CHAPTER 3

Writing a Powerful Biodata

 

 

 

Your biodata is you, you are your biodata. Your biodata goes places where you cannot go and before you can go there. It is your entry ticket. It is your passport to your dream job. You simply have to get it right.

Your biodata markets you. It is your representative much before you can represent yourself. It faces your prospective employers and fights for your selection before you come face-to-face with them and fight for yourself. Your biodata can get you selected or eliminated. It is a powerful document. It has to be good. It has to be persuasive. It has to be the best.

Your biodata should be your friend and not your enemy. The first round of elimination, we have already learnt, is the elimination or selection of biodata. Your biodata has to get selected and thus give you the opportunity to showcase yourself and win the race. To give your biodata a winning chance, it has to be perfect. You cannot afford to have mistakes in your Biodata. You cannot afford to have a sub-standard document. Remember those other 999 people who have applied for the same job from Chapter 1? Remember how at this stage this is still a process of elimination rather than a process of selection and how the number of candidates has to be reduced? In all probability, about 800 of those thousand applicants will be eliminated here at this stage.

• A spelling or grammatical mistake – eliminated!
• Too many pages – eliminated!
• Bad formatting – eliminated!
• Too much un-necessary info – eliminated!
• No photograph – eliminated!
• Uncomfortable to read or multiple fonts – eliminated!
• Un-necessarily stylish – eliminated!

Your Biodata has to be as professional and business like as possible so that it does not get eliminated and you get the opportunity to appear for the selection procedures.

UNDERSTANDING THE DOCUMENT

Your Biodata is like a living thing. It will grow and change with you as you grow in your profession. It will change and evolve as you become more and more experienced. Newer and more important, more pertinent facts will be added and old ones will need to be removed from it. A person can also have different biodatas at any given time to suit different job profiles. Your first step, then, is to identify your target job. Once you’ve done that, you need to make sure that your biodata addresses it directly by modifying it accordingly. Every time you apply for a different job, you may need to re-craft your old resume so that it ‘speaks’ to your new audience. This does not necessarily mean that you have to re-invent the entire document since sometimes all it takes is a revision of certain portions only. If necessary, however, you should rework entire portions of your Biodata to suit your target audience.

First let’s deal with a big general confusion in the minds of students across the country that biodata, resume and curriculum vitae (CV) are different documents. When asked the difference, most students will get up and say –

 

Biodata – is for matrimonial purposes

Resume – is for job purposes and short

CV – is much longer. Gives more comprehensive and detailed information about our life.

 

So, are these the correct, accurate explanations?

Is this really the difference between the three documents?

If not, then what is the difference between the three?

Well, the surprising answer is– nothing!

There is absolutely no difference between the three.

 

Consider this –

 

In English we say – the world

In Hindi we say – duniya

In French we say – le monde

In Spanish we say – el mundo

So are the world, duniya, le monde and el mundo different things just because they are different words? No, they are all the names of the same thing in different languages.

 

It is the same for above.

In French we say – résumé

In English we say – biodata

In Latin we say – curriculum vitae

In Hindi we might say – pehchan patra

They are all the same document named so in different languages. There may be some very technical differences, but for all practical purposes in the open job market, they are synonyms.

 

Now that this major confusion is settled, let’s move ahead and learn how to construct a good one.

Structure of a biodata

The key words describing a good biodata are – Concise and Precise. It should give all the relevant details about you in a single glance. Did you know that on an average one biodata is skimmed in less than 30 seconds! Out of these the first impression is already made in the first 10 seconds! In this very short time your biodata has to impress the selector enough to be short listed. To achieve this you need to understand the basic structure, what to write, what not to write, how to write, how not to write and more importantly the formatting of the document

Imagine an HR manager of a company of which a few vacancies have been advertised. He receives thousands of biodata. Is he going to study all of them in detail carefully selecting the best ones? Do you think he has the time? No. He will just skim through them. He is a professional and has the fine tuned skill of identifying the good ones from the bad ones very quickly. We have already read the elimination criteria but let’s go through them again –

 

The ones that are too long – go into the dustbin.

The ones with spelling mistakes – go into the dustbin.

The ones with grammatical mistakes – go into the dustbin.

The ones that are haphazard and confusing – go into the dustbin..

The ones that are not neatly typed and legible – go into the dustbin.

The ones not properly structured and formatted – go into the dustbin.

 

The ones that are short listed are those in which the reader can find all relevant information in one easy glance and without any trouble. They look neat and very well presented. There is no un-necessary and superfluous information and they are precise and concise. This requires structuring and formatting.

At the most basic level, a biodata has four sections –

• Personal details
• Professional section
• Educational qualifications
• Miscellaneous section

Personal details

This is the first part of the biodata and gives all personal information about you.

• Name – should be written in a larger font and in bold.
• Address – write it taking the appropriate number of lines and don’t forget to include the pin code.
• Contact – Give only one phone number to avoid any confusion.
  Email – Provide only one and check carefully for correctness.
• Age or Date of birth (any one)
• Gender (only if not attaching a photograph)
• You are not required to write your fathers’ and mothers’ name. This information is of no use to the employer, therefore is entirely dispensable unless specifically asked for.
• The profession of your parents and siblings is also unwanted information.
• Marital status of the candidate is usually not a concern of the employer. If in any job it is a consideration, you will specifically be asked about it and then you have to furnish the information. Otherwise in ordinary circumstances you don’t need to mention it.
• Number of children is definitely not required unless asked for.
• Height, weight, eyesight or any other physical parameters are mandatory in certain sectors like Hospitality, Aviation and certain customer services jobs where there is all-time customer interface etc. These should be quantified honestly. In sectors or industries where these are not essential, don’t mention them.
• Passport details are areas that need clarifications. You need to mention your passport details in the following circumstances only--
  • You are an Indian applying abroad.
  • You are not an Indian but are applying in India
  • You are applying for a job that involves overseas travel.
  • For some reason the employing company has specifically asked for it.

There is no justification for giving passport details if you are an Indian applying for a job in India with no chances of going abroad. In such a case it is unnecessary information and since we now know that the Biodata needs to be specific and precise with no superfluous information, it is best not to include such details.

Photograph

The photograph that you attach should be –

• In color
• Passport size
• Absolutely recent.
• Professionally taken and not photoshopped from a casual picture
• It should be in the similar kind of clothes that you expect to wear at work
• It should have a plain background and not holiday sceneries.
• You should be looking straight at the camera. No cameo poses.
• Have a pleasant look and a soft smile.
• Attach it to the top right hand corner of your biodata.
• While attaching it use both glue and staple to ensure that it does not come off during handling resulting in rejection of the biodata.
• You don’t have to sign it or get it attested (unless specified)

Career objective

Trends keep changing and sometime there is a trend of writing a career objective and sometimes not. It is otherwise completely optional and it is your choice whether you want to include it in your document or not. If you have plenty else to write and eliminating the career objective will bring down the number of pages in your document, it is advisable to do so. In the event of choosing to include it, here are a few points about it.

The career objective is different for a fresher than that for a person who has had some work experience. The main objective of a fresher, frankly, is to get his first job. As a fresher it is understood it will be of entry level. The career objective has to project this understanding and yet at the same time project a sense of commitment.

 

Some examples could be –

1. Seeking an entry level job where I can use and enhance my skills to contribute to the short term and long term goals of both – the company I work for and my family.
2. Interested in an entry level position leading to senior management responsibilities as a long term goal.
3. To secure a skill based and challenging position in a high growth company with advancement opportunities.

In all the above examples, a fresher is making clear that he is skilled, wants to learn and grow and if all goes well between him and the company, a long term commitment and relationship is desirable. The skills mentioned here will, of course, be different with each candidate and you shall have to talk about your own during the interview. Remember to be honest about them in writing.

A candidate who has a few years of work experience and a very specific set of skills should mention those in the career objective and offer them for the profit of the company and thus in return for his own personal advancement.

Be very careful about the wording and the skills mentioned in the career objective as this is usually from where the interviewers pick their initial questions. Not being able to answer them well would result in a bad beginning which further could result in a ruined interview.

Professional section

This section talks about ‘work experience’ and ‘training’. It progresses in three stages – Initially as a fresher, write about the industrial training you did in college. When you start working and have 1–2 years of experience, write about the work ex first and then add your training ex too. When you have worked for 2–3 years, you can stop writing about your training ex and write only about your work ex.

Work experience

This heading is only for people with work experience and not for freshers. The main points to keep in mind here are –

• Any work experience should ideally be of at least six months.
• Any work experience whether related or unrelated to the position applied for can be included provided you can answer questions about it during the interview.
• All work experience, if more than one, should be listed according to one of these conditions –
  • In reverse chronology – this means from present to past. What are you doing now, what were you doing before that, then before that and so on.
  • In order of importance – if for some reason a job held sometime in the past holds more importance and relevance to the job to which you are applying now, then it may be mentioned first, then the next and so on. The importance may be because—
  • It is related to the job applied for.
  • It is of a better and more prestigious company.
  • In that job you held a better designation.
  • The experience gained at that job gives you better leverage here.
  • For some personal/circumstantial reason you want to highlight it.
• The correct way to format your work experience is –
  • Name of the organization.
  • Designation held.
  • From ________ to ________.
  • Job description in brief (one or two small paragraphs.)
  • Any special works or projects handled (one or two small paragraphs.)

Industrial training experience

This may or may not be mentioned by people with work experience. Freshers should write about this. The format is primarily the same as that of work experience – Name of the company, duration and a paragraph or two detailing what you saw there, what you learned there and what you did there. Also write a paragraph or two about the Training Report (sometimes also called Project Report) that you made and submitted in college as a mandatory requirement. What was your report about, what study did you do and what were your findings.

Educational qualifications

This section of course applies to all. The points to keep in mind are –

• Write in reverse chronology.
• Usually three levels are required. Post graduates can give details of Post Graduation, Graduation and Class XII. Graduates will have to go till Class X.
• Any diplomas earned may also be included here fitted in either chronologically or by order of importance.
• If you hold a professional diploma or have done a certificate course that is very relevant to the job applied for then there are two ways to include them in your biodata –
  • You can write them first and before the other educational details.
  • You may make a separate heading before called ‘Professional Qualifications’ or ‘Additional Qualifications’ and write the details of your diploma or certificate course as per the format given below. Write a small paragraph detailing what you learned in that course and what additional skills/advantages/value it gives you for the job.
• When writing about any of the above you have to follow the following format –
  • Name of the University for degrees, school board for class and academy/institute for other courses.
  • Name of the course.
  • Duration of the course. (for diplomas and additional qualifications)
  • Year of passing
  • Percentage (optional)

The final part of the biodata is the Miscellaneous section. This section has bits and pieces that are all optional. You don’t have to write all of them. In fact, you don’t have to write any of them if you don’t want to. You can just pick and choose those that are relevant to you and where you have something to write about. These are usually added if you do not have anything much else to write and there is a lot of empty space. For this reason generally fresh college pass outs include these. People who have been working and have adequate professional stuff to write about need not include these unless they have something very prestigious they want to mention and bring to notice. The various headings in this section are:-

Achievements

• Any academic/sports/extra-curricular awards won at minimum the district level or at state or national level.
• If you have anything else that you are proud of- like you were the editor of the college magazine, you won the open photography competition or a slogan competition or have organized a big event, anything.
• You were a NCC cadet, you were at the Republic Day Parade, participated/won at the National Youth Festival, and you won at the Math or Science or Cyber Olympiad, the Spelling Bee or any such achievement.
• You were a part of an adventure camp, you went for a mountaineering course, you went as an exchange student or any such activity that you want to showcase.
• Do remember that you should be able to document any achievement with the help of certificates, photographs, articles, citations, awards, letters of commendation or any such proof.

Extra-curricular activities

You may not be competing; you may not be winning awards or prizes but are extremely fond of an activity and are dedicated towards it, showing you are a multi-faceted personality. Maybe you learn classical dance or music, play a sport and are part of a local club or team, you write and have been published, you are part of an NGO, a theatre group, have done stage shows or recitals, you regularly take part in events like marathons etc. You can write about these but only if there is a level of seriousness, dedication and quality in your activity. Again, here too, you should be able to talk about your activity knowledgeably.

Hobbies and interests

This is the trickiest section. Candidates very often mention hobbies that they actually do not have and when they are questioned about it during interviews they get bowled out. This happens because some interviewers pick this information up for questioning and if he happens to be interested in the same activity he will know when the candidate is bluffing and will not like it. For example a student may write – Stamp collection and then consider the following scenario during the interview –

 

Interviewer	–	So, you have a hobby of collecting stamps?
Candidate	–	Yes sir, I am very fond of it.
Interviewer	–	What is this activity called?
Candidate	–	Eh……. What sir?
Interviewer	–	The activity of stamp collection has a particular name and the collector also has a particular nomenclature. What are they?
Candidate	–	I am sorry sir. I don’t know.
Interviewer	–	Okay. Never mind. How many First Day covers do you have? Which is the latest one?
Candidate	–	Eh……. What sir?
Interviewer	–	First Day covers, you know, for every stamp series release. Do you have any?
Candidate	–	I really don’t know. What!?!
Interviewer	–	Okay, tell me in which year recently did India release a collection of stamps that were triangular in shape and featured flowers?
Candidate	–	I don’t know sir.
Interviewer	–	You don’t know anything about your hobby? How many stamps do you have?
Candidate	–	Er……. Sir, I don’t know. My grandfather used to collect them, they are lying around somewhere in the house.
Interviewer	–	Oh! So stamp collecting is not really your hobby!
Candidate	–	No sir, sorry sir.

 

(Collecting stamps is called Philately; the collector is called a Philatelist. No triangular, flower stamps have been released by India ever. The Interviewer was testing the authenticity of the candidate and he got caught because he was not really a Philatelist.)

Do you see how dicey it is to include any activity that is not really your hobby? Do you want this to happen to you?

Consider another scenario. Here the student has listed listening to music as his hobby.

 

Interviewer	–	So what kind of music do you listen to?
Candidate	–	(Thinks it will sound all grown-up and nice to say Ghazals) Sir mainly Ghazals.
Interviewer	–	Name some famous Ghazal singers.
Candidate	–	Sir, Jagjit Singh, er………… Pankaj Udhas ………
Interviewer	–	And?
Candidate	–	Er…….
Interviewer	–	Ever heard of Talat Mahmood, Mehdi Hassan etc.
Candidate	–	(Happy) Sir, this is a trick question. Mahmood is a comedian and Kamal not Mehdi, Kamal Hassan is a south Indian Actor. (Candidate here is smiling and is very proud of himself)
Interviewer	–	(Smiles) in the early days Jagjit Singh used to sing a lot of poetry written by one particular person. Can you name him?
Candidate	–	Er…….
Interviewer	–	Who usually accompanies him in his duets?
Candidate	–	His wife.
Interviewer	–	OK …what is her name? Does she still sing?
Candidate	–	Er……..
Interviewer	–	You don’t really listen much to them do you?
Candidate	–	No sir. Whenever there is a song on the Radio.
Interviewer	–	And when do you listen to the Radio?
Candidate	–	Sir all the time.
Interviewer	–	Any particular channel?
Candidate	–	No sir, wherever there is a good song coming………..
Interviewer	–	So you are just a passive listener?
Candidate	–	Er…….. Yes sir.

 

(Talat Mahmood and Mehdi Hassan are very famous and serious Ghazal singers. Chitra Singh is Jagjit Singh’s wife and she no longer sings. This candidate too failed to talk about the activity that he listed as his hobby.)

Similarly there are many candidates who write stuff like – watching TV, reading books, reading newspapers, collecting coins, meeting people, traveling etc. but when are asked detailed questions, cannot answer any of them intelligently. Therefore, the point here is that do not write Hobby, unless you really and seriously do have one. If you must, then write Interests or Favorite Pastime. Although this too will require little knowledge but not as much as labeling something as hobby does. A hobby is something you have a deep passion for, you go out of the way to invest money, energy and time on it and have a solid body of knowledge about it.

Languages known

Sometimes it makes sense, in some particular job profiles, to show that you have skills in languages other than Hindi and English. These skills could be in any regional language or may be a foreign language. In such a case mention them clearly as –

 

Gujarati

–

Speak, read, and write

 

If you have only rudimentary knowledge of a language and are only a beginner, write it as –

 

French

–

Speak, read, write (working knowledge only)

 

Or

 

Japanese

–

Speak only (working knowledge only)

 

This will give a true picture of your skill levels and thus not make you face unrealistic expectations from your employers during the interview or at any future date.

Formatting

The main thing to understand here is that there is no one perfect biodata. Every single person will have a different biodata and the same person will have a different biodata at different times. Your biodata today will be different from what you will have six months from now and that will be different from what it will be two years hence. Your biodata will keep evolving. It will change and grow with you as you grow in your life and in your profession. As it changes, the formatting too will change. You will need to include more and different kinds of information which will bring about a change in the way your Biodata looks.

Whatever your document may look like and how much ever it may change, some essential points about it will always be important –

• An unwritten but generally accepted rule says that till you have at least 4–5 years of experience, your biodata should not exceed two pages.
• That doesn’t mean that if you have a lot to say, the document ends up looking overcrowded. This rule of course stands null if you have several special projects to mention. If absolutely necessary go ahead and an additional page.
• There are many biodata formats available on the Internet. You can surf through them and pick any you would like to use but remember the key considerations are –
  • It should be clean and simple.
  • It should be direct and functional.
  • It should be easy to read and find information in.
  • It should not be too fancy and inappropriate for the job profile.
  • It should look very trim, neat, precise and professional.
• The font used for printing should be simple.
• The headings should be either underlined or bold in the same font. Do not box them in.
• There should be a professional looking color photograph at the top right hand corner.
• Do not make tables for Educational Qualifications. It is extremely old fashioned.
• All points under any heading should be properly bulleted. It gives a smart, neat and organized look to the document. Observe how all points are bulleted in this book.
• Do not make elaborate borders around the page.
• Some companies have their own form-style formats they want you to fill in. In such a case fill in all the areas truthfully. Use a pencil first and give it a go-over once you finish filling it. Make any changes required. When you are completely satisfied, fill in with a pen.

Common mistakes made

• DO NOT title the page with the words Biodata, Resume or Curriculum Vitae. It is understood what the document is and the reader does not need to be told.
• Do not use a very fancy font for printing and use only one font throughout.
• Do not leave any spelling mistakes. This is extremely essential. There is so much competition out there that there is no room for error.
• To give a neat look, make sure all the points are precisely in line, under one another.
• Do not give References in your biodata unless specifically asked for. References are outdated and redundant.
• Do not lie about any facts in the document.
• Do not write about your strengths and weaknesses in the biodata.
• Make sure the spacing is proper, equal on the top and bottom with written material evenly spaced out in between.
• Do not write any declaration in the end. This too is outdated.
• Do not sign and date your biodata. Sign and date are part of the covering letter that should always accompany the biodata.
• Do not use white correction fluid in your biodata.
• Do not print your biodata on dirty, old, crumpled and yellowing paper. Make sure the sheet of paper is new, white, clean and A4 in size.
• Go through your biodata carefully several times to detect any flaws.

A note on applications and covering letters

Every biodata should always be accompanied with an application or a covering letter. Since the purpose of sending the biodata is explained in the letter, never send it without one.

The letter will usually give one or more of the following information –

• That you are responding to a job advertisement, where the advert was and dated when. (Ex – This is in response to your advert in the Times of India dated. …..)
• What post are you applying for.
• Sometimes job adverts give a job code that is supposed to be mentioned in the letter.
• Date and signature.
• What other documents are being enclosed with the letter.

This letter has to be written in the accepted business format which is actually very simple and then prepared to be sent in a particular way. The salient features are –

• In the modern times everything is left justified. Even the new paragraph starts at the left margin.
• Date. Learn the correct way of writing a date in an official document. 03/12/2011 or December 03, 2011 is the right way.
• Name and/or the designation of the receiver. Address the letter to the person stated in the advertisement in case you are responding to one.
• Receivers address.
• The subject line should mention the job code or post applied for.
• Salutation to the receiver. As a candidate, preferably don’t write ‘Dear’ in the salutation. If you know the name of the receiver then “Respected’ followed by name is best and if the name is not known then just Madam/Sir is enough.
• If you know the name of the person you are writing to, make sure that you write the name in the address and in the salutation too. Make sure the spelling of the name is correct.
• If you are responding to an advertisement, make sure you include all the information about it and mention all the information you were asked to include like the position code etc.
• The main body of the letter should be brief and to the point. Do not repeat information from the biodata here.
• Do not use any frilly phrases like ‘your esteemed organization’ or ‘I would consider it my good fortune…’ etc.
• Use some of the language used in the advertisement.
• Do not end with ‘sincerely yours’ or ‘yours faithfully’ or ‘yours truly’ etc. Simple use of ‘Regards’ is considered best.
• Leave enough space for signature specially if you have a large one.
• Do not put your name in brackets, a commonly seen mistake.
• Properly number the attachments.
• Space out the letter in such a way that it occupies the sheet of paper evenly at the top and bottom.
• There is no way that such a letter exceeds one page.
• Use clean white A4 paper. Use of colored, designer stationery is not suitable for the purpose. Also do not use thin, side-punched computer paper to print it out on.
• Check and re-check for mistakes. Do not leave even a single mistake so that you have to use whitener in the final copy.
• Do not use multi colored printing. If you really need to highlight something to attract attention to it, use just one additional color and as sparingly as possible for the right effect. You could also use a pen highlighter.
• Maintain a copy of each covering letter sent along with the biodata it was sent with. You will need this in your portfolio for when you go for the interview.
• Attach the letter to the biodata securely and fold it in a three-fold. Do not fold it too many times to fit in a small envelope.
• If the number of documents is more and the resulting package is large, use a larger envelope of thicker or fabric lined paper to ensure safe delivery. In such a case you may not need to fold it all at all.
• Make sure to attach any other documents asked for and in the correct order as numbered in the ‘enclosures’.
• Use a long white envelope to post and address it neatly with water proof ink.
• Do not forget to self address it at the left bottom corner in small print.
• Use adequate postage if it is heavy.
• Post it in good time. It should not reach after the last date.

For young professionals who are changing jobs

• Never begin the cover letter on a negative note (“Last month my position was eliminated …”). Instead, strive to promote all of your positive assets.
• Refrain from including a salary figure. If someone requests a salary history, say that you would rather discuss such details in person.
• Highlight the skills that you have and don’t mention the skills that you don’t have.
• Keep the letter simple, direct, and to-the-point. No one wants to read lengthy cover letters.
• Do not give a reason for leaving your current or last job here. This will be dealt with during the interview.
• Never write negatively about your current or last company and the boss you worked under.

Sending biodata via email

If you have been asked to send your Biodata via email, there are correct ways of doing it. The method is not very different from sending it in hard copy.

• DO NOT write your Biodata in the main body of the email.
• In the main email, the covering letter will be written.
• The format of the covering letter will be the same as paper written letters, only postal addresses of both parties will not be written.
• Write it in proper regulation English. Just because it is an email does not mean you can use SMS style language and spellings.
• The biodata will be sent as an attachment.
• Before sending the mail, check and re-check that you have attached all the files you were supposed to in the correct order.

After you have sent off your biodata, continue with your preparations. You have a long way to go and a race to win!

Examples of bad and good biodata

Carefully study these incorrect biodatas and try to find the mistakes yourself first before seeing the points made. You can also study the biodatas of your friends and acquaintances for added practice. As you become more and more adept in the art of constructing good biodatas, you will increase your chances of being called in for interviews.

 

Bad Biodata

 

Example1

Surely, you were able to find many mistakes in the above Biodata. So, let’s see what the mistakes here are –

1. There are several spelling and grammar mistakes.
2. In several places small letter has been used instead of capital letter.
3. There is no formatting in the first two sections of the document
4. There is too much unwanted information i.e. names and professions of family members.
5. He needn’t have written his gender
6. He should have written either his age or date of birth, not both.
7. The way educational qualifications have been presented is all wrong.
8. Since Akash has no work experience, he should not have that heading at all.
9. Too many extra curricular activities and hobbies.
10. Information like the address and contact details should have been in the beginning.
11. Information about nationality, passport and marital status is not required.
12. Email id is too informal and casual.
13. Declaration, name, place and date in the end are not required.
14. Overall this Biodata could have been much simpler and cleaner.
15. There was no need to write ‘curriculum vitae’ on the top of the page.
16. He hasn’t given the STD code for the landline number.
17. Educational qualifications are not in reverse chronology.

Correct Biodata

 

Example 1

Bad Biodata

 

Example 2

Although Vasu has made no spelling and grammar mistakes and seems to have a good command over English language, yet there are some points to be made here. What are the mistakes you can find in this Biodata? How many can you find?

1. The most glaring problem with this Biodata is use of too many fonts. This creates an immature and confused look in the document.
2. The next most important mistake is that Vasu has work experience but he has left the mentioning of it to the end of the document.
3. The work experience of the Goodlife Departmental store should be mentioned first and the summer training should be written about later. Reverse chronology by importance and time.
4. Vasu is a post graduate and has done so many other courses; he needn’t have mentioned his Class X details.
5. His Educational qualification section is overloaded. He should have made another heading called Additional Qualifications and put all the other courses under it.
6. Underlining of the individual educational qualification could have been avoided.
7. He could have clubbed together the English and Spanish language courses.
8. The highlighting of the entire section of work experience is to focus attention on it. This ruse would not be needed if the entire section was put in the beginning of the document.

Correct Biodata

 

Example 2

Bad Biodata

 

Example 3

 

What is wrong about Sangeeta’s Biodata? What are the mistakes she has made? She seems like a successful professional who is well trained for her job, but still appears unsettled in her Biodata. Why?

1. The first glaring impression that a reader gets from this Biodata is the arrogance. The way she describes her positional standing in the office and the way she mentions the acceptance of her work amidst experienced colleagues does not make good and favorable reading. She shouldn’t be mentioning any of this and should leave it to be discussed during the interview.
2. Second point of note is that she lists her diploma school principal and the manager of the place where she trained as references. She does not mention any of her previous employers where she claims to have done exceptional work. If she did such good work then why would they not give her glowing references? This gives the reader an impression that maybe she did not get along very well with her colleagues and must have had an unfriendly termination – voluntary or otherwise.
3. There, in fact, is no need to give references.
4. What she writes as her weakness support her arrogance coming across from the Biodata and give a clear indication what must have gone wrong in her previous assignments. Gives an indication that she is not a team worker and does not know how to maintain relationships.
5. Strengths and weaknesses need not have been included at all.
6. Overall she sounds like an immature and unstable person who lacks etiquettes.
7. Mention of salary in a Biodata is a wrong move.
8. Another clue to her arrogance is her id for email – supersangeeta. It is not very official.
9. The educational qualification section has been badly handled. The various diplomas could have been under a different heading like ‘Additional Qualifications’ or even better, ‘Professional Qualifications’ and placed before and above the educational ones. With so many added qualifications, she need not mention Class X.
10. Neither age nor date of birth has been given.
11. Study the corrected Biodata of Sangeeta and observe how all the information required is fitted in one page with no superfluous information.
12. Also note in the corrected Biodata, how all the work she has done and all the exposure she has had in the field has been mentioned without any hint of arrogance.

Correct Biodata

 

Example 3

 

Examples of bad and good covering letters

 

Now study the application given below which was written in response to the above advertisement.

 

Bad cover letter

 

Example 1

 

What is wrong about Rupesh’s application? What mistakes has he made? He seems to have good language skills as he has made no language related mistakes and could have a good chance at getting this job as he has the appropriate qualification and the experience, but still he just does not seem polished enough for a company as big as Precision Equipments. Why?

• The entire format of the letter is faulty. All the lines should have been left justified.
• The ad clearly mentioned ‘Recruiting Manager’ and yet Rupesh has written only ‘Manager’.
• The word ‘To’ is not written in the modern format anymore.
• Either write the entire address of the receiver in the beginning or do not write it at all. Writing just the name of the organization as above is wrong.
• The entire information and the main body of the letter is all bunched up in one big paragraph. This makes reading and getting relevant information difficult. There should have been at least two or three smaller paragraphs if so much information has to be written about.
• He has not mentioned the job code which was mandatory as per the advertisement.
• It does not state which ad, in which paper, of what date and for exactly what post. The company could be recruiting for several posts and receiving applications for all, how will they know which post this application is for?
• The last line ‘I am eagerly waiting for your response’ is very old fashioned and not written any more. The finish has to be stronger pushing your candidateship.
• The line ‘I have also done my BBA as you will note in my attached Biodata, so I am perfectly suitable for the job’ should be the last line as it brings focus on your qualification and ends the letter on a strong note and also informs that the Biodata is attached.
• The elaborately mentioned salary issues, though well intentioned, should not have been written about.
• The letter has not been well spaced. The entire letter is bunched at the top half of the page.
• Sincerity is expressed towards people we know better. In letters like this ‘Regards’ is best.
• Since he is in the same city, he could offer his immediate availability for interviewing.

Good cover letter

 

Example 1

Bad cover letter

 

Example 2

Consider the situation – Nitin Sharma observes on a company website that they are hiring fresh graduates and he wishes to apply for it. The company has asked for applications in hard copy to reach by 20 December, 2011 addressed to Mr. Shaan Malik, the hiring consultant.

 

Read this application again with a professional eye and think – what is wrong with it? The language is good, no spelling or grammatical mistakes are seen and yet it does not sound correct. This means just having good language is not enough until you have the right ‘sense’ about what kind of language to use where, what are the trends and how things are done.

• The language is too flowery and has many verbal flourishes. This is not how official language is written.
• Nitin says he came upon the recruitment requirement only while surfing the internet. The way he has worded it, it sounds very casual and gives the impression that he is not actively searching for a job and it is not of much importance to him. This does not set a very good impression.
• He has not written the receivers full name even though it is given in the ad.
• Even though Nitin knows the person he is writing to is a male, he still writes Sir/Madam.
• Going by the date mentioned, his application is going to be late and yet he makes no mention of it requesting consideration nevertheless.
• His own name should not be in brackets.
• He should have specified what enclosures he is attaching.
• The corrected letter below is precise, smooth and has the intended feel specially because he has honestly stated that he is late, gives an acceptable reason and requests politely to still be considered. He also gently pushes for consideration by writing ‘Kindly consider’ again in the end.

Good cover letter

 

Example 2