Your resume is a brief description of your education, skills, and work experience. It is your first impression during the hiring process. Employers use the resume to know more about you and whether you might be fit for the post before you even meet them. So, your resume should be good enough so that the review sees exactly what you want them to know about you. Here are a few tips for you that can help you craft a perfect resume.
Read the job description thoroughly
Before you start writing your resume, read the job descriptions of your interest carefully. If you are applying for different jobs, you should find the keywords from each job description that show what the employer needs in an ideal candidate and update the resume for each job if required. If you have the skills that employers are seeking, you can add them to your resume at the required place (for example, in a highlighted experience section).
Use professional fonts
Do not play with the fonts in your resume. A clean and professional look of a resume makes it attractive and easy to read. Make sure that the formatting you are using is consistent throughout your resume. If you are using one type of bullet for writing your skills, use the same for writing the other areas. You should use basic fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri in sizes 10 to 12. Use the same font for writing the entire resume. For highlighting some sections, you can use different font styles or sizes, such as Bold, Italic, etc.
Include only the most relevant information
While writing your extensive work or your educational qualifications and soft skills, be sure you are writing in brief without leaving any relevant information. Keep the essential information that you want to share in your mind and avoid the repetition of statements. Try to include only the work experience, soft skills, hard skills, achievements, and educational qualifications most relevant to the employer.
Use active language
To make your resume attractive, use action words, and an active voice for writing about yourself. Don’t use sentences with passive voice. The sentences which include “What I have done” should be avoided. Use “What I have accomplished” with proof or examples. If you have live URLs for your work to showcase, this is the right place to flaunt it. Avoid using pronouns in sentences. Use very simple sentences.
Include important achievements
Writing achievements in your resume differentiate you from the rest of the candidates. If you really want to be at the top, you can write about your progress. Make separate “Achievements” or “Skills” sections to write your relevant accomplishments in education, career, and other areas. Like:
- Work Experience
- Resume Summary
- Projects
Different candidates can have different areas of their achievements.
Make it short and sweet
You should write your critical career summary at the top of the first page. Employers like a one-page resume since they can review important information quickly. If you have a lot of other relevant information, then you may have two pages. You should make a concise resume by avoiding repeating information, eliminating old experiences, and customizing your resume for your job target.
Proofread
A professional resume should not contain any grammar or spelling mistakes. So don’t forget the final step of revising your resume: proofreading. Any error on your resume can quickly reduce your chances of being selected. For this, you can use a spell-check tool online, reading one word at a time, reading your resume silently, and loud. You can also ask a friend or family member to give it another review.
Well, your resume is the very first step in getting an interview with the employer. So, while preparing your resume, pay attention to the details, take care of all the necessary information it should include, and make it error-free. A well-crafted resume would definitely help you in taking the first step to finding your next dream job.
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Originally published at upstack.co by Sheetal Munjal.
