Free Job Resume Templates To Land the Job

Contact Information

You can't get a job if an employer doesn't know how to reach you. Display your contact information at the top of your document. Include everything a recruiter needs to know, such as:

Full name

Phone number

Email address

URLs to online portfolios or websites

Social media links

Summary

Most hiring managers prefer a summary statement that illuminates your best qualifications. A summary statement should be short and enticing to tempt the reader to examine your work history. Candidates new to the workforce, however, might have limited experience, in which case they might opt for an objective statement instead that describes why you're interested in a position.

Both types of statements should contain the following:

Three or four sentences or bullet points

Concise and strong language – complete sentences aren't necessary

Specific numbers, statistics, and accomplishments

Skills

To create a list of six to eight skills, think carefully about the nature of the work you'll be doing if hired. You want to include skills that are as relevant to the job as possible. Be honest about your capabilities. The strongest skills lists have these characteristics:

Adjectives such as "excellent," "outstanding," and "effective" that echo the job description

Easily scannable

A mixture of hard and soft skills

Names of specific programs and languages, if you know any

Work History

Your work history is often considered the most important by recruiters. It should take up the majority of your document. You should also format it with bullet points rather than clunky paragraphs. The most attention-grabbing employment entries begin with a compelling action verb. For example, "launched a seasonal holiday sale" sounds better than "took part in a sales project."

Make sure that your work history section is complete with the following:

Names of the companies or organizations you worked for

Location of companies (city and state)

Your official title

The duration of your employment

Education

Candidates new to the workforce should pay close attention to their education section. While often featured on the bottom of the page, it is certainly not superfluous information. Express your academic merits with the following information:

Name of institutions you attended

Location of institutions (city and state)

Full name of your degree or certifications

Graduation year (optional)