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Home / General Aptitude / Interview Preparation / Resume and CV Tips
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Resume and CV Tips

HR rounds, group discussions, technical interviews and campus placement.

About Resume and CV Tips

A note on what these questions are. As with the other interview topics on this site, the answers here are recommended practice rather than computed results. A resume is read by a stranger in a few seconds, and there is no formula that decides what should be on the page; the questions ask what to do at each of the decisions involved, and the answers are the practice that careers guidance and recruiters most widely recommend. The explanations say why the other choices are weaker rather than why they are wrong. The rest of this page sets out how a resume is read and what to do about it.

What you need to understand

  • A resume is not read, it is scanned. The reader is looking for reasons to put the page into one of two piles, and they are doing it in a few seconds, which is why the first third of the page matters more than the rest.
  • The reader is matching your page against the advertisement. It follows that the words in the advertisement should appear on your page, for the things you can genuinely do.
  • Nearly all resumes are now read first by software that searches for those same words. A page written entirely for a human reader may never be shown to one.
  • Every line is an invitation to be questioned. Anything you cannot defend under one question is a liability, however impressive it looks on the page.
  • Results persuade and responsibilities do not. The reader wants to know what changed because you were there, and a number makes that checkable.
  • The first word of a bullet point is the one that is read, which is why it should be a verb in the past tense rather than a job title or an adjective.
  • One page is enough for a graduate and usually enough for anybody under about ten years. A second page dilutes the first, and the second page is often not read at all.
  • Order the sections by what is strongest, not by convention. A graduate leads with education and projects; somebody with six years of work leads with the work.
  • Tailoring does not mean rewriting. It means putting the summary and the first two bullets of each role in the order the advertisement asks for them.
  • A gap is only a problem while it is unexplained. One line in the same format as the jobs answers the question and returns the reader to your work.
  • The document is evidence about your attention to detail before it is evidence about anything else, which is why a spelling mistake costs more than it should.
  • A covering letter is the only place that can say why this employer. One specific reason is worth more than a page about your background.
  • The format, the file name and the way you send it are all part of the application. Instructions about how to apply are a small test of whether you read them.
  • What is left off matters as much as what is on. Anything you would not want to be asked about does not belong on a page you are asking somebody to read.

How to work through these questions

  1. Write the page for the advertisement, not for yourself. Read the posting, list what it asks for, and make sure the page answers each item somewhere.
  2. Put the strongest evidence in the top third. Assume the reader will not reach the bottom, and make the first screen carry the application on its own.
  3. Quantify wherever you can. A figure - a percentage, a count, a time saved - turns a claim into something the reader can weigh.
  4. Read the page as a stranger would: aloud, or handed to somebody else. The writer knows what every line was meant to say and is therefore the last person able to spot the ambiguity.
  5. Prune to one page before you add anything. The strongest resume is usually the one that has had the most removed from it.
  6. Check the instructions in the advertisement before sending: the format, the file name and the route. Then check the attachment is actually attached.

Mistakes that cost marks

  • Listing responsibilities rather than results, which describes the job rather than what you did in it.
  • Leaving the advertised words out because you would say it differently. The screen matches words, not meanings.
  • Overstating a contribution - writing led when you contributed - and then having to defend it under one question at the interview.
  • Padding a graduate resume to two pages with school results and hobbies, so that the two projects that matter are lost among them.
  • Using acronyms and internal names from a previous employer that nobody outside that company will recognise.
  • Sending the same resume to every employer, when a tailored summary and reordered bullets take ten minutes.
  • Leaving a gap unexplained because the reason is personal, when all that is needed is one line saying what the period was.
  • Sending the application by a route the employer did not ask for, which is the commonest reason a good application is never seen.

Worked example

You are deciding how long your resume should be as a recent graduate. What is the best thing to do?
  1. The approach that careers advice most widely recommends is one page, with the most relevant project or internship at the top of the page.
  2. The reason is that a graduate has about one page of relevant material, and a second page usually fills up with school results and hobbies that dilute the two things worth reading.
  3. A weaker choice is two pages, so that every project, course and achievement has a place somewhere on it. Padding a graduate resume with everything is what makes the two or three things that matter hard to find.
  4. Another weaker choice is a one page resume with a second page attached that lists the projects in more detail. An attached second page is read as a second page however it is labelled, and it is often not read at all.
  5. A third is to say that it should be as long as it needs to be. That is true in principle and leaves the decision unmade, and in practice it produces four pages.
  6. Notice the shape of the reasoning. None of the weaker choices is factually wrong, and each of them is what a reasonable candidate might decide. What makes the recommended one better is what the reader does with the page in the first few seconds.
Answer: One page, with the most relevant project or internship at the top

Practice questions with answers

A few Resume and CV Tips questions with the full solution shown, so you can see how the method is applied before you attempt the timed set.

Question 1
You are deciding whether to keep the hobbies and interests section. Which of these is the better choice?
  • A Keep it, since it makes the resume look like a person rather than a list of jobs and marks.
  • B Remove it, since hobbies have nothing to do with whether you can do the work.
  • C Keep it and list everything you enjoy, so that the reader has several things to choose from.
  • D Keep it only if a line about an interest shows something relevant: a sport played to a standard, or work that produced something.
Answer: Option D — with explanation
It is the last section a recruiter reads and sometimes the thing that starts a conversation, but only when there is something concrete in it. The answer that guidance most widely recommends is: "Keep it only if a line about an interest shows something relevant: a sport played to a standard, or work that produced something." The other options are not mistakes of fact but weaker choices, and it is worth knowing why each of them is weaker, because they are the ones that seem sensible at the time: - "Keep it and list everything you enjoy, so that the reader has several things to choose from." is weaker because a list of six interests is read as none of them being serious - "Keep it, since it makes the resume look like a person rather than a list of jobs and marks." is weaker because it makes the page look warmer only if something in it is specific enough to be remembered - "Remove it, since hobbies have nothing to do with whether you can do the work." is weaker because it is sometimes the only part of a graduate resume that distinguishes one candidate from another Common mistakes - "Keep it, since it makes the resume look like a person rather than a list of jobs and marks." is weaker because it makes the page look warmer only if something in it is specific enough to be remembered - "Remove it, since hobbies have nothing to do with whether you can do the work." is weaker because it is sometimes the only part of a graduate resume that distinguishes one candidate from another - "Keep it and list everything you enjoy, so that the reader has several things to choose from." is weaker because a list of six interests is read as none of them being serious
Question 2
You have a two year gap that you spent preparing for examinations. What is the recommended thing to do?
  • A Mention it in the summary at the top, so that the reader is prepared for it before the dates.
  • B Give it one line with the years and what you were doing, in the same format as the jobs.
  • C Give it several lines with the examinations taken and the subjects covered in each of them.
  • D Leave it off and explain it at the interview, so that the resume stays focused on your work.
Answer: Option B — with explanation
Formatted like the rest of the record it reads as a period accounted for, rather than as a hole with an explanation in it. The approach that careers advice most widely recommends is: "Give it one line with the years and what you were doing, in the same format as the jobs." The other options are not mistakes of fact but weaker choices, and it is worth knowing why each of them is weaker, because they are the ones that seem sensible at the time: - "Give it several lines with the examinations taken and the subjects covered in each of them." is weaker because several lines for a gap gives it more of the page than the work around it - "Mention it in the summary at the top, so that the reader is prepared for it before the dates." is weaker because it puts the least persuasive fact on the page into its most prominent position - "Leave it off and explain it at the interview, so that the resume stays focused on your work." is weaker because the resume is read before the interview, and the gap is read as unexplained Common mistakes - "Leave it off and explain it at the interview, so that the resume stays focused on your work." is weaker because the resume is read before the interview, and the gap is read as unexplained - "Give it several lines with the examinations taken and the subjects covered in each of them." is weaker because several lines for a gap gives it more of the page than the work around it - "Mention it in the summary at the top, so that the reader is prepared for it before the dates." is weaker because it puts the least persuasive fact on the page into its most prominent position
Question 3
You are deciding whether to write a long notice period on your resume. Which of these is the better choice?
  • A Put it in the summary at the top, so that the employer knows your availability from the start.
  • B Put it at the end, so that the information is there without being the first thing seen.
  • C Leave it out of the resume and raise it when the offer is being discussed.
  • D Leave it out entirely and mention it at the interview if the question comes up.
Answer: Option C — with explanation
The resume is for persuading an employer to meet you; the terms are for the conversation after they have decided they want to. The answer that guidance most widely recommends is: "Leave it out of the resume and raise it when the offer is being discussed." The other options are the choices candidates most often make, and each is weaker for a reason worth knowing before the resume goes out: - "Put it at the end, so that the information is there without being the first thing seen." is weaker because it is still a reason to hesitate, and the reader has to reach the end to find it - "Leave it out entirely and mention it at the interview if the question comes up." is weaker because leaving it out is right, but volunteering it at the interview is the same mistake later - "Put it in the summary at the top, so that the employer knows your availability from the start." is weaker because it invites the reader to rule you out before they have read anything about your work Common mistakes - "Put it in the summary at the top, so that the employer knows your availability from the start." is weaker because it invites the reader to rule you out before they have read anything about your work - "Leave it out entirely and mention it at the interview if the question comes up." is weaker because leaving it out is right, but volunteering it at the interview is the same mistake later - "Put it at the end, so that the information is there without being the first thing seen." is weaker because it is still a reason to hesitate, and the reader has to reach the end to find it
Question 4
You are deciding what to leave off the resume. What is the recommended thing to do?
  • A Leave off anything that is not directly relevant to the role you are applying for.
  • B Leave off anything you would not want to be asked about in the interview.
  • C Leave off nothing, and let the reader decide what is relevant to them and what is not.
  • D Leave off the older material first when space is short, since recent work matters most.
Answer: Option B — with explanation
It is a single rule that covers hobbies, skills, courses and overstated claims, and it is the one that keeps a page defensible. What guidance most widely recommends here is: "Leave off anything you would not want to be asked about in the interview." The other options are the choices candidates most often make, and each is weaker for a reason worth knowing before the resume goes out: - "Leave off anything that is not directly relevant to the role you are applying for." is weaker because it is a reasonable rule, but it is hard to apply, since nobody knows what will look relevant - "Leave off the older material first when space is short, since recent work matters most." is weaker because the older material is often what distinguishes a career change or an unusual background - "Leave off nothing, and let the reader decide what is relevant to them and what is not." is weaker because a page with everything on it is the page where nothing is prominent Common mistakes - "Leave off nothing, and let the reader decide what is relevant to them and what is not." is weaker because a page with everything on it is the page where nothing is prominent - "Leave off anything that is not directly relevant to the role you are applying for." is weaker because it is a reasonable rule, but it is hard to apply, since nobody knows what will look relevant - "Leave off the older material first when space is short, since recent work matters most." is weaker because the older material is often what distinguishes a career change or an unusual background
Question 5
You are deciding how much contact detail to put at the top of the resume. What is the best thing to do?
  • A Name, phone number, professional email and a city, and nothing else beyond that.
  • B Name, phone and email, and leave the city out so that location cannot be a reason to reject you.
  • C Name, phone, email and the links to every profile you maintain, so the reader can choose.
  • D Name, phone, email, full postal address, date of birth and nationality, as in a formal application.
Answer: Option A — with explanation
The reader needs one way to call you and one to write to you. Everything else takes space and adds nothing. The answer that guidance most widely recommends is: "Name, phone number, professional email and a city, and nothing else beyond that." The other options are the choices candidates most often make, and each is weaker for a reason worth knowing before the resume goes out: - "Name, phone, email and the links to every profile you maintain, so the reader can choose." is weaker because a row of links scatters the reader's attention across four sites before they have read anything - "Name, phone and email, and leave the city out so that location cannot be a reason to reject you." is weaker because location is one of the first things a recruiter needs to know, and its absence is noticed - "Name, phone, email, full postal address, date of birth and nationality, as in a formal application." is weaker because most of that is either unnecessary or things an employer should not be asking for Common mistakes - "Name, phone and email, and leave the city out so that location cannot be a reason to reject you." is weaker because location is one of the first things a recruiter needs to know, and its absence is noticed - "Name, phone, email and the links to every profile you maintain, so the reader can choose." is weaker because a row of links scatters the reader's attention across four sites before they have read anything - "Name, phone, email, full postal address, date of birth and nationality, as in a formal application." is weaker because most of that is either unnecessary or things an employer should not be asking for

Frequently asked questions

Are these answers the correct ones?

They are recommended rather than correct, which is why the page says so first. They are the practice that careers guidance and recruiters most widely agree on. Conventions differ between countries and between industries, and the safest thing is to look at what the employers you are applying to actually ask for.

How long should a resume be?

One page for a graduate, one or occasionally two for somebody with a decade of relevant work, and never more than two unless you are applying for an academic post. The test is not the number of pages but whether everything on them earns its place.

Does the layout matter more than the content?

No, but it decides whether the content is read. A page with clear headings, consistent dates and a readable font is scanned further down than one that is dense and undifferentiated. The layout is what gets the content its chance.

How much should I tailor the resume for each application?

Rewrite the two line summary and reorder the first bullets of each role against the advertisement. That takes about ten minutes and moves the matching evidence to the top. Rewriting the whole document for every posting is not sustainable and is not necessary.

Should I explain a gap on the resume?

Yes, in one line, in the same format as the jobs around it. An unexplained gap is read as something being hidden, and a single line removes the question and returns the reader to your work. You do not need to give the reasons.

What is the single commonest mistake?

Writing responsibilities instead of results, and leaving the numbers out. Every other candidate has the same job title; what distinguishes a page is what changed because that particular person was there, and a figure is what makes it credible.

Take the Resume and CV Tips test

Two timed papers on the same syllabus — sit the foundation paper first, then the advanced one. Both use the real exam paper format with a full step-by-step review of every question once you submit.

Set 01 • Foundation Level
Resume and CV Tips — Foundation Paper
25 Questions
30 Minutes
+2 / −0.5 Marking
Start this paper
Set 02 • Advanced Level
Resume and CV Tips — Advanced Paper
25 Questions
30 Minutes
+2 / −0.5 Marking
Start this paper

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