Zigsaw Blog

Month: September 2020

  • How to Write Profile Summary in Resume for Freshers With Samples

    Writing a resume has not only become important in the job market because it tells who you are but also speaks for you to your employer. We all are familiar with the phrase, first impression is the last impression. In corporate world or any job market, your resume creates the first impression for you even before you open your mouth to introduce yourself. It is, therefore, very important to not only have impressive records in your resume but also written in a correct manner.

    This article is going to tell you about one of the most important section of your resume, i.e. profile summary. Given below is all that you need to know about profile summary, what it means and how to ace the craft of writing profile summary.

    What is Profile Summary?

    The profile summary is the first section of the resume where you put up in the uppermost section briefly highlighting your experiences and achievements that you bring to the table which makes you desirable for the position.

    Also Read: How to Write a Declaration for Resume for Freshers? – With Samples

    Things to Keep in Mind While Writing Profile Summary

    1. Be Brief

    It is very important to be brief and keep it and concise as possible. An elaborately exaggerated profile summary is not going to help you in impressing your prospective employers. It is therefore advisable to be as brief as possible but do not cut short your significant points.

    2. Avoid Mistakes

    Since profile summary is the first thing that the panel looks at while selecting people for the said position. It wouldn’t look good on the candidate’s part to commit a grammatical or spelling mistake, remember the first impression is the last impression. You can take professional help from resume writers or apps specifically developed for this purpose.

    3. Be Specific and Smart About the Things that you Mention

    It is very important to pay special attention to the achievements and experiences that you are going to mention in the profile summary given that you have restrictions on the word limit. Listing all of your specifications can make the reader bored and disinterested which clearly doesn’t going to work out in your favor.

    Mention things which are relevant to the position you are applying for. If you are lacking things to mention then you can resort to miscellaneous details and link them to showcase qualities such as leadership, patience and teamwork.

    4. Sound Optimistic and Promising

    It is very important to pay attention to the tone you are opting for. You should sound optimistic, promising and enthusiastic for the position. Most of the people do not pay attention to this point, but promising optimism and your attitude can influence the probability of getting hired.

    Profile Summary Samples for Professionals

    1. Accomplished and highly-organized Graphic Designer with MBA from IIM- Ahmedabad and over 10 years of professional experience managing complex projects in the financial industry. Eager to join ABC Corporations to help define design strategy, track progress against goals, and manage execution projects. At Indus Group, developed project strategy for 5 years incorporating climate change and branding together.

    2. Dedicated Branch Manager with over 5 years of professional experience. Eager to join ABC Inc. to offer managerial services, identify sales opportunities, and provide exceptional service to customers and satiate branch employees.

    Profile Summary Samples for Freshers

    1. An enthusiastic civil engineering with MBA from IIM Kolkata looking for Product Management role in Bharat Industries limited. Experienced product management and sales industries from various internships at Google and PayPal, looking forward to working with Indian companies.

    2. Goal-oriented Content Development Head with 2 years of internship experience. Seeking to use proven telesales skills to raise customer satisfaction at Triple-P Components. Received 98% favourable customer review scores at Gibbs-Attalla Electronics. Customer retention for repeat clients was 35% above facility average. At Chrisberry communications, received Employee of the Month Award 4x.

    3. Hard-working entry-level software engineer. Focused on providing programming excellence at VBL Groups. Have completed 6 freelance projects, including a working e-commerce site that sells hats and t-shirts. One of my CAD applications was written up favourably in the Hyphenprogs blog. Active member, NHK Forum. 3rd place, FGHi Coding Competition.

    4. Voracious full-stack web developer with 2+ years of experience and proven leadership and development skills. Looking to deliver development excellence at Skyware Developers. Received a WepD Award in 2017 for a client site. Increased user experience scores by 27% at Ramphose Inc. At NKL Inc., raised customer satisfaction scores 41%. Commended 3x by management for speed of completion.

    5. Dedicated Software Developer professional with 2+ years of experience and high-level hardware maintenance skills. Looking to improve technical efficiency at Devel Web Incl.. At Datson Global, upgraded 150+ employee machines to Windows 10. Came in 25% under budget and was 100% HIPAA compliant.

    6. Enthusiastic chemical science specialist. Seeking to use proven coding skills to deliver efficient development solutions as an intern at Johnsons and Johnsons. Built 5 serums and tested 45 cosmetic products with 98% customer satisfaction. Developed a mobile web app to ease the sales of company with 40,000 monthly visitors with 100% adherence to customer specifications.

    7. Driven student social media specialist, seeking to enhance Baylor University’s student body with developing leadership skills. Founded and ran an online fundraising non-profit that raised $18,000 for ovarian cancer research. High school running team captain. Maintained 4.0 average in English and mathematics.

    8. Soft spoken and patient call centre specialist with 4+ years of experience. Seeking to use expert customer support and telesales skills to provide sales excellence at KMPH. Received Gold-Star Service Award at Skyth Tech Call Centre for leading a team of 20 to 25% more sales revenue with 25% more dials than prior year

    Comment down below if you have any queries about writing profile summary for your resume.

  • Contract Staffing – Types, Advantages and Disadvantages

    In this area of cost-cutting where every company wants to maximise their productivity by economising on their costs. At this scenario, the context of contract staffing comes into the picture which is extremely beneficial to both the employers and employees.

    Contractual staffing is a system of recruiting employees for the short term. This means that the companies hire the employees on contract for a specific time period instead of hiring them as permanent employees. One of the most significant reasons for the growing popularity of contractual jobs is the flexibility it provides. These kinds of contracts can be seasonal contracts, part-time contracts and even independent contracts.

    Types of Contract Staffing

    Contract staffing has a number of subdivisions and types which are discussed under the following mentioned heads:

    Part-time Contract

    A part-time contract is the kind of contract staffing where the employee is bound by a contract of work hours. He/she gets all the opportunities as well as protection as that of a full-time employee. But a part-time contractual employee works for lesser work hours and has a fixed pay in terms of those work hours. Especially candidates who want to carry on with their education or skill development resort to this type.

    Fixed-term Contract

    Fixed-term contracts are those which are bound by requirements. These contracts are generally made against a single project and when the requirements of that project is met, the contract gets terminated. A fixed-term contract may extend in time but does not extend in requirements. It provides fixed pay and protection to the employees but lacks in continuity.

    Agency Staff

    In these contracts, the employees are fully hired by the agency but work for other companies. This happens because many companies employ agencies to get their work done. These agencies henceforth employee these contractual staffs. Here, the employees work for the companies but are paid by the agencies itself.

    Freelancing

    This is when an individual has an in-demand skillset, so he/she applies to one or more organisations which hire this employee on a contractual basis to deliver the needs of the company.

    Zero-hour Contract

    This is a kind of contract where no specific time or hours of work is mentioned. These staffs are needed “on-call”. When there is a specific need, these staffs are called for and after it is finished they are free to work or look for opportunities somewhere else.

    Contract Staffing Advantages

    Contractual jobs have dynamic benefits. The best feature of such staffing is that its benefits are not one-sided. It reaps advantages to employees, employers and entrepreneurs alike. Below listed are the ways in which Contract Staffing in the organisation helps employees and entrepreneurs/employers.

    To Employees

    In terms of the modern-day employees, the legal guidelines related to contractual staffing mean more command over timetables and sort of work and more control over the schedule which gives higher adaptability.

    Rather than thinking about routine nine to five work, employees can work in accordance with the contractual personnel guidelines. This will help the employees to choose a schedule for themselves that is more in accordance with their calendars and needs. They have power over their remaining workload, the idea of their work, and also the degree and amount of costs involved. A contractual employee can represent considerable authority in one kind of work or fabricate a wide range of employments consistently.

    High wages and salary is also a way in which contractual jobs benefits the employees. Since the employees have complete authority over their own workload, it means that they can be engaged in multiple contracts with different organisations. These employees are low maintenance and hence earn relatively more than full-time employees.

    To Entrepreneurs/Employers

    The contractual employees offer certain advantages for workers and bosses. These employees show signs of improving access to work, while organizations cut costs, increment efficiency, and utilize a wide system, on-request. Contractual staff or employees show clear signs of increased productivity while the companies actually incur relatively low costs on them. It isn’t astonishing that 65 per cent of managers accept that they will expand the utilization of Contractual workers guidelines later on. Join this pattern with the advancement of inventive cell innovation by making it simpler than at any other time for workers to interface with work searchers. It is additionally simple to perceive how contractual staff can make a business progressively productive, successful and positive.

    Contractual workers are progressively adaptable in adjusting to changing economic situations and work prerequisites. The capacity to coordinate an assortment of work to critical requirements is a major favourable position whenever oversaw adequately. If the contractual employees are met with effective management then they can potentially show a lot higher productivity than the other full-time workers. Different sorts of work with stringent conditions can also be effectively fulfilled by these kinds of workers.

    Relatively lower costs are also one way how employers and entrepreneurs benefit from contractual staffing. These employers economise on the cost of paying full-time employees. Envision an independent company that needs a bookkeeper for 6 hours every week. Employing a full-time bookkeeper is costly and a misuse of assets when long haul connections can be overseen by low maintenance assets. However, a  contractual employee for the same role adhering to only the absolute needs of the job, gets the work done and the employer does not have to pay him in terms of full-time personnel guidelines.

    Work laws or labour union laws might be carefully identified with documenting duties, benefits and different social advantages paid. These labour union laws are an important aspect that employers have to adhere to. However, in the case of contractual staff, these guidelines are also less stringent providing some amount of relief to the employers.

    Contract Staffing Disadvantages

    With the numerous advantageous roles of contract staffing, the few downsides that it carries with it also cannot be completely ignored.

    Contractual staffing provides no job security to its employees. Even though the pay and the rate of growth are high, the employees are constantly on the run to look for another job before the existing contract expires. This affects the feeling of security of job in an employee and to a degree affects his morale. Since the pressure of looking for another job while the current one continues is gruelling, it causes stress in the employees.

    Legal obligations like tax-paying is a part of every employee’s life. In a full-time or permanent job, the tax obligations borne by the employee are unitary. The employee has to maintain the records of only one account and generally for permanent employment the tax cut happens before the year-end. However, in case of contractual staffing, an employee has to maintain different accounts for different jobs and hence the tax calculations at the end of the year becomes a hefty job.

    In contractual employment, an important way by which the employees can create a mark for themselves is by creating a brand for themselves. Since there is no job surety, they have to constantly work to prove their abilities. In case that does not happen, they lack motivation and that affects their productivity to a degree.

    Conclusion

    Contractual staffing is a new-age workplace phenomenon and it has a steady growth in the current working scenario. It has numerous benefits both in terms of the employee and the employer. However, there are certain drawbacks that are most effective in terms of the employees of contract staffing. In a long-term perspective, if these drawbacks could be studied upon and steps are taken to mitigate the same, contractual staffing can emerge as a hot-favourite and can likely change the current workplace dimensions.

  • Difference between Hobbies and Interests

    Hobbies and interests. These two words have been used almost interchangeably since time immemorial. From our childhood, most of us have been told. To develop a hobby, take an interest in other activities. Since then, we have had the same perception of these two words ingrained in our brains. But now, looking back upon it if we ponder, we can see that there is quite a subtle amount of difference between these two words. Just as a clue in a mystery game is not very apparent to the naked eye in the first attempt, similarly if we think deeply about these two words that have been used upon since childhood, we can make out the difference.

    Listing your hobbies and interests on your resume means you are providing a separate doorway for the interviewer to have a look into your personality. Alignment of your interests with the job description of your target company helps you gain a positive remark in the minds of the potential recruiter. So, having a clear understanding of the terms hobbies and interests is a must when building up your resume and customizing it according to the company’s needs and demands.

    Hobbies

    A hobby is anything that you like to do in your free time. Anything that you love to do when you have a huge amount of free time on your hands, and you want to pass that time in a state of happiness. Anything that puts you in a state of happiness, just by the mere thought of thinking about it.

    Any activity for which you garnered interest as a child and have continued pursuing you till now and still like doing it. For many people, regularly indulging in their hobbies also acts as a stress reliever, mood rejuvenator, tension releaser and many more. Hobbies can also be considered as therapeutic for a troubled brain.

    It is never too late to develop a new hobby. As is a widely known saying that “It takes only 21 days to develop a new hobby”, so just dedicated efforts for 21 days and voila! You have a new hobby. And when else will you get more time than this ever-lasting lockdown? It is the time to upgrade your hobby level and compete with all your cousins in this unspoken-but-we-all-know-it-is-going-on “quarantine WhatsApp status race!”

    Examples of Hobbies

    Anything out of random can be a person’s hobby.

    • Dancing
    • Singing
    • Drawing
    • Listening to music
    • Painting
    • Reading

    These are some of the very common examples. Some unconventional, out-of-the-box examples of hobbies include:

    • Climbing
    • Collection of some historical artefacts
    • Creating some designs and models
    • Travelling
    • Woodworking
    • Writing
    • Cooking
    • Exercise
    • Community service

     and the list goes on…….

    Interests

    Well, an interest though comes along the same lines as that of hobbies, these generally are spur of the moment things. Like, For example, while watching a magic show, you may develop curiosity regarding how a magic trick is performed, and so you develop an interest in the field of magic. So, interests can develop anytime, anywhere!

    As swiftly as interest develops, it can also go away as quickly. Interest generally develops out of curiosity. A fascination towards a particular field, a thing or someone is an indication of interest towards that particular entity. And when that bucket of curiosity (or, an ocean, depends on you) is filled, interests change, and you embark on the journey to satisfy your curiosity level for the next interest. We can say that all hobbies are interests, but not all interests are hobbies! 

    Examples of Interests

    On the other hand, interest in a particular field may motivate the person to gather some more information regarding it, thereby enhancing the knowledge base on that subject matter to satisfy the curiosity. Still, the person himself may not do it. For instance, a person may not be a cricketer, he may not even play the sport himself, but can have immense interest in the field of cricket and be updated about all the past and current happenings in the cricket world!

    Or for example, a person may be interested in river rafting, but he hasn’t even done it once! This will also count as interest. Interests need not be actively pursued, something that spikes up your curiosity level does the work. Some active searching for any topic that strikes your mind also counts as an interest. So the possibilities are endless. 

    Some more areas of interests are:

    • Historical readings regarding a particular time frame
    • Politics
    • Sports
    • Research work
    • Foreign cultures and practices
    • Different languages
    • Nature
    • Art

    And many more. Like many fields, so many interest areas may arise.

    Difference between Hobbies and Interests

    As it is pretty clear, that both these terms though are quite similar, still have some variability among them. So, some of the underlying differences between both of the words are as follows:

    • All hobbies are interests, but not all interests are hobbies.
    • Hobbies are generally done for relaxation and enjoyment, while interests are pursued out of curiosity.
    • Hobbies generally do not provide monetary gains, but interests, on the other hand, can be a source of income for anyone.
    • Hobbies are indulged in, when someone wants to relax or when no work is done. On the other hand, interests can be a part of your work if it is also the source of your income.
    • Hobbies generally include some activity while interests are the urge to learn something more on a topic.
    • Hobbies are somethings that stay with us for a long period, whereas interests may come and go and new interests develop rapidly.
    • Hobbies require a certain degree of dedication, to be pursued for a long period. Interests evoke a much lesser degree of dedication.
    • A hobby is pursued pretty actively as compared to interests.

    Interests and hobbies may be near-synonyms to one another, but if looked upon closely, there are some striking differences. If your interests and hobbies indicate you as a team player or bring out the positive aspects of your personality, it is an added advantage to your resume as well. Differences or not, both are pursued if there is a perfect click between your personality and the activity/topic. Keep pursuing what makes you happy and all your extra time will seem like a fun time too. Keep enhancing your hobbies and cover a wide range of interest topics!.

  • Does Internship Count as Work Experience?

    Job market chances of getting employed are already very thin. In such a scenario, Students are turning to every opportunity that is going to make them employable. They are utilising every possible way in which they can improve their employability. Not only this but the expertise and experience required at jobs no matter at what level and no matter what nature is very high. Today’s job market is different from the job market of 20 years ago. The job market has been changed, diversified and multiplied. 

    Internships at the new talk of the town. Every student is seeking internships in many organisations to find out potential interest and experience. Some of them are solely done by them not for gaining any professional expertise but rather getting exposure or networking, which has become necessary in the fast paced world of today’s’.

    Also Read: 7 Best Internship Websites in India 2020

    What is Internships?

    An internship is a professional work experience given to students or young career enthusiasts. They equip them with given work exposure, techniques and problems that they need to be familiar with before delving into the career professionally. 

    Why Do We Need an Internship?

    As mentioned earlier, internships equip the entrant with nuances and framework that are present in the profession. They expose them towards the kind of work environment they will be working in, the kinds of problems they face, how they need to be dealt with. It gives them the strategy they need to form if they want to enter the field professionally. 

    Students enter into the realm of internships for other purposes also, such as building networks or expanding them. 

    These internships are offered by various organizations and companies, from as big as Google and Microsoft to small and new start-ups. They are offered in various fields such as HR, digital marketing, content development, data analytics, etc.

    They have become essential in a highly competitive job market where the required skills also have become advanced. A workspace where you are closely monitored by a mentor for a specific skill contributes in a very holistic way in your professional development.

    Does Internship Count as Work Experience?

    The simple answer to this question would be a no. But if you have done some remarkable internships and gathered some convincing Letter of Recommendations, employers can make an exception for you, especially if you are a newcomer or fresh out of college. Work experience, unfortunately, means when you are employed in a professional role. There is a fine line between getting hired as an employee and getting hired as an intern.

    Difference between Internship and Work Experience

    • Whether you are hired as an intern or an employee, your contract will explicitly mention your position.
    • The value of work experience is more than an internship in the job market; however, employers can make an exception for you if you are a newcomer and have bagged some quality internships in respective fields.
    • An internship can be paid, or unpaid, work experiences are paid.
    • Internship has a termination date given from the start, and work experiences mainly don’t mention the date of termination from the beginning.

    Do you want to do an internship in a reputed company? Register here on our platform to find one matching your skills.