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Old is No Longer Gold.

The name, address, and phone number on the top, date on the left side, followed by a chronological order of education, work experience, and some personal information like date of birth, guardian’s name, etc; this is how a resume of the bygone era looked like. Resumes are our identity on paper. With such a resume in your hand, chances of you getting that elusive call from the potential employer are pretty slim.

Renewing the Identity

Over the last decade, resume writing has undergone a huge overhaul. A resume has evolved from being an informational document to a marketing document. Every job candidate wants to differentiate himself from the competition and with the emergence of new trends in resume writing; new ways to achieve this differentiation have come up. In the new-style resumes, focus is centrally on your professional history so that the company has a fair idea to what value you can add to the its processes.

The Beginnings

Whilst the details like name and address still occupy top of the page, what follows next is not traditional sequential order of your personal details, work experience, education etc. A professional writer today, as a widely followed practice, would include the summary of the candidate’s skills and achievements, followed by the expertise in certain areas. This is where the marketing skills of the resume writer come to the fore. Cleverly, molding the skill set of an individual into marketable attributes is how a writer aims to set the candidate apart from the competition.

When we talk of the beginning in a CV, one big change that has been observed is the absence of ‘objective’ statements. Objective statements are more or less seen as a waste of space as these can be very clichéd set of lines that in no way throw light on the caliber and skills of the prospective candidate. In this age, it’s all about getting to the point without wasting any time.

Work Experience Elaborated

When it comes to work experience, we just don’t *mention* our work experience as per the conventional method. Current practice in writing about work experience involves including all the significant highlights of one’s stint with a certain employer. Emphasis is made on how that individual played a part in the growth of the said firm. Work experience is described by making a mention of the roles that individual played with each employer at all levels of management.

Highlighting the Professional Highlights

One thing that has apparently remained consistent is the section for Professional or academic achievements. This section is particularly critical in case of fresher, as employers are always looking to judge a candidate beyond his mark sheets. Education and other certifications follow in the chronological order while hobbies, which quite gratuitously occupied space in older resumes, is being done away with.

Social Media Connect

Social Media has become our new address. Even though it is not obligatory, but mentioning your Facebook or LinkedIn address in the resume lends transparency to your profile and opens up new doors for opportunities, helping you to establish professional contacts.

Resumes are waking up to the latest trends and requirements in the market. They are created in order to position the candidates as viable and up-to-date personnel for a job position. And for people still clinging onto the conventional ways of creating their resume, it’s time to catch up.

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