Writing a resume ...

Resume writing has always been a mystery to me. A rather pointless exercise of listing what you've done in the last 20 years. I mean come on, what does the HR care whether I have secured 40% or 99.99% in the 10th standard? Unless physics and chemistry combine to form a software engineer much like blue and yellow combine to give green. Another thing that has endlessly puzzled me in a resume is "Hobbies". When I was briefly working with the TnP cell (2 hours, before I resigned), I've seen people having such amusing hobbies and the courage to pen them down on the resume. How can "Watching TV" "playing video games" or even "playing pranks" be included in the hobbies section on a resume? Why would the HR give a damn even if you have a hobby of mooning every stranger you see!! Utterly pointless...

But, then my brother gave me this amazing link. (much like the ads where you are fat and the girls are disgusted by you and they always prefer the slim ones and then your friend gives you a pill to make you super-slim within a day) It is titled "Tips for a slightly less awful resume". The author has had a good experience in resume screening. The points he has made clears many of the myths we have about resume writing and to say the least, they are ground-shaking. Whatever I thought were the best practices in resume writing are listed as a strict no-no with a very good line of reasoning. It is a must read for everyone who wants to make that resume of yours slightly less awful.

The post is a bit long and I am, myself very wary of long posts. I generally skip them, if they are not entertaining enough. With this one I was hooked till the last line. The man has got an amazing sense of humour and some really sharp sarcasm. The post isn't a sermon on the do's and don'ts of resume writing but a slightly less awful waste of time on how _not_ to screw-up your resume :)

Please do make it a point to read the post atleast once before you make your "awful" resume! :)