The very first and vital factor, when you think about applying for a job, is "Resume" or also called "C.V." It is a reflection of your education, skills, professional experience to your prospective employer to be viewed in a just nearly 10 seconds.
It doesn't matter how well your qualification is, or how great professional experience you have. If your resume is not presented or written well, you are minimizing the chances of being selected for your desired job.
The more time spent on how to write resume will be really helpful. The guidance provided in this article offers some helpful tips and advice about how to write resume the best possible way.
The Purpose of a Resume
Your resume is a tool of marketing. It needs to display that:
You are employable.
How you fulfil the job as well as company's requirements.
You are right qualified and educated for this job.
You are right skilled and experienced person.
You have good professionalism level for the job.
Length of your Resume.
There is not particular length set for a resume. It can be different in length depends on one's experience and education. If you are applying for the first job, one or two page is good, but can be three pages if you studied and worked a lot.
Ensure you do not pad out your resume. If your resume has only one page, as well as it is well-presented it may results better than two-page resume with lots of unnecessary information.
Order of your Resume (Resume Writing Format).
This sequence of contents to your resume will definitely help it look attractive and well organized.
Contact details,
Opening statement,
Key skills points,
List of technical skills,
Career overview,
Educational qualifications,
Volunteer work/work experience/employment history
References
However, this is best format, but the order can be changed application to application and not necessarily need to appear on your resume all the time. Please check below "What Your Resume Should Include" for more detailed information on each of these sections.
Prioritizing your most useful and relevant information first is the very important for your resume. For example, suppose your education history is not very much relevant to the job you are applying, put that section at the end of your resume, after your job relevant information.
Do I need to change my resume for every application?
You can adapt your resume to each job application in order to meet the particular requirement of the job you apply to.
You may change your resume writing format, but make sure your key skills, opening statement and personal attributes meet the role's need, basis on job ad and the research work you have done for this job.
It is also very important to adapt your resume to show your work experience is very relevant and meets the job's needs for the role.
How to tailor your resume
Tailor your resume with the following ways:
Firstly List your most relevant key skills.
Link your opening statement to your work experience and education to the company and the needs of the job.
Include examples and achievements that meet the job ad.
Sprinkle specific keywords throughout the resume.
What contents your resume should have
There are many basic and important things that everyone should have on one's resume.
Contact details
This is very fundamental details for example, name, phone number and email address are listed on your resume. Your home address should not be there however, it would be good for some situations.
Your contact details on the header might cause difficulty for recruitment software to read the data presented in header and footer. Therefore, it is good not to include your contact details in header.
Opening statement
It is a brief summary of who you are, where you have taken education/work experience, and how you will be good for job. It should be nearly six line in length and written in first person. For instance, write "Did this" instead of "I did this".
Your opening statement should begin with one line about you and what you bring to job, then mention your skills and attributes that suits the job.
Key skills & strengths
Your resume need to include nearly 10 to 15 skills linking to your experience to the job you apply for.
If you have applied for advertised job, either the position or the ad description may have a skill list and experience that are very important for the job. It also provide desirable skills and experience. These all valuable skills needs to meet to all "essential and desirable" skills mentioned in the ad list.
When you put the list together, consider the things you have learned as a part of:
Your education.
Jobs you have had.
Any work placement you have done.
Volunteer work done by you.
Technical/software skills
This is a small list of software or technology names you know how to use. Some Examples are:
Spreadsheet or word processing software.
Programming languages.
Tools i.e. cash registers, EFTPOS.
Personal attributes
If you have not great amount of work experience, the other option to demonstrate that you are right fit for the job is a list of your personal attributes.
The important points you could include in this section are, you are reliable, trustworthy, honest or quick learner for new environment.
You can put three to five personal attributes, but ensure that you do not skip your key skills.
Educational history
For this section, you need to mention your highest level of education. It is OK not to mention your results, unless you require for the suitable job.
If needed, you should put a bullet points of your academic achievements (for example, awards you have won or groups you have been part of, etc.).
Employment history
When you provide your work history, you should list the most recent job first and the rest in reverse chronological order. Also write the job title and dates where you worked.
If you did not work before, you can present the things as your experience for example:
Consider the work you have done in your schooling.
Work placement or internships taken at your university study time.
Volunteer work.
Provide a list of tasks or project for each job that you have achieved during that job and the important contributions to the company.
Ensure that these contributions and achievements relate your skills listed on your resume.
References
It is recommended that your resume includes two persons who can positively refer you. Generally, your references will be your past employer, professor in your university, etc. You need to provide their name, position and the contact information.
Testimonials
Another good way to demonstrate your skills and experience to employer is a testimonial.
If you need to get testimonial, it can be done by asking a teacher, colleague or past employer to write some small sentences about you. Normally, you should include them in your references.
Any testimonial can be included as a part of your educational history or volunteer work/employment history.
Generally, it is good to include one or two testimonials in resume. More than two testimonials is actually lots of.
Keywords
For keywords and phrases scanning, most of recruitment agencies use software. The applications without right and related keyword will automatically be rejected by software therefore, it is very good to have related keyword.
This software looks for keywords and phrases can include:
Jobs Title
Skills
Qualifications
Activities
For better keyword and phrases implementation, check out the job ad and list out your job related keyword.
If you have reference for written job ad, you can use job search tool/engine to get ideas of similar job ads and look for their keyword usage.
When you have gathered a list of keyword work, add those keywords and phrases to your resume writing format. There are some sections to include keywords are:
An opening statement of your resume.
Your key skills.
Education history.
Employment history.
What Not to put on your resume
It is always good not to include few things to your resume. There are some circumstances when you include some information, mentions that you are right person for the job. If it is the case, it would be the good idea.
personal information
You do not need to mention your private or personal information to your resume. There is not good point to get by providing information that can be used to generalize about you as a potential employee.
A good resume doesn't have this information.
Your birthday.
A gender.
Your address.
Any disability (If applicable).
A health status.
There can be some possible exception to this might be while mentioning this information would benefit your application (i.e. if some employer need young or female applicant for receptionist post). In such case, you can consider to include such information if you feel it will help your application.
Typos or factual errors
It is very sure that to submit resume that has error like spelling and grammar mistake will not get an interview. You should spellcheck and proofread your resume and also get your friend to check mistakes your resume might have.
If you have included your past company name, make sure there is no mistake. If you mention your past workplace, ensure it is right too, because mistakes are serious that typos.
Images and graphics
It is not advisable to include your images or photos to your resume. There are not just problematic for HR or recruiters, they also create issues for recruitment software.
Content in headers
Lots of resumes only contain the applicant's details such as, name and contact details in the header. Some recruitment software is not able to scan information that has in header and footer. If it is added in the header and footer, make sure to also include in the document body section.
Design and formatting
Your resume should have easy to read fonts and formats. It is easier for recruiters to review resume and also for recruitment software to scan your information. You can some good fonts are:
Arial
Verdana
Calibri
Century gothic
Do not have large headers to include the sections of your resume. Your header font size should be 12 to 14 and for main content 10 to 12.
Information in tables
Some resumes have style to keep information in table content, but some recruitment software cannot scan tables. A resume should only have format using line breaks and simple format (for example, multiple columns or rows across the page.
PDF versions of your resume
It is also the issue for recruitment software, if your resume has pdf format unless it is specific requirement of jobs ad. It is advisable you submit your resume in word format (.doc or.docx).
Reviewing your resume
It is very important that your resume is reviewed by someone. Make sure that someone who really inform you any mistake found in your resume. You can ask the people for example,
Colleague.
Past employers.
Professors.
Career guidance advisor.
Your parents or guardians.
You can get your resume reviewed by paid services that are professional companies and know how to write resume as well. They have developed resume review checklist that helps you to ensure your resume entirely.