What is a resume, and what purpose does it serve?
It is the piece of paper that helps the recruiters judge you through your writing skills, educational qualification, and professional experience. It is essential to make your resume stand out among the pile of resumes they receive daily.
After watching many YouTube videos on writing a resume, you may get an idea, but starting to write it is a big task! So, how to write a resume for a job?
You will learn how to write a resume in a step by step manner with these easy steps.
How to write biodata in your CV ?
If you are wondering ‘how to make a resume for first job’, or how to create a job resume, here is what you can do. Before you start making your resume on a laptop or PC, you must note down the information on paper to make your life easy as you will have to enter the information later and save time on brainstorming it. So, if you are wondering as to how to make a CV or how to make biodata, you need to note this information:
- Contact information (Mobile Number, Address, LinkedIn Id, Skype Id)
- Professional summary/career objective
- Experience (if any)
- Educational Qualification
- Awards and recognition
- Hobbies
- Skills
- Personal Information (Date of Birth, Languages known, Gender)
- Date
- Place
Note: Do not worry about the formatting. You need the above information written down in a rough format, and you can organize it later. How to write your biodata in your CV is not a tough job.
1. Check the formatting.
The information mentioned above is raw; we need to process it and make sure there are no grammatical errors.
You can also take the help of resume builders available online, which will help you in the generation of sentences to be written for your career objective and experience section.
2. How to use the right resume format
How to prepare a resume? Choosing a proper resume format is very important.
There is a different format for freshers, which consists of sections focusing on the educational qualification. And the format for experienced candidates has more focus on the professional experience section.
So, how to use the right resume format?
There are three types of formats:
Functional Resume Format:
How to create a resume with this format? This type of format is ideal for fresh graduates who do not have any working experience or for someone who is trying to change their career. This format does not focus on the work experience but the skills that the candidate possesses.
It has a section of the internship experience. But most importantly, it will focus on the skills and the educational part more.
Chronological Resume Format:
This Chronological Resume format shows what you have been up to recently. After the basic contact information and career objective/professional summary, the latest event will appear first.
For example, if you are a fresh graduate, then your educational qualification will come first. And if you are an experienced candidate, then your latest job will come first.
With this format, you can eliminate the previous job experiences you do not wish to add to your resume.
Combination Resumes Format:
If you are a person who has experience but also additional skills to meet the job requirements, then a combination resume format is your best bet.
Other than the skills used in your previous jobs, you can also list the additional skills you possess, which will help the candidate know that you are suitable for the job with a diverse skill set.
Tip: Choosing a proper format is essential, but the appearance of that format also counts. The format must be suitable for the job you are applying for.
For example, a resume for an advertising job will be more effective if it has colors in it and is eye-catching. On the other hand, a resume for a mechanical engineer can be less colorful.
3. Start your resume with your name and contact information.
While writing your name, make sure you use the proper font size and font type. The font size used should be appropriate and must look formal, not casual.
You must pay keen attention while typing your contact number and email because these are the sources from which HR will contact you, and you don’t want to miss an opportunity by misspelling your email id.
This section will include the following:
- First name and Last name
- Phone number
- Email address
- Location
- Professional Title
- LinkedIn Id/ Skype Id (Optional)
Tip: If you are applying for a job related to social media, you can also mention your Instagram/Facebook Id.
4. Career Objective or Professional Summary
There is a significant difference between Career Objective and Professional Summary.
Career Objective is written by a fresh graduate and wishes to start a career in that field. In this section, the person must mention his goals in that field and their passion for choosing this field. You can also mention what inspires and motivates you to get into this field.
An experienced person usually writes a professional summary. The overview of experience in the field is mentioned with a bit of bit about the person.
Tip: Your Career objective/professional summary section must not be more than 2-3 sentences. It should just give an overview of your success in the field and about you as a person.
5. Work Experience
This section of the resume is the most crucial part, which will help you sell yourself by listing out your experiences, responsibilities, and achievements.
The proper way to list your work experience section is:
- Your Job Title: It will help the recruiter figure out your position in the company.
- Name of the company
- Dates employed: This will help the recruiter know how long you have worked in a particular company. It is advisable to write the same in mm/yyyy format.
- Responsibilities: This will help you stand out from all the others. Proper framing of the responsibilities handled by you previously is very important.
Tip: The work experience section must always be listed in chronological order, starting with the most recent one to the oldest one.
Tip: Everybody has responsibilities in the job they do. But not everyone can convert these responsibilities into achievements. Most of the time, the HR managers will understand the responsibilities required for the job you do; you must focus on telling them how you’ve helped the company grow. The experience section is the best way to do that.
However, not all jobs come with achievements that are worth mentioning in the resume. In such a case, you should stick to your responsibilities.
6. Educational Qualifications
If you are a candidate with much information for work experience, you can skip this step.
Fresh graduates must mention their educational qualification because of obvious reasons that this is the only section that will help the recruiter judge you.
The most recent educational qualification must be mentioned first and the oldest ones at the last (chronological order).
The best way to mention this is in a table format as it is easy to read.
The table must include the following details:
7. Awards, Achievements, and Certifications
Awards and achievements help fresh graduates a lot as they do not have much experience in the industry, so the resume looks empty. So, how to write a CV with this information?
Any major awards earned during the college period can look good in a resume and provide a backbone to the skills you mention.
8. Skills
Including skills in a resume is very crucial. Make sure the skills you put in your resume are relevant to the job you are applying for. This can be an eye-catching section for the recruiters if you don’t have any experience.
The skills listed can be categorized into two sections:
- Hard Skills- These skills are technical skills that must be related to the field you are applying for.
- Soft Skills- These skills are personality-based skills or general skills which you have built up in yourself without learning them from anywhere.
You can also add some universal skills like written and verbal communication, leadership skills, and the ability to work in a team).
Tip: You can rate these skills based on how strong you feel you possess them or how proficient you are in them.
These are all the points that must be there in a resume. If you have some extra space left, you can add these additional sections if you feel that you do not have enough content to fill the pages. These are entirely optional.
Languages are known- The more languages you can speak, the better. Always put the languages you are most proficient in first and have just basic knowledge at last. You can also add a bar to let the recruiter know the level of proficiency.
9. Hobbies and Interests
This section shows your personal interest, which helps to know you as a person. The sections mentioned above were all professional. Who knows, the employer and you might have some common hobbies which will make you stand out from the others.
Social work- This adds up to the resume because it shows how good you are as a person. Everyone works for money, but working for someone without money is a huge thing. This will show your pleasing personality.
10. References
If there is additional space left, you can add references. These references should be of people who have a high post. If you are an experienced candidate, references of employers will work, and if you are a fresher, you can add your professors as references. However, you should always ask that person before putting down their name as a reference.
Once you are done, check for keywords. That is, keep yourself in the place of an employer and imagine what a recruiter might look for.
11. Post Completion
After you are done writing your resume, check for the following:
- Check if the font size and font style are relevant.
- Check if there are no grammatical errors.
- Always make sure that the Heading/Your Name in the Resume is more significant than the rest of the content.
- Never lie in a resume.
- Make the resume as attractive to read as possible (by adding bullet points)
- If your resume is getting too long, cut the additional sections.
- A resume should not go beyond two pages.
How to send CV by email subject
This aspect of sending out a resume is crucial. You might be wondering how to write an email job resume. You must start with the word “CV” or “Resume” in the subject line and use the exact name of the employer’s position for that position.
Some important points to consider:
- A resume should always be sent in a PDF format and not in word format. PDF is easy to view on any device without disturbing its formatting. A PDF is always easy to print.
- While saving your resume PDF with a name, it is advisable that instead of naming it “Resume,” you can save it with your name, making it easier for the employer to search for your resume on their device.
- After saving it as a PDF, open the file, view and read it thoroughly and make sure it looks appealing and exciting to read. It must be free of grammatical errors. The main sections in the resume should be highlighted to catch the attention of the employer.
- Get ideas for a different person to get a new perspective and point out errors you might miss.
Tips to writing a good resume
Writing a resume and creating a format will give an enhanced look if you have great ideas in your mind. However, it is very time-consuming. Here is what you can do:
- There are ample resources available online to help you create a resume in a curated format. All you need to do is just feed in your information, choose the template, and the resume generator will take care of the rest.
- Use the many suggestions available to help you write the best career objective or professional summary.
- Other resources, if you choose to do it all on your own, Microsoft word is your best bet. It also has many resume templates to choose from. Or, you can start from scratch and make it exactly the way you want it.
- Google Docs also has the same features as Microsoft Word, and it also has many different templates. It is usually used by people who don’t have Microsoft Word or don’t want to use it.
Summing Up
How to make a resume for a job? Well, writing a resume is no rocket science. With proper knowledge and careful attention to detail, anyone can do it within a couple of hours. Additionally, always read your resume 100 times to make sure you know every word written in it.
And there you go! It is this easy to start and finish a resume.
More Resources : Online Part time jobs without investment | Weekend Part time jobs in Noida | Job resume samples | Email to apply for a Job |
