We receive resumes of thousands of graduate students across Pakistan – literally on daily basis.

And the sad part is that we can tell from their email if they will be called for an interview or not. Most of the times, we are correct.

So, we thought to write a blog post about it. What are the basic mistakes everyone is doing? To capture the gist, we have also made a short presentation. If you are applying for a resume, download our presentation – it’s a free resource and it will help you in a long way.

Here are some of the basic rules – nine of them to help you get ahead of the pack.

Download Consuldents Awesome CV Guide

Rule 1: What things (not) to include in your resume

A common mistake is this – A lot many students write their marital status, CNIC number, ethnicity and religion. Is it worth it? Absolutely not. Don’t write it.

Also, for fresh graduates, your resume should not be more than a page. Ideally, your resume should only give your contact details, education, experience and key skills. Everything else is secondary.

Rule 2: Not pick a suitable email handle

Isn’t it obvious – But no, we receive emails crazyguy@hotmale.com from such handles on daily basis – what do you think, how does it reflect on the applicant. Pretty bad. Will they be called for an interview? Your guess is as good as ours.

Also an email handle 897675@gmail.com is a bad idea. What do you think will happen – the spam feature in the email automatically judges it as a junk. Have a professional handle that reflects well on you. If you have a university account, that’s better – use it.

Rule 3: Using too much of Creative CVs

Creative CVs are in. But use them carefully. They are good for creative industries. As they say, HR has only 30 seconds to scan a resume (we think they have 25). If the information is too difficult to retrieve, they will move on.

Rule 4: Not making your CV clear

Make use of headings and separate information. Make sure your education and experience are easy to find. Include relevant work experience only. And yes, no need to write your high school grades.

Rule 5: Not be concise

A lot of students write essays – the problem is they write essays in their resume. Also, what do you think will the employer perceive if you are a chemical engineering student and apply on social media intern position. Don’t do that. Maintain your academia currency and apply to relevant positions only. If you want to gain exposure in a different field, then state this clearly.

Also, we see a lot many emails coming to us without any body or a subject. We receive only attachments without even mentioning the post, position or organization. Now, that’s extra extra concise. If you are sending an email, send with a line and proper introduction. Don’t write a story – but do write something!

Rule 6: Please, please don’t use Emojis

Ah, we see so many emails with Emojis and we think, really! That’s a disaster. Don’t do that. Keep the font consistent, use standard font (we recommend Ariel).

And don’t use fancy borders!

Rule 7: Sell yourself in cover letter

If you want to sell yourself (not literally), do it in cover letter. That’s where you can explain your credentials. Don’t do it on your resume.

In the cover letter, don’t copy your resume, mention things you cannot include in your resume such as key problem you solved, a target you achieved etc.

Rule 8: Polish, proof and PDF

Hello, hello! This is essential. This is your career. Your life and your resume. Give time to it. Spend some hours (or even weeks) to get this right. Don’t just write in a word document. Check the formatting, make sure spacing is consistent, proof read for spell and grammar mistakes and save in a PDF with appropriate name.

We receive CV with names such as: Prince CV, reusme123, resumeCVOctober2019. No – just use your name: Mehrab Khan, Samina Ahmed etc.

We wish you best of luck. And remember if you are looking for guidance, contact us at 0345-5992515 or info@consuldents.com – we have helped thousands of graduate students to excel. We will help you do the same!