If Indians want to sit in one of these cubicles at a call center in Bangalore, they're going to have to write better resumes — not to mention shorter. Ninety percent of resumes analyzed recently by TeamLease, an Indian staffing company, had errors in them and far too many went over the accepted one-page limit. (Sherwin Crasto/Reuters)
Why can't Indians write a good resume?
From incomprehensible language to laughable lengths, many Indians are CV-challenged. Here's why it matters.
BANGALORE — It is a country with the world’s second-largest English-speaking population after the United States. It is a country so proud of its English language skills that it aspires to be the global labor superpower of the 21st century. But if first impressions count, the resume writing skills of many Indians present a bleaker side to this promise.
“To always spread positively within the branch and reduce the grape vine,” said one job candidate in his resume.
“I laugh easily, but do not suffer fools gladly. I expect the same effort from others as I give myself,” wrote another aspirant.
Such gaffes are commonplace in over three quarters of resumes, says a recent study by TeamLease Services, which picked these out from a newly-arrived bunch. TeamLease is a large, Indian staffing company headquartered in Bangalore.
Since the start of the global economic downturn, Indian companies are flooded with resumes. Candidates are frequently updating their CVs on online job websites. The economic recession has reversed the situation for many in India where, until recently, jobs chased candidates.
But stress from a weak job market is now showing up in the resumes. Analyzing resumes of 500 entry- to mid-level job aspirants across different industries in July, TeamLease found that more than 90 percent of them had errors in some form or other.
“If a resume helps open doors at companies, many of these people would not get a toehold,” says Surabhi Mathur-Gandhi, general manager at TeamLease.
For one, many Indians write long, drawn-out resumes. Against the acceptable international one-page, the typical Indian resume for entry-level jobs runs into six or seven pages, says Ravi Shankar K. who heads Weir Minerals India, the local subsidiary of the UK-based pump and valve manufacturer.
After 13 years of work experience in the United States, Shankar says his concise, one-page resume would surprise many Indians.
Often, candidates’ resumes follow a cookie-cutter pattern making it obvious that they got help from the "resume blaster" websites, says Sridhar Ramanujam, who heads a branding and consulting firm BrandComm. He has been receiving a glut of resumes since the start of the economic downturn.
Are language skills really necessary to write a good resume? I believe writing resume has more to do with one's mindset rather than possession of good language skills. The problem lies in the believe that having more things on resume will make it more impressive, and this belief is cherished to such an extent that people do some things just to write it on their resume. So watching people collecting bogus certificates for trainings, just for expanding their resumes is a common scenario here.
There may be many possible reasons for this lousy behavior, but one thing that I can relate it to is our system of education that focus on getting marks. Right from our childhood days we are taught to follow this ostentatious behavior in our studies. Study and get marks. Its the mantra irrespective of what we have learned. When it comes to career(Studies) the quantity wins over quality.
No wonder we carry on the habits inculcated during childhood days and believe in "Lengthy resume = Effective resume".
It is their country. Their customs. And it works for them! Let them evolve at their own rate.
Saritha - Well written piece. Even though India is a world's second-largest English-speaking country but it doesn't translate into second-largest English-writing country. There is not much emphasis on writing part here.
On top of that, there is this small town factor. Lot of early stage job applicants come from small towns. Lot of desperation-driven approach to get right buzz words in resume and wrong assumption that more is better.
This is also an opportunity to reinvent personal branding. These young kids are coming to job market pretty much after the acceptance of tools like Facebook/Twitter etc. It's unfair to expect everyone to have a good resume writing skills. We need to look at candidate in all aspects.
I am definitely biased here. We have a prototype stage version of a solution which aims to fix this problem - http://www.codemunch.com
This is riding on a simple assumption that if large number of candidates are having similar problem then problem is systemic. This requires both new set of tools and general awareness about personal branding.
Thanks - Brij
Recent on India :
Goa rape case threatens India-Russian relations
Sonya Fatah - India - February 5, 2010 09:15 ET
A brutal attack on a 9-year-old girl resonates far beyond the beaches of Goa.
Adventure travel: The Great Himalaya Trail?
Jason Overdorf - India - February 4, 2010 07:11 ET
Why walk Everest, K2, and other mountain giants? Because they are there.
Goa's tourism boss links sexual assaults to bikinis
Jason Overdorf - India - February 1, 2010 06:45 ET
A shocking case provokes outrage. The local government blames swimwear.
Ambulance chasing in Mumbai
Hanna Ingber Win - India - January 30, 2010 09:47 ET
Need to get to the hospital fast? Then don't come here.
Special Report
Thomas Mucha - Commerce - January 28, 2010 17:24 ET
20 correspondents, 20 countries and a world of pain. Meet the ground truth of the global economic crisis.
On Location: New Delhi — The gender gap
Jason Overdorf - India - January 23, 2010 10:38 ET
On Location: Delhi — Psychiatry at the street level
Mark Scheffler - India - January 22, 2010 08:38 ET
Facebook, Orkut and the caste system
Hanna Ingber Win - India - January 21, 2010 06:53 ET
Ancient, meet the modern. How are India's complex social interactions playing out across social media?
India's comics boom: The Pao Collective
Jason Overdorf - India - January 20, 2010 17:09 ET
It may not be Savita Bhabhi, but a group of Indian artists is reinventing the medium.
.jpg)
One man's trash
Mridu Khullar - India - January 19, 2010 14:23 ET
About one percent of Delhi residents scrape by as trash pickers. Now, privatization threatens to leave them even worse off.
Bollywood has a new king
Saritha Rai - India - January 17, 2010 09:20 ET
What makes the blockbuster Bollywood film "3 Idiots" and others so smart? Smart marketing, yaar.
Police shut down Mr. Gay China competition in Beijing
Dinah Gardner - China and its neighbors - January 15, 2010 12:59 ET
Restrictions on homosexuality have relaxed in recent years, but state still keeps a watchful eye.
Opinion: What it means to take a holy dip
Raman Nanda - Worldview - January 15, 2010 06:54 ET
The Kumbh festival along the sacred Ganges river means something different to each of the millions of pilgrims who attend.
India autos: Detroit? Frankfurt? Tokyo? Not anymore.
Saritha Rai - Commerce - January 15, 2010 06:41 ET
New Delhi's auto show illustrates how the global automotive industry has shifted. Big time, yaar.
The secret behind "Avatar" and Twilight's "New Moon"
Jason Overdorf - Commerce - January 12, 2010 06:36 ET
Can you hear the Indian accent behind Hollywood's biggest hits?
Opinion: Raped by the law?
Jason Overdorf - Worldview - January 9, 2010 09:55 ET
A controversial case shakes India's faith in the rule of law.
Mumbai Parsis divided on intermarriage
Hanna Ingber Win - India - January 5, 2010 07:02 ET
With numbers dwindling, young Parsis turn to organized social events to meet, and hopefully marry, others of their cultural group.
India education: Engineering going off the rails?
Shailaja Neelakantan - India - December 28, 2009 06:32 ET
India's bid for full Washington Accord membership, an elite honor, has been postponed again.
How an accused secret agent has tied up India-Pakistan-US relations
Sonya Fatah - India - December 23, 2009 06:51 ET
Since David Coleman Headley was taken into custody, suspicion in India about Pakistan and the US has grown.
Watch GlobalPost videos:
Reporter's Notebook
India’s President Pratibha Patil, 74 and the first woman to occupy that high post, is usually the epitome of decorum: Sari-end demurely...Read more >
Long live dynasty politics. Rajendra Shekhawat, the son of India’s president Pratibha Patil and a political greenhorn, won a seat in the...Read more >
India is the largest sugar consumer in the world. Given its population of 1.2 billion, India is among the largest consumers of much of the...Read more >
Featured: Special Projects
Oceans:
Assessing their health
After the Fall:
20 years since the Berlin Wall came down
Life, Death and the Taliban:
Videos and stories
Study Abroad:
Students report from the road
Living in the Shadows:
An intimate look at China's migrant workers
A World of Trouble:
The global economy in 20 hotspots
Comments:
3 Comments.
Login or Register to post comments