This article is the third post under the series HOW TO BUILD YOUR RESUME

When the campus placements were held in my college, everyone wanted to get the best job. Hence, I talked to my seniors who had been through this before, and they gave me a golden insight on why I had to frame my resume intelligently.

They told me that this was going to be my one and only chance to catch a potential employer's attention. In this busy professional world, nobody has hours to go through a single resume. According to statistics, the average employer only spends six seconds looking at a resume.Yes, just 6. So are you getting the point? You have to prove your worth, through your resume, within a matter of SIX SECONDS!

You must have come across several pointers on what to do to frame a good Engineering resume. In this piece, I want to highlight 5 Things You Should Not Do while framing your resume. Check if you are you making any of these mistakes?

• Don't copy paste

Don't send the same resume to every firm. Many colleges in India follow the practice of sending a particular format of the resume to entire batch, Don't copy that. Make your own resume, have it proofread by seniors and teachers. It will take 2-3 days to get the final result but it will be worth of it. Understand this that, different organizations and roles have different requirements. Customize your resume slightly for the different types of roles.

For example: For any Mass Recruiter role, Mention your Projects and mini Projects, But if the role is being offered in Marketing domain, focus on Marketing Internship or getting sponsors for your college fest, emphasize these points.

• Say No to extras

Don’t add irrelevant stuff. A job that is hiring software engineers, wouldn't care if you have won “Cute Baby competition”. Be logical.

• Don't lie!

One of my friends had a two years' gap in his profile, and he tried to bury it. He got caught. You could explain, but do not outright lie about your gaps. Remember, honesty and confidence are the keys (Along with a little common sense!)

• Be smart, not over smart

Don't you think that reading words like "hard worker" and "focused" would get you hired? Hence, change your presentation - use examples or achievements, instead of big words. And please, do not flaunt your vocabulary. You're asking the recruiters for a job, so do not try to outsmart them.

• No stories

Follow the one-page rule. You must fit your resume on a single page (unless you have more than 10 years of experience). Of course, do not try to fit every single event of your life on that one page. Pick the highlights and add them. I wrote mine in the range of 500-800 words. Short, precise and impressive - That's how it should be.

Follow these rules and you're good to go. However, I'll share a little mistake I made. In the initial few resumes, I forgot to add my contact information. I got too involved in framing the rest of the resume. But I'm sure you won't make that mistake ;)

And wait, did you proofread?