Writing one’s profile can put best of the writer in dilemma. Thousands of thoughts go through the mind “Generic Vs Specific”, “Crisp Vs detailed”, “Narration in first party or as third party” etc. Though this situation has given rise to a full time profession of profile writers but still there is no sure fire way of writing the profile. People write what they feel is the best and recruiters read the way they feel is a fit to the requirement but most of the time reality lies at another spot which could very well be reflective in shortlist to select ratios.
So is it a rocket science or exploring a mystery. Well none, the most fundamental requirement of any profile is honesty while writing it. The profile is like a script which candidate enacts at various stages of interviews. So an honestly written profile will minimize or eliminate the gap between stated talent in profile and displayed talent during the interview and thus will create the best chances for selection. The basic of writing a smart profile could be as follows:
- Prepare a repository of your skills, experience, education & training and achievements before starting to write a profile.
- Remember profiles are written for the job and not for oneself. So include all information which is required for that particular job or sector and avoid putting information which pleases you but may not be relevant.
- Length of profile most of the time directly co-relate to the sector. A fast paced and execution sector prefers crisp profile however R&D, project based sector will always prefer a detailed profile. Irrespective of sector every one prefers specific and relevant information rather than vague, ambiguous and all-encompassing statements.
- Use very professional language which should surely not be bland but definitely avoid self-eulogizing statements.
- Always prepare two versions one which you directly send to the hiring manager and another which is required for job sites, social platform and organization using application tracking system because in this scenario your profile is dealt by a software built on certain logic. In this scenario put all key words or action words ( in order of relevance) in a snapshot on first page so that they are read by software easily. Also include nouns that describe your experience in addition to “action” words.”For example, mention ‘management’ in addition to ‘managed’ and use specific nouns. Instead of ‘word processing software’, use ‘Microsoft Word.