What is a Resume? Resumes are not the ones that have a detailed listing of relevant job experience and education to obtain an interview when seeking employment. Gone are the days when resumes used to be pages long and it used to have a cover letter attached to it. Resumes have taken a new turn and it is more of graphs and charts for making it compelling for the reviewers. It just needs to have a crisp detailing about the skills and talents more importantly than the certificates and degrees. People now gauge you by what you do and how you do rather than the certified degrees and excellent results. Let’s get into the Guidelines of Creating an Effective Resume. Select a Template Before you get into preparing a resume, first find the template that you want to stick on to. You should be clear in your head, what to select and how to present. Here are the sample formats you can browse through to see which one suits the best for you. https://resumelab.com/cv-templates Start from the Basics In general, you should have your work experience including your social and community involvement and side-projects. Organize them from the most recent ones. And if you are a fresher, you will have to highlight the skill and interests that you are an expert in. Showcasing your experience adds value. At the same time, your skills matter a lot for the interviewers. Add them in bullets and pointers. Use different fonts to highlight the skills. Add relevant details of Accomplishments Add your education, degrees and certificates if any. Ensure that they are relevant to the job you are applying for. For instance, imagine you are applying for the job of a business analyst and you are good at cooking. Even if you have the best culinary skills, it does not connect with the job you are applying for. Hence, it is very important to filter the details and add them to your resume. You can certainly add various accomplishments that are relevant to the job. Add Your Personal Information Add your basic information right from the full name, email address, and also the phone number. You can also mention about relocation or work from home/ remote option if you are looking out for that. It is important for you and the interviewer to be very clear with this. You might also add your social media account details like that of LinkedIn, and the website URL if there is any. Add Resume Summary Once you have all the basic details laid out in the correct sequence, add resume summary at the beginning of the resume. This should be crisp and to the point. Here are some samples for resume summaries that you can refer to. https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-resume-summary-examples-thatll-make-writing-your-own-easier Add Infographics to Your Resume Giving your resume a creative touch is very important. Your resume should not be only texts and at the same time, it should not be colorful like a poster. Your resume should have a perfect blend of creativity and conventional format mixed together and presented in an appealing way. Here are some samples of creative resume with infographics. https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-sites-to-create-an-awesome-infographic-resume-even-if-youre-the-least-creative-person-ever Your resume should be a living document that should reflect you as a person. Keep updating your resume and align them according to the job role you are applying for. You can edit/add/delete details to keep your resume relevant. Whether you get selected or not, make sure that you put in all your effort to make up for your success. And with this vibe and effective resume, we are sure that you’d definitely land to your dream job. Good luck!

Listen to the Best Podcasts for College Students : Are you in your bed thinking what to do and have nothing to do? Are you not able to fall asleep and are trying hard? Are you feeling low, down, and need some boost and motivation? A Podcast is the best thing for you! Whether you are in bed or the washroom, whether you are cooking or lying or even cleaning or driving, the podcast will be of great help and a source of learning. And if you are a college student and are very bored in the lockdown, if you are trying to learn something that you are passionate about, a podcast is the one for you! Learning has changed over the years and it has transformed itself digitally. Podcasts are very trending and famous these days because you can learn and get entertained on the go. You don’t need to fix yourself to a place but can learn easily through your cell phone only by listening. Whether you are working or jogging or sleeping or even gymming, you can still listen to the podcast and learn a lot through it. All that you need to do is tune in to a channel in the podcast list and start listening. You can repeat and listen to it all over again if you have missed something. The best thing is that you can also learn at your convenience and pace. There are podcasts for everything that you wish to learn and get entertained. If you haven’t started using it still, get yourself started with it. You must get used to it now and start reaping its benefits. You will get to know a lot about the trending news and updates. Here is a list of podcasts that you should listen to and cannot miss at any chance! General: Stuff You Should Know Have you ever wondered about the simplest things in our daily lives and thought about how they work? Ever wondered how the credit cards or the debit cards we use work? Though we don’t need the information to use it, it still makes up for an interesting conversation if you are talking with someone. This podcast is for the one who does not know what to listen to but is keen on listening to one. Start with this and you would never get bored of all the interesting facts and information shared on this podcast. History: A History of The World in 100 Objects Have you ever wondered about the simplest things in our daily lives and thought about how they work? Ever wondered how the credit cards or the debit cards we use work? Though we don’t need the information to use it, it still makes up for an interesting conversation if you are talking with someone. This podcast is for the one who does not know what to listen to but is keen on listening to one. Start with this and you would never get bored of all the interesting facts and information shared on this podcast. Entrepreneurial thought leaders Have you ever wondered about the simplest things in our daily lives and thought about how they work? Ever wondered how the credit cards or the debit cards we use work? Though we don’t need the information to use it, it still makes up for an interesting conversation if you are talking with someone. This podcast is for the one who does not know what to listen to but is keen on listening to one. Start with this and you would never get bored of all the interesting facts and information shared on this podcast. Marketing: Marketing Over Coffee If you are looking for simple marketing tips and strategies while whipping in a cup of coffee on a relaxing weekend, this one is for you. The host shares the tips and strategies that are very traditional yet reliable, feasible, and practical. Social Pros Podcast  As the title suggests, it all deals with marketing, public relations, and branding. You will hear a lot of best practices, tips, and strategies related to content marketing, branding, and the likes. Grads and students, who wish to pursue a degree in the social media genre, should get a catch of this podcast. Success Made Simple  This podcast talks about how you can develop a winning mindset and leverage your business. There are lots of interviews with marketers, professionals, and business stalwarts sharing their journey in this podcast. It will give you loads of inspiration and ideas on how to go about for your next business venture. Business: The Indian Startup Show This podcast is all about the newly establishing businesses/startups in the country. It is hosted by Neil Patel along with few of his friends. You can listen to various entrepreneurs and business personalities talking about their ideas, journey, struggles, and achievements. Science: Half Science, Half Fiction This podcast talks about half science and half fiction. Every week the host picks up one fictional story from the future and then brings one expert to talk about it. Have you ever imagined if all the drugs were made legal what would happen? What if there was no internet at all? Tune in to this podcast and get answers to all of these fictional yet real questions! Brains On! Science Podcast for Kids & Adults This science podcast is for everyone. It has amazing science info, a questionnaire about simple yet weird things. Tune in to what the host discusses in this podcast to turn your brain on. All science students should tune in to this podcast to know the basics of science and gather information. Fashion Designing: Successful Fashion Designing This podcast is for the fashion designers and the aspirants who wish to make a mark in the industry with their creativity for designing clothes. Whether you want to start with the basics or wish to get the premium courses, you can avail a lot of benefits. Tune in to this podcast

Would you like have a large repertoire of skills, get to choose which skills you want to get paid for and how much you get paid, who you want to work with, which projects you want to work on and when?  Well, then you must be “employable”. In other words, you need to have the knowledge, the skills, and personal attributes to not only get the job, but get hold the job, to thrive in it and make your career your life’s work. Now, this isn’t something you can only achieve after quite a bit of work experience, it is possible to get there even before you graduate. Follow this step-by-step (and fun) guide to get there. 1. Study Yourself Having a good understanding of you – your strengths, values and passion is the starting point. This is not a one-time task, doing a self-assessment periodically (ideally every semester), will give you more clarity and help you leverage your skills. According to Drucker, “It takes far less energy to move from first-rate performance to excellence than it does to move from incompetence to mediocrity.” This step is crucial to your success because it serves as your compass. 2. Immerse yourself in a suitable environment Identify a suitable environment to provide you with the exposure to develop your skills and personality. You could enroll in one of the best colleges in Bangalore such as Garden City University that offers great curricular and extracurricular activities. Apart from this, you have got to take the initiative and be in the driver’s seat (of your career). You can start as a volunteer or an intern, you could move on to working part time or on weekends or even do freelance work. This enables you to apply your learning in the (real-life) work context. 3. Update yourself Know about the advancements in your field, current and future trends. Keeping track of these will give you an indication of how you can put your skills to use in creative ways and the new skills you can learn. Identify the absolute best in your field and learn from them, subscribe to their channels, follow them on social media etc. In short, become the go-to person for any updates in your field among the other students in your department. 4. Develop Yourself Being committed to improving your mind and body daily is the way to the top. Read, listen and exercise every single day. An often-overlooked aspect is striking a healthy balance between work and play. Travel as much as possible, play sports, expand your circle to seniors, faculty member and cultivate contacts in your preferred industry. You could also get guidance from a mentor. 5. Teach yourself Look for the opportunity to learn from everyone and everything around you. Try to look at things from a different perspective until you find one or more things to appreciate. The ability to learn quickly is one of the most valuable skills. Devote some time every day (for at least a month) to learn and practice a new skill. For example, making presentations, digital marketing, using accounting software etc. 6. Market yourself It is imperative to showcase your talents and skills and build your personal brand not only to present and position yourself but also to be visible in the job market. This has become easier than the olden days, thanks to social media as it opens up a world of opportunity because everyone is online – employers, recruiters and everyone who would benefit from what you have to offer. So, from Day 1 build your portfolio – a record of your work and your achievements. 7. Reward Yourself Getting to world-class takes deliberate focus and you can get there only by focusing on one step at a time. Take a big jar and some colorful strips of paper, every time you read an article, listen to a podcast, attend a webinar etc write it on a strip of paper and place it in the jar. Appreciating yourself for the effort and having micro-celebrations along the way, makes the journey enjoyable and keeps you invested in the process. You don’t need to wait for your mark sheet or your campus placement to know if you have put in the necessary effort. In these fun ways, you will have developed the skills that provide you the choice to select a job that’s a good fit for you, enabling you to create the career you love. Develop them further and you are on your way to being the best in your industry. You are the most important project you will ever work on. Get started!

College, Fun and Job!! Let’s bust some myths!! College means fun! It means long cafeteria hangouts, it means selfie with friends, it means hostel life, it also means getting the best of education! But once the college life is towards the end it also means worrying for a good job. Afterall who would not love to have that big fat paycheck at the end of the month!  Well, employability is the end result of quality education. Once you get that first offer letter it will boost your confidence to next level. What can be better than finding that dream job, having five offer letters from the best of the companies while still in college! Research shows that there is a huge demand for fresh talent who will add value to any organization and millennials will constitute 75% of the workforce just by 2025. So, this is the right time to invest yourself in a good institute that not only claims but prepares you for the job market, an institute that assists you not just till your graduation but for a lifetime whenever you are in need of a job! Let us bust few myths about the success in job market. Myth- Employability of college students is often characterized as ‘their’ potentials or ‘abilities’ to get the first job. Reality– In reality your education from a good institution is one of the major criteria of your selection. For freshers what makes you more employable is your transferable skills ones that you are taught at your college. Myth– As a fresh graduate you will have to have all the skills required for the job position. Reality– Since most colleges provide only basic training in the name of assistance, often the failure to land a good job is pushed on the shoulder of a student. Educational organisations, should impart the right mix of technical skills and soft skills that are vital for selection. Myth– Your ‘aptitude’ test is the only criteria of hiring you. Attitude doesn’t matter! Reality– Along with learning skills you need to have a great attitude, be a quick learner, keen on learning and updating yourself. Once You are in the job market you will get that hold on to your dream job which requires the right attitude. Grooming session by colleges are thus very important to develop this skill. Myth– If you are good at your job the team spirit doesn’t matter. Reality– Understanding how a team works within and organization is a major step to success. Thus, select colleges that offer compulsory internship during your three or four-years course. That way you will be prepared to understand the hierarchical structure of an organization. College, Fun and Job!! Let’s bust some myths!! Choose the right institute Reflect on your academic and extracurricular experiences in and out of college Implement the skills you learnt Pay best attention to grooming yourself Understand the skill of communication Connect with people, weave a network Remember when you step out of your school life it is important to understand what you want in future. Choosing the right institution that will shape your future is of utmost importance. It can either make you or break you. Write to us in comments if you think there are other myths related to jobs.

The Covid-19 Pandemic has made all of us aware of what is social distancing. In a couple of months’ time each one of us are, at least 6 feet away from our family members, our BFFs, that 2am friend and name whoever you want. But social distancing from social media? Is it even possible? FOMO is real so is our love for TikTok and whoever can even remember a life before Instagram or Facebook! Then one fine morning it struck us, real hard! When the Indian government banned 57, yes you heard it right, not 10, not 20 but 57 mobile applications in India! And, suddenly our virtual worlds came crashing down. First of all, the physical distancing and then that. It is a well-known fact that ever since lockdown social media has seen a rapid growth of virtual presence. According to a report published by the Financial Express the average time spent by users on Facebook was 41.4 minutes in comparison to 66.9 minutes during lockdown ever since March 29th. The average time being spent on TikTok went up from 39.5 minutes to 56.9 minutes, and on Instagram, from 21.8 minutes to 35.4 minutes. Let us all agree that our virtual media presence increased as a compensation to the physical distancing we suddenly faced. Ever since the first phase of lockdown social media has been instrumental in keeping our contacts alive. A simple cake baking video would make us want to try it at home. Physical exercises became popular only because of the urge to upload it online. Comments and likes made lockdown easier to handle. But have we ever given it a thought, what if there was no social media at all to ease our lockdown days? Seems impossible and crazy? Well, let us try imagining something like this. Let us see if we can survive at all without social media. Although many of us would agree that this is the ‘new normal.’ However, we should at least try to think of an alternative that will be handy if tomorrow the virtual world vanishes! So, here are few tips that you can implement to see if you still can survive if ever there is a virtual media pandemic: Schedule your Mobile/Laptop time– Remember, when you would put an alarm for waking up so that you do not miss your college bus, or you are right on time or class? Well we all were part of a schedule or a routine that made our life easier. So, try making a similar schedule for your presence on the virtual world, making sure that you turn off your apps once your time for the day lapses. Find a new hobby– We agree that during lockdown many of us tried new activities inspired by social media posts by our friends, family members or any random influencer that you may follow. But once done it’s important to get over that hangover! It is time you do not end up acquiring a hobby just for the sake of show-off on the virtual platform. Click pictures, do yoga, cook delicacies, dance your heart out but avoid posting them online. In that way soon you will develop a hobby that will be long-term! Spend time with the people around you, sans the mobile phone– seems impossible again? Most of you are living with your parents during this lockdown. Try having a daily conversation with your parents at least for an hour where your mobile phone will not be with you! You might initially get distracted or feel something is missing, not being able to concentrate on the conversation. But practise makes one perfect! You will see that you have been missing a chunk of your life because of the mobile. Prefer alternatives for social media urge: That urge to go online, check out the latest post, hit a like and comment can be put under control only if you find another serious activity to do. List out things that you like doing. Then sort out the ones possible without social media. Even if you find one such thing, start meditating on that. Very soon you might feel that your virtual presence was your ‘want’ and not exactly the ‘need.’ On this note may be its time we understand that our survival is not complimented by our social media presence. There was a world just sometime back when we survived without the urgency to go online and all of us are capable to doing it again! Social media of course, is a boon. It connects us with the worldwide, but one should be careful not to let it rule your life. So yes, social distancing from social media is a thing! It is possible and is highly recommended.

Deciding to go to college is a difficult decision for many young people and their parents. Where should you go to college? Why should you go to college? What should you study? How can you pay for your college experience? Today, more than ever before, students are also asking whether or not attendance in a university setting is worth it. Why not just do all your coursework online? It will be less expensive and more convenient to attend college courses online. Many reasons exist, however, for physical attendance at a college or university. A college education will teach you many things beyond academics. Consider the following reasons for attending college or university: Learning to live with others is a lesson you will not learn through an online college. In today’s world, many young people have not had the experience of sharing a room with someone else. In a university setting, you often have at least one roommate. College attendance will teach you how to live with other people. Who will clean the room? How will you share the space of a dorm room or apartment? You can learn valuable coping and people skills by having roommates. You will encounter people who are not like you. Attendance at a university provides you with opportunities to meet people who are different from you. They will have different backgrounds, different economic situations. Religious and political beliefs may differ from yours. You will meet people from different countries and cultures. You will have the great advantage of expanding your understanding of the world around you through the people you meet at college. Attendance at the physical campus, instead of just online, gives you opportunities outside the classroom setting to learn from new people about their ideas and cultures. How will you react when faced with new opinions and ideas? It is very easy to adopt the ideas and belief system of people we are surrounded with. College attendance will expose you to new ideas and new beliefs. How will you react to these new ideas? Will you explore them? What if they conflict with your ideas? Can you learn something from beliefs other than yours? Will you learn to respect those whose ideas are different from yours? College is a great place to learn how to do this. Do you know how to handle responsibilities? When you leave home to attend university or college you will not have your parents to help manage your life. You have to assume responsibility for your own life. Here are a few examples of these responsibilities: Scheduling – You must learn to schedule your time and to follow your schedule. Do you have time for that party, or do you need to be studying for the exam? Your mom is not there to tell you when to study, or when to go to bed; you must learn to deal with schedules on your own. Deadlines – When is that paper due? Which day is the final exam? At what time does that assignment need to be turned in? You are responsible for keeping track and meeting all these deadlines! Laundry – Yes, you are responsible for doing your laundry. Do you know how? If you stay home and take online courses your mother can continue doing laundry for you, but at some time you need to grow up and do your wash! Bills – Have you ever had to pay bills before? Do you know what happens when you are late with a credit card payment? Going away to college often means learning to pay your bills. And pay them on time! You will also learn how to manage your own personal and moral responsibility. Going away to college requires personal and moral responsibility and accountability. Whose moral code will you choose? Do you accept responsibility for your actions? Your parents are not on-site with you to tell you how to live or how to act; what will you use as your moral compass or guide? What are your grounding principles for life? Facing these questions on your own can provide you with a great growing experience. Even though doing your college degree through online coursework may be more cost-effective, it may also deprive you of many valuable experiences and learning opportunities. The full college experience goes far beyond academic learning to encompass broadened awareness of the world around you and personal growth and development.