Your resume is an important document as it can significantly affect your chances of landing a job and living a good life. Even if you graduated on top of your class or gained relevant professional experience in the past, you won’t be able to land a stable job if these qualifications aren’t properly highlighted in your resume.
The resume you’ll submit to your employers can impact your life in many ways, which is why you should exert time and effort in building one. With the number of people submitting their resumes today, it’s crucial that you make yours informative and concise.
Here are six tips to help you build your resume for the first time:
Review Resume Examples For Your IndustryBuilding your resume for the first time can be challenging, but reviewing samples for your preferred industry helps. You can start reviewing resume samples for software developers, web designers, accountants, or from any industry you’d want to be a part of in the future. The information you can gain from these samples will give you a clearer idea of what information to include and how to properly format your resume.
Incorporate KeywordsAdding keywords found in the job description to your resume can increase your chances of being noticed and getting hired, as this can tell employers that you actually read through their ads. This can also show how determined you are for the position you’re applying for as you’re actually willing to customize your resume based on the employer’s needs.
For you to incorporate the right keywords into your resume, start by scanning the job ads or job description (if available), identify which words are used often, and then incorporate them into your resume. Use these keywords as flawlessly as possible in your resume and relate them to your educational experience.
Aside from creating a positive impression among employers, incorporating the right keywords into your resume will also help you get noticed in automated applicant tracking systems.
Use A Professional Font
Employers have to go through countless resumes every single day, which means that they only have very limited time to review each. If you want yours to make a good impression fast, create resumes using a professional font. Clean fonts, such as Times New Roman and Arial are two of your best options. The font size of the texts in your resume should be between 10 to 12, as well.
If possible, your resume should also use one type of font throughout the document. If you want to highlight certain information or subsections in the document, underline the fonts or set it to bold. Never use different colors in your fonts, as this will only stress out the employer and make your resume look very unprofessional.
Using the right type, size, and color of the fonts in your resume is crucial as this can make the document clearer and more readable.
Regardless of how extensive your educational experience is, an effective resume shouldn’t include all of this information. As mentioned, employers don’t have the luxury of time to scrutinize your resume, and seeing information that is irrelevant to the position you’re applying for will make them think that you’re not suitable for the post.
When building a resume for the first time, only include information relevant to the position you’re applying for. If you want to work as a software developer, for example, you shouldn’t fill your resume with degrees, achievements, and jobs that don’t impact the industry. This will only distract employers from key information in your resume.
Include Your SkillsPeople can easily acquire the same educational and professional experience as yours, but they will likely have a hard time gaining the skills you have right now. Your skills make you different, which is why these should be properly highlighted in your resume.
When listing skills in your resume, it’s important to include both your soft and hard skills. Soft skills are usually those parts of your personality, while hard skills are skills that you’ve learned over time. Including these skills will make it easier for employers to determine if you’re a fit for their organization and the vacant position.
Listed below are some of the most common soft skills:
- Adaptability
- Ability to work under pressure
- Collaboration
If you don’t know what your soft skills are, you can ask your friends and family to describe you. Moreover, you can also think about your greatest accomplishments and assess what abilities or instincts were necessary for you to do all of those things.
On the other hand, when listing hard skills, make sure to consider the requirements of the job you’re applying for, and only include skills that are relevant. Moreover, you should be as specific as possible. Instead of merely stating that you know how to use Microsoft Excel, you can indicate in your resume, “Advanced knowledge in Microsoft Excel, including lookup and pivot tables.”
Proofread And EditContrary to popular belief, creating an effective resume will not only require you to identify which information to include and how you’re going to format the document – this process will require time as you have to regularly proofread and edit your resume before submitting it to employers.
Proofreading and editing are important phases of building your resume because these allow you to assess the quality of the document and ensure that you’ll end up submitting one that is flawless. Submitting a resume that has grammatical errors and misspelled words can lessen your chances of landing a job.
There are many ways you can proofread and edit your resume. You can use proofreading tools and software available online and offline or have a trusted friend review your work.
Use The Right Resources
You have to be careful in building your resume as you have to make sure that key information is included in the document, but this doesn’t mean that the task is taxing. As a matter of fact, following the tips in this article will go a long way for you to create an effective resume that’s sure to impress potential employers!