Your Resume

One of the most important tools to facilitate passage into the corporate environs is your resume. It initially helps get an interview call and then assists you during the interview since a large number of questions (sometimes as high as 90% of an interview) are asked from the resume. A big challenge a former armed forces officer faces in his resume is showcasing his armed forces experience in a corporate perspective. One invariably finds military appointments, terminology and incorrect comparisons of profiles to corporate ones being reflected in resumes. The right terms, inferences, terminology, layout and length go a long way in ensuring a great resume.

An interviewer invariably starts an interview with questions originating from the resume. Thus, unless your resume is exceptional, your interview may well start on the back foot. Remember, interviewers go through hundreds of resumes and the only reason they are likely to dwell on yours is if it’s exceptional. A few pointers on a great resume:

1. Keep it very short and brief. Contrary to having a negative effect, it will have quite the opposite and gives you more to talk about during the interview.
2. Think about the new job/profile and find ways to link your previous experience to it.
3. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your candidature with reference to a profile. These will change for every new profile you decide to apply for. Showcase your strengths. This means fine tuning your resume for every new profile you apply for.
4. Display your personality in the resume in whatever manner you can.
5. Ensure that the e-mail address is appropriate for business. Addresses like "coolguy81@yahoo.com" is NOT okay. Make a special mail address for this purpose if you need need to.
6. Add your LinkedIn profile to your resume. Before doing that, ensure it is up-to-date, complete in all respects and impressive by way of recommendations (to read more on how to maximize your LinkedIn profile read "9 Ways to Maximize Your LinkedIn Profile".
   
7. Don’t mention your private life unless you can make it sound interesting.
8. Change the layout and design to make it look distinct.
9. Always ensure you affix a smart photograph of yours on the resume.

The above mentioned points are generic and applicable to any resume. Besides the above you will get numerous tips and pointers on making a resume on the internet. The challenge however remains on how to showcase yourself distinctly to prospective employers by writing the correct things in the best manner possible. For this, it is best to have your resume made professionally. Consider the expenditure involved in getting a professional resume made as an investment.

The Interview

One of the occasions when you have the most at stake during any single conversation is in a job interview. You have one chance to pitch yourself to a prospective employer and making the best of it is of prime importance.

Before the interview, and in a way to even make it to that stage you need to have a great CV. One that sets you out from amongst the others and highlights your abilities, qualities and personality in the best manner possible. As mentioned in an earlier post, spending time/money on a good resume that exhibits the true 'you' is not an expenditure but an investment. Be very deliberate going about it. You will be surprised how many doors can open or close on the strength or otherwise of a CV.

Going about the interview:

1. Research: Read about the company in as much detail as possible before the interview. Check their website, read news reports from the internet, speak to friends. It always leaves a good impression with a prospective employer that you have come well prepared for the interview.
   
2. Confidence: Be confident. This is something most officers can manage well since we have been through so much of this before. Even if you feel nervous/anxious within (which most of us would) force yourself to project confidence and calm. Right before you enter the interview hall practice deep breathing. It works very well for me. If possible try to imbibe a 'nothing to lose' attitude. It really helps to perk up one's confidence.
   
3. Clarity & Brevity: Please be very clear, concise and to the point with your answers. They don't have to be in the typical crisp armed forces manner but they shouldn't be a long, boring monologue either. That can leave the interviewer very impatient and discourage a dialogue.
   
4. Rehearse: There are some questions which are almost always asked in interviews. It might be a good idea to write down as many as you can remember and rehearse them before the interview.
   
5. Honesty: Be honest about your replies. Interviewers typically have so much experience with candidates that a change in the tone, facial expressions, voice modulations, etc. can give away a lie very easily.
   
6. Pertinence: Be prepared to mention the pertinence your qualifications and experience have to the vacancy you are applying for. Ultimately that is what an employer is looking for, how well you will fit into the profile and deliver results. Match yourself with the vacancy and highlight those points.
7. Points from the CV: Up to 90% of questions in an interview can come from your CV. Please ensure you don't write unnecessary things in it which you will not be able to answer if queried in detail about.
8. Seek Information: The interview is as much about your getting to know the company as it is about the company knowing about you. Don't hesitate to ask questions/queries you may have about the company, profile, etc.
   
9. Follow up: In case you get the phone number or e-mail id of the interviewer, it may be a good idea to follow-up with them after a few days of the interviewer. It displays your interest to the employer.

Watch this video on how to approach the interview. As per the source blog it is relevant to college graduates, but I found it quite relevant to a wider audience as well.