Use Bullet Points Where Appropriate
Using bullet points in your experience, skills or education sections allows employers to easily read the most relevant information from your background. Bullet points should be used to list your achievements. Avoid using only one or two bullet points in a single section if you have less than three pieces of information, simply list them without bullets in sentence form or use other punctuation to separate different ideas.
For example, when describing a role youve held in the experience section of your resume, you would use bullets to communicate how you were successful in that role:
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Consistently operated overhead cranes, hoists, power tools and other project equipment safely
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Anticipated needs of 11 on-site workers and delivered parts to 23 field technicians
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Completed weekly service reports, time cards and other related project equipment paperwork
In the education section, you might not have three or more ideas to share, so it might look something like this without bullet points:
CORAL SPRINGS UNIVERSITY, May 2020Juris Doctor
from within your industry and profession. While they shouldnt be used as exact templates, they can give you ideas for how best to present your qualifications to employers.
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Here are examples of what a resume might look like following each of the three formats:
Word Resume Template 120710
A modern resume template with a simple yet confident design for any job seeker. The section on the right-hand side is pre-formatted for a candidate profile, where you can summarize your professional background or include a short note to each employer.
Resume Tip: You should first decide whether you will use a chronological, functional, or combination format. Each of these has its benefits depending on your career level and background.
Resume Formats: Defining Structure
Now that were done with the visuals, lets move on to the magic of text. The most fundamental division of text in resumes is based on content format:
- Reverse Chronological
The Reverse Chronological format is not only the most common one, but also the most widely accepted among various employers and industries. The biggest benefit of a reverse chronological resume is its straightforward, easy to understand and linear structure.
It displays your professional experience and past work experience from most recent to oldest. Your most recent roles are most relevant for your application. This is great when you have a continuous history of work, and you can showcase some important recent positions. But what should you do if youre a fresh graduate or have a sizable gap in your employment history? This is where the Functional and Combination formats come in.
A Reverse Chronological order also takes advantage of short attention spans and busy schedules of recruiters by demonstrating your most recent and impressive positions first. Take advantage of those 6-7 seconds of eye time!
For visual emphasis, check out a strong example of how resumes can be structured:
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Work Experience: Professional Experience
If youve chosen the Reverse Chronological format , then this section is the backbone of your effective resume.
This is not only the place where you list your most impressive past employment, but you may also elaborate on each position by giving important facts, achievements and figures that describe you as a great professional. Its not necessary to include your entire employment history. Tailor your job mentions so that you impress your future employer with the most relevant work experiences for this specific job ad. This also keeps your resume short, clean and concise.
If you can name percentages, numbers or specific projects that prove your productivity in past jobs – do so. Did you help save your company money? Did you participate in a company-wide initiative? Did you lead a design team? Maybe you increased the score of user reviews for an online service. Recruiters appreciate specific data.
What Are The Benefits Of Using A Resume Template
You may think that creating a resume is a simple task that doesnt require a template, but there are actually many benefits to choosing a template over your own designs. Heres just a few:
- They look professional and well laid out. One thing employers hate is starting at walls of text on a Word document. When theyre browsing resumes, they want to see resumes that are well designed and presented in a professional way. Even if you have no design skills, using a resume template can help you to get ahead of the competition and impress potential employers.
- Theyre formatted for printing. Getting all your information to fit neatly onto one or two pages can be hard when creating your resume can be hard. This can lead to bad formatting that can be problematic when printing. By using a template, you can ensure everything is laid out well and optimized for printing.
- They can help you to organize your thoughts. Writing a resume can be a difficult task, and its easy to forget important details like work experience, school history, or references. With the help of a resume template, youre less likely to miss out on any important sections by accident.
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How Long Should A Cv Be
How many pages should a CV be?
The most common CV question in the world: How long should your CV be?
answer: one page. If you have a lot of work experience , sometimes it makes sense to make it a maximum of two pages if everything you mentioned is relevant to the position you are applying for.
Note: All of our templates are one-page resume. when you add more experiences, a second page will be added automatically, so you will not have problems adhering to the one-page limit!
Education Resume Example: A Point Of Pride
The education sectionof a teacher resume should be crafted with care, as this is your field, but keep it short. If you have a postsecondary degree, its generally considered unnecessary to mention your high school.
Be meticulous in ensuring you have clean formatting in this resume section, clear and concise descriptions and any relevant licenses and educational awards that demonstrate your aptitude as a teacher. Teaching is a profession that places a certain amount of emphasis on certifications and licenses.The most prominent of these should be mentioned in your resume summary, and the rest should go here.
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How To Use Microsoft Word Resume Templates
Word resume templates are a great timesaver that can make you more productive and simplify your work during your job search. Essentially, the templates save you from having to re-create your desired resume format and design each time. In turn, this will save you time and help you create a resume that is polished, professional, and up to industry standards. The process of creating your resume with Microsoft Word resume templates is simple follow these steps.
Employment History Resume Example: Designed To Impress
The employment history section is the core of your teacher resume. It ties everything together. Make sure its the most robust and detailed resume section you have. Teachers are one of the most varied and flexible professions out there, both in terms of job experience and the varied backgrounds that teachers come from. According to U.S. Labor Department data, while the average age of elementary, middle and high school teachers is around 40, the age range is quite wide: from 19 all the way to 86. If youre just starting out or are making a career changeto education from another field, its completely acceptable to list marginally related work experience.
Remember that schools are not the only organizations that hire teachers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the three runner-up employer categories are: educational services , civic/social organizations and cultural institutions . If youre submitting a resume to one of these alternative categories, make sure to tailor it to your potential employer. Do your research.
The golden standard for listing your employment history is in reverse chronological order,meaning you should mention your most recent positions at the top of your teacher resume. Your past job description should ideally include the following:
- Position / job title
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Which Resume Format Do Employers Prefer
Most employers and hiring managers prefer the reverse-chronological resume format. Its a resume that lists your work history and education in reverse chronological order, with bullet points that show what you achieved while working for each employer.
Heres why its the preferred resume format:
- Bigger companies use ATS to read and evaluate candidates resumes, and this software is primarily trained to read reverse-chronological resumes. If you need an ATS-friendly resume, opt for the reverse-chronological format.
- It takes less time to read than functional or combination resumes.
- Reverse-chronological resumes paint a full picture of your employment history without hiding any employment gaps. So if you use this resume format, recruiters wont suspect that youre trying to hide a terrible secret.
Unless you have a very good reason to opt for a functional or combination resume, stick to the reverse-chronological resume format.
How To Write A Cv For Your First Job
The process of writing a CV can seem very intimidating to you. After all, most of the resume examples you see on websites are 80% related to work experience. So, what can be included in your CV if you do not have any previous experience?
Well, heres some good news. If you are applying for your first job, no one expects you to have any previous work experience.
Instead, you should focus on what you have:
For more information on how to put these sections into a resume, see our article on What to Put in a Resume.
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Best Resume Templates In 2021
Writing a resume on a word document can be really messy if youre not well versed with margin and padding. Adjusting your content in the word and trying to make it look attractive at the same time is nearly impossible.
Well, thats exactly why we are blessed with resume templates. But one misconception that many people still believe is that the use of a resume template can end up getting your resume overlooked by recruiters and ATS. This is absolutely false as nowadays you will find a range of best resume templates that are ATS friendly. All you have to do is dig into some research and pick the ones best suited for your industry.
The best resume templates should meet the below requirements to make it through:
- Nicely formatted and easy to read for recruiters.
- Optimized to be ATS-compatible.
- Designed to fit 2-3 pages on 1 without degrading the quality.
- Simple format to highlight essential information about the candidate.
- Attractive with or without a photo.
- Paired with an equally good matching cover letter template is a bonus.
So lets see some options for the best CV templates in 2021 that meet all the criteria:
The Skills Section: Competencies And Superpowers
The skills section is your professional feature list, your superpowers, your abilities.
This is where you pass your first competency test. This part is more pragmatic than the Summary, because recruiters and automated systems will be appraising your skills based on a certain checklist. If something is missing from a hiring manager’s wish list, you can be sure they will quiz you on your suitability during an interview.
Moreover, there are certain hard skills that are absolutely necessary for a position. So heres two important pieces of advice: prioritize what you include and analyze the job description! Use the same words to describe your skills that the employer uses in the literature about the role.
Space is finite and you may have many skills. Make sure the ones you describe are the ones that fit the job listing.
Even the most seasoned professionals often confuse hard and soft skills, as in certain job areas, the line can be blurry. The rule of thumb is that soft skills mostly relate to interpersonal interactions, emotional intelligence, organization and leadership.
Hard skills are pragmatic and often technical competencies that are often requirements for getting a certain dream job. For example, a certain programming language in a developer position. Or using a certain type of software for an office administrator job. They relate to your everyday duties in terms of pragmatic actions.
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Resume Template Word & Cover Letter
Your resume is often your first point of contact with a potential employer, and you need a resume that stands out! At Resume Muse, we provide beautiful and professional templates that are easy to use so you can focus on the writing the content. We loved designing each of our templates and hope they help you towards your career goals.
What Makes The Best Resume Template
Most resumes contain the same basic elements: contact info, a profile summary and sections for experience, education, skills and achievements. While our builder tool makes it easy to add or delete sections based on your industry and needs, its a good idea to start with a resume template that offers you the best chances at customization. The best layouts make your information attractive and clear, with the right balance of text and white space. Color and icons should be used depending on the best practices for your industry, and whether or not to include a photo often depends on the country where you intend to work.
Our resume templates are expertly designed so that all your information fits on one page , without looking crammed or cluttered. Our resume buildertool, along with our guides, will help you create the best layout that makes the most of each element.
The job hunt is a fierce competition, and youll want to take on this challenge from all angles. That means applying to multiple positions at once. Tailoring your resume for each and every opening is not only highly suggested, its the reality of the 22st century hiring process. But that doesnt mean it has to be time consuming. With our subscription service, you can edit, update and change your resume as many times as youd like and download each new version as a .pdf to make the application process run even smoother.
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When To Use A Functional Resume
If you have one long gap or multiple employment gaps in your resume in the past five years, are a first-time worker or are drastically changing career paths, then consider a functional resume. By highlighting skills that transfer across industries and your most relevant accomplishments, you can emphasize the right qualifications for the position you want. This also prioritizes the information thats most important to a recruiter rather than focusing on a work history that doesnt align with the job.
In some cases, a functional resume might be too limiting. If you have some experience and few or no gaps in your employment history, a combination resume might be the right choice.
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Cv Templates For Every Career
As a candidate, you are a unique individual with the skills and experience to get the job done. So why shouldnt your resume be just as interesting as you are? When it comes to convincing an employer to hire you, your resume is the best way to tell your story and make a strong first impression. Thats why weve curated a collection of dozens of expertly-designed CV templates to fit a variety of fields and career levels. To make choosing a template even easier, weve divided our collection into five types: professional, modern, creative, simple and basic. These groupings offer a great starting point to explore the CV templates best suited for your field. Then, if nothing catches your eye, try another collection to find the right style and add your personal flair.
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Do Employers Look At A Resume Or Cover Letter First
Employers look at a resume first. They typically look at the resume first to make sure you have the desired skills and experience before taking the time to read your cover letter. This is especially true in fields that require specific hard skills, such as IT and engineering.
However, in creative fields such as editing, journalism, and copywriting, employers may read your cover letter first to ensure that your writing skills are at the level they require.
The Importance Of Ats
If youre uploading your resume into an online form as part of your job application, it is critical for your resume template to be compatible with applicant tracking systems . An expertly written resume complete with a sleek design and optimized resume keywords could still fall short if the formatting isnt ATS compliant.
When you upload your resume, applicant tracking systems parse out the text to make it searchable for a recruiter. They may also transfer the information from our resume to a uniform digital candidate profile. Even if youre perfectly qualified for the job, your chances of getting a job interview are much lower if an ATS cant accurately parse your resume.
ATS-friendly resumes are often similar to minimalist resume templates but go a step further to account for ATS algorithms and behaviors. Among other considerations, ATS-friendly resume templates account for the fact that:
- Many ATS cant handle tables or images
- Parsing accuracy is dependent on heading names and correctly sequencing your work experience information
- Certain resume fonts might not be displayed properly in all ATS
- PDF and docx file types work better than others
Find out if your resume is ATS-optimized with Jobscans resume optimization tool.
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