Creating a resume is a tricky process that can feel very hard at times. There are many ways to organize your information, as well as what format you should use.
When looking for employment, most employers will spend a few seconds to minutes reviewing your resume. That means if you take a lot of time to make yours, you’re wasting their time!
Many people start with creating an unorganized list of skills, experiences, and hobbies. While it may be easy to create, it does not set a good impression or show off your strengths.
It is important to know how to organize your resume professionally so that it reflects you, and looks consistent across different departments.
Start creating your resume
If you have experience as a receptionist, accountant, or other office manager position, make use of that talent to create your resume! Simply taking some time to brainstorm potential career paths and creating a summary paragraph for each one is a great way to start.
It is very common to begin with either an education or employment section before diving into more detail. When doing so, be sure to emphasize your achievements and responsibilities rather than just listing what job you had.
Review and edit your resume
Even though you have your initial goal in place, it is not too early to review and edit your resume! Re-constructing your career portfolio can be difficult as there are many possibilities for format and content.
Most employers will spend less than or about a few minutes looking at resumes, so why make yours hard for them to process?
Your profile picture and cover letter do not need to show off how smart or capable you are – that comes through in interviews. Instead, use these to emphasize who you are as a person.
General information like address, phone number, and email should all be consistent across all of your professional accounts.
Some people include their school grade in their first job after college, but this is irrelevant unless they’ve included past jobs next to it. You do not need to list every position you ever had!
Lastly, no matter what kind of profession you enter, being able to communicate clearly and concisely is important. Use good grammar and organize your thoughts.
Share your resume with your friends
Even though you have done some great things in your career, no one will actually see it unless you share your resume with people. When was the last time you sent someone your CV or résumé? You might want to do that!
If you are having trouble coming up with content for your resume, then use what we call ‘bullet points’ to give yourself a head start. These short statements effectively convey key messages about you as a person and professional.
For example, if you wanted to show off how successful you were at your old job, then you could write about your success as a leader. If you wanted to emphasize your creativity, then you could mention all of the ways you improved an existing system or designed new systems.
By using bullets to lead onto longer paragraphs or affirmations, you can create seamless transitions between different parts of your resume. This will help readers understand the context of each section and how they relate to each other.
General tips: Do not try to be too clever or funny when writing your CV. They may dislike the style or feel uncomfortable reading something they don't like. Keep it straightforward and focus on who you are as a person and what you can offer others.
Your colleagues and superiors will likely read your CV under a lot of pressure so make sure yours is clear and easy to follow. Use fonts that are easy to recognize and check that it looks good across all devices.
Practice resume-writing skills
Even if you have no experience, creating a great resume is still possible! If you’re looking for work, there are many ways to get started.
You can start by picking your job field and determining what employers look for in candidates. Then, determine the perfect amount of time to spend on your resume. You want to make sure it is good but not over-the-top or too long.
The most important thing is to be honest and clear with who you’re targeting and what you're seeking employment for.
Use the job application process to your advantage
Even though it seems like a lot of time, creating a resume is not too difficult or complicated. Due to the sheer number of positions out there that are looking for someone with a resume, most employers do not require an elaborate resume when they hire someone.
Instead, what many companies look at is if you can make it clear that you have done things similar to what they need done in their position. For example, if the position requires you to manage social media accounts, then showing that you can handle this online platform will win you points with the recruiter.
By having a good cover letter accompany your resume, you will more than likely be asked to speak about yourself during interviews.
Make a good impression
If you are looking for employment, making a good first impression is crucial! Before contacting other employers or submitting your resume online, make sure yours looks nice.
This includes choosing an appropriate font, structure, length, and style. Yours should be clear, concise, and emphasize skills that match the position being interviewed for.
It’s also important to use plain, easy-to-read fonts such as Arial, Calibri, or Verdana. Avoid fancy fonts like cursive or script since these can look too complicated for others to understand.
Lastly, try to keep it short and simple! Employers spend about two minutes per screening interview reviewing a resume so don’t make them have to do extra work because of you.
Be consistent
Even if you are not looking for new employment, it is important to keep resume formatting standards in place at the moment. If you start using poor templates or fonts, designing your own resumes may be more practical later!
As we have mentioned before, there are some general rules that apply to all career-changing documents like resumes. These include things such as having an easy-to-read font and numbering systems that work.
But beyond these small tweaks, other parts of the document can look very different depending on what kind of job you are seeking. This includes length, tone and content of the paragraphs.
It is totally acceptable to use white space to enhance the readability of the page, but make sure to maintain consistency when doing so. Your style should match whatever else you create online- this could be blogs, advertisements, etc.!
Consistency is one of the biggest ways to project a professional image.
Stay positive
A lot of people begin looking for employment too soon after being laid off, or they create very general resumes that do not highlight their strengths.
If you are having trouble finding work, do not spend hours trying to make your resume perfect before handing it out.
Instead, use templates online or write your own introductory material and then add in details later.
By keeping it simple at first, you will have more time to focus on creating an effective second draft.
It is also important to remain optimistic even when things seem hopelessly stuck. Employers view workers who keep a positive attitude as someone who can be counted on.
