How to Write a Great Cover Letter in 2023 | Guide & Tips
Learn how to write a cover letter that makes a great first impressi...
Before writing a resume, taking the necessary steps to ensure it’s great is important.
Since your resume will reflect your past experiences, a good place to start is making a list of:
You should tailor your resume to a specific job opening to increase your chances of success. This will help you stand out and make your resume more ATS-friendly.
Take the job description and identify the skills, experience, qualifications and other buzzwords the employer seeks in that role. Prioritize including these keywords in your resume if you have them.
Also, you may have the skills and experience, but you use different words or phrases. It is a good idea to reword and match the terminology to make it more obvious to the recruiter, hiring manager, or applicant tracking system (ATS) that you are a great candidate.
Babysitter Resume Example
Nursing Resume Example
Once your prep work is complete, you need to learn which resume format is the best fit for you. How you write your resume depends on your chosen format to highlight your best attributes.
It is important to note that most recruiters, hiring managers, and applicant tracking systems prefer the reverse chronological format. When using either the functional or combination formats, make sure you are doing it because it is the best way for you to highlight your qualifications.
After your prep work, it is time to make your resume. To write a great resume, you will want to follow seven simple steps:
Your resume contact information goes in the header of your document, which includes:
Make sure your contact information stands out and is easy to read without taking up too much valuable space. The reader should be able quickly gather all that they need.
A resume profile, also known as a resume heading or headline, is a brief statement (one to three sentences long) that provides an overview of who you are and why you are qualified for the job. There are two types of resume headlines you can choose:
In both cases, you can also include what value you offer and wish to gain from employment.
Do your best to address your qualifications and the needs of the employer. A well-written resume profile can help the reader quickly understand that you deserve further attention.
When listing your work experience, you will work in reverse chronological order, which means you start with your most recent job title and work backward.
Each entry in the work history section of your resume should include:
The work experience section is one of the most important parts of your resume. It offers credibility that backs up your claims and gives the reader context into what type of employee you are.
Therefore, there are several key points that you want to keep in mind when writing about your work history on your resume:
For example, a job description may ask for “social media advertising experience” and your resume may say “experience in social media marketing”, which may or may not be picked up by the ATS or reader. In this case, you would want to change your words to reflect the job description exactly.
Additionally, it helps your resume stand out because it makes your experience more unique.
Be as specific as you can with your accomplishments. Provide details such as amounts, growth rates, and revenue earned.
Together, these key points will help keep your resume ATS-friendly and easy to read. An applicant tracking system works by parsing through a resume for specific criteria, usually based on what is found in the job description. That is why you want to provide the exact terminology.
The recruiter or hiring manager who reads your resume will only be interested in information that shows off your value, so everything should be relevant and stand out from the page. Most readers will skim your resume quickly, so give them a reason to pause and consider you further.
The education section of your resume includes:
Generally, you will want to keep this section short. However, if you lack professional experience, you can use the education part of your resume to showcase relevant qualifications, such as coursework or projects.
On your resume you can divide your skills into two different categories:
When you choose which of your skills to list, focus on the ones the job description asks for. It is recommended to list between six to ten skills that help you tailor your resume.
Sometimes you may need to include additional sections to your resume to showcase your qualifications better. Such sections include:
Only add additional sections if you can justify their relevance. Otherwise, any information should be placed in the work experience section or skills section of your resume.
After writing your resume, you obviously need to review it. Don’t just hand it a resume without checking it for:
Also, consider asking someone to proofread your resume. Another perspective can help spot issues you may have otherwise missed.
If you can, ask someone with experience reviewing resumes, especially if it’s related to the job you are applying to. This could be a family member, a friend, a coworker that you trust or a third-party consultant.
Even if the person doesn’t have the greatest experience reviewing resumes, it is still helpful to get feedback.
Ever resume should have the following sections:
How much emphasis you place on skills or experience will determine your resume format. There are three choices:
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As you write, keep in mind some of the following best practices to make your resume great:
Be consistent and use standard format choices: You want your resume to be easy to read, which means the reader should expect a layout with one-inch margins with single to 1.15 spacings, professional typeface such as Arial or Times New Roman, 14 to 16-point font for headings and 11 to 12-point for regular text, have both DOC and PDF file versions available.
Tailor your resume to the job: Make sure all the information on your resume is relevant to the job you're applying for and revise any skills or experience to meet their wording.
Be ATS-friendly: Unless you know for certain that someone will read your resume (such as if you directly email a recruiter or hiring manager), assume an ATS will first scan your resume.
To make your own resume you will want to:
Choose a resume format.
Add your contact information.
Write a resume summary or objective statement.
Provide detail about your work experience.
Provide your education history.
Write down your most relevant skills.
Include any additional relevant information such as volunteer experience, certifications, and awards.
Every resume should have at least five sections for contact information, resume profile, work history, education and skills.
How much emphasis you place on skills or experience will determine your resume format. There are three choices:
Reverse chronological: Focus on work history.
Functional: Focus on skills.
Combination: Equal focus on both work history and skills.
A resume should be one to two pages long, with most resumes staying under one page. If you have over ten years of experience your resume can be longer than one page. Additionally, if you have extensive relevant experience and justify including it, your resume can be over page long.
If you are writing a resume with no job experience, then you will want to tailor your resume a bit differently:
Use the functional resume format: A functional resume will focus on your skills and minimize your lack of work experience.
Consider all unpaid experiences: This includes academic projects, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and internships.
Write a resume objective: State your goals in your resume objective and underscore how your skills can be successfully applied to the job.
Focus on transferable skills: At first you may think you lack enough skills, but many skills, particularly soft skills, are transferable and important in the workplace. Examples include communication, organization, and project management.
Some of the most common resume mistakes include:
Ignoring spelling and grammar mistakes.
Adding irrelevant information.
Cluttering the page with text.
Lacking any specifics or quantifiable data.
Not tailoring the resume to the job.
Not using an ATS-friendly format.
Focusing too much on style over substance.
Being too vague.
In most countries outside the United States, a curriculum vitae, or CV, is synonymous with a resume.
However, in the United States, and in certain professions, a CV usually refers to an academic CV. This is a comprehensive record of all your academic and professional experiences, including research projects and grants. Since it provides much more detail, this type of CV can be up to ten pages long.
In 2023, your resume should still include the five main sections of a resume which are: contact information, professional summary, work history, skills, and education. You also want your resume to have a professional design that meets the standards of the industry. For conservative fields, such as banking or law, your resume should be pretty straightforward, while in creative industries such as graphic design and architecture, your resume can reveal a little more character.