CV?

•Common CV pitfalls

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PITFALLSWhat some of you might think? What is generally true?

I can exaggerate!

• Firms don’t understand the campus – I can magnify the scope and importance of my work

• I can build up my project work to make it sound significant

We know IIT Bombay

• Firms which have IITB alumni who have recently graduated and are up-to-date with campus trends - they are closely consulted for resume screening

• Recruiters are careful to judge the impact you had from your claimed project work

I should go broad and deep!

• I must mention all events I ‘participated’ in to show enthusiasm

• I must mention each and every position of responsibility I ever had

We want winners

• Unless competing was significant success!

• Choose the top few, other positions will only distract the recruiter from your real achievements

Must use management jargon!

Using a lot of terms like “executive organiser” & “proactive leadership” will impress the recruiters

We appreciate simple, precise truth

• Resume screeners cut through the jargon to identify valuable impact – the more the jargon, the more difficult it is for them to be impressed by you