When you are in between jobs, or are seeking a side gig to earn some extra cash, knowing how to make a resume that is strong and effective can help you land the position of your dreams. With the best tips on how to create a resume handy, you are guaranteed to leave a lasting impression, compared to your competitors.
If you are struggling to figure out how to make your resume stand out, take note of the following tips, which can aid you in becoming a CV maker with great hiring potential.
Tips on How to Make a Good Resume
When it comes to how to make a CV, the best way to begin the process is to gather everything you plan to include in a rough-draft format. Information about your education and previous job history is crucial when learning how to make a professional resume; however, elements like awards and certifications are optional, especially if they are unrelated to the industry in which you are job hunting. When learning how to make a resume on Word, Google Docs or another easy-to-use platform, tips to keep in mind include:
- Choosing a clean design – Depending on your industry, you can keep the design of your resume basic, or get a bit more creative. Typically, those in creative fields have a little more wiggle room with which to work, while fields that stray from creative positions should be approached with caution. How do you make a resume that pops with ease? You can stand out seamlessly by choosing a unique (but readable) font, or two.
- Organizing the order of information – Organizing your content is the first step in authoring your resume. Begin by choosing your categories, which could range from your objective to your education, and your job experience to your special skills. Note that it is important to list multiple items in reverse-chronical order, which means that everything should range from most current to most dated. This is standard resume formatting practice – especially as you learn how to make a resume for first job attempts – and if you stray from this structure, it might end up working against you.
- Keeping the content easy to read – Each item on your resume should be concise and uncomplicated. Hiring managers receive, at a minimum, dozens of resumes per day, so make it easy on the HR rep to read through your work CV. If you overcomplicate the content, you may come off as, well, complicated.
- Delivering your current contact information – It is important to make it easy for a hiring manager to spot your contact information on your resume. If you choose not to include vital details, like your email or your phone number (your address is optional, but is included in a traditional template), you will likely be doing yourself a disservice, landing you at the bottom of the resume stack.
- Employing a proofreader – Once your resume content is complete, you MUST request a second set of eyes to review the document. The process of how to make a resume for job positions clean and precise ends with a thorough proofread. Although many believe they are strong writers, it is not always easy to spot errors in your own work. Whether you hire a professional or ask a friend or family member for a quick perusal is up to you. Resumes that are circulated with typos are commonly the first ones tossed aside.
What NOT to Include When Learning How to Make Your First Resume
Whether you enjoy the act of writing about yourself, or not, your resume is not a canvas to go into detail about who you are as a person; but rather, who you are as a professional. As such, in understanding what goes into how to make a resume for first job hires, leave the following details out of your CV:
- Information about your personal life, specifically, background information on your upbringing, your college life or reasons you left certain jobs or roles
- Your hobbies and favorite things; instead, you should save these tidbits for after you are hired, while networking with new coworkers around the water cooler or at happy hour
- Irrelevant job positions, including those that do not add value to the company you want to join; for instance, if you are applying for a job to manage part of a nonprofit, if you held a leadership position as a volunteer, this is stronger to include than your time bussing tables at a restaurant chain
- Your references, although you can allude to ‘availability upon request,’ these are not necessary, unless requested in the job listing, itself
Are there other steps to take once I learn how to build a resume?
Once you have settled on a final draft of your first resume template, there are a few more steps to take prior to launching it into the jobosphere. If you are applying for a position that requests proof of your work, take the time to compile a portfolio. With all of the technological devices at our fingertips today, there are plenty of ways to create a simple and convenient electronic display of work to easily share. In addition, if you have a professional biography on hand, feel free to link it into your portfolio, so the recruiter can read more about your career.
Next, you must follow the steps of how to make a cover letter for a resume. While you are not encouraged to discuss personal details on your resume, if you can relay your strengths and memorable work experiences articulately, along with what you are seeking in a job, take the time to introduce a bit about yourself in your cover letter. If you cannot take this task on personally, hire a skilled writer to help you through the process. Those with resume and cover letting writing experience are the best candidates for the job.
Now that you have all the tools a great resume builder needs, try your hand at polishing up your CV. Then, revisit the Block Media Worldwide blog, for tips on curating a pristine and memorable cover letter that will land you your dream job!
Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash