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 competence test. This part is more pragmatic than the Summary, because recruiters and automated systems will be appraising your skills based on a certain checklist.
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!
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 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.
Need more input on how to write an amazing skills section? Heres our specific guide on describing Skills!
Make Sure You Can Prove Your Points
Lets say you have an interest in machine learning. Maybe youve never studied the topic in school, but you took a free online introductory course and you feel like you have a good grasp on the general concepts. You can put this on your résumé! This goes back to what I said before: if what youre saying is true, include it. A bullet point saying “interested in machine learning with a basic understanding of the subject” is true and will intrigue an employer, especially if it’s something that shows you can take the initiative.
On the flip side, make sure you have examples to go along with everything you include on your résumé. You don’t want to risk having an employer ask about a task or hobby and you’re not able to explain it.
Include anything that’s relevant to the job and thats true about yourself.
Also, dont forget to let the employer know who you are as a person.
What Features Does The Zety Creator Offer
Zety is actually a suite of tools designed to help you create application documents:
- Resume and CV builder
- Templates for various application documents
- Built-in content and suggestions
- Printable downloads in .txt, .pdf, and .doc
- Resume checker
- And almost a 1,000 articles available for free on the site
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Add Your Name And Contact Information
The top of your resume should include the following information:
- Name
- Location
- Email Address
- LinkedIn profile URL
It might seem obvious, but job seekers sometimes forget a key piece of contact information in this section. Double check and make it as easy as possible for recruiters to contact you for a job interview.
Highlight Your Relevant Work Experience
Your work experience section is the most essential part of your resume because its the best representation of your qualifications.
If you lack formal work experience, however, dont worry. Simply title this section Relevant Experience and use it to highlight details about your volunteer work, extracurriculars, or relevant school coursework.
To create a logical and informative work experience section, list your relevant experience from most recent to least recent . For each job, list the following information:
- Your title
- Company location
- Dates of employment
If youre still currently working at a company, you can simply write , present for the employment dates.
A general rule is that each job title includes about 35 bullet points of your main duties and achievements working in that role.
3 parts of a strong bullet point:
- 1st: Action verb
- 2nd: Quantifiable point
- 3rd: Specific and relevant job duty
Example 1:
Trained5+ cashiers, managing their cash limits and guaranteeing quality customer service at all times.
Example 2:
Spearheadedthe development of the first media kit amalgamation for all company projects, increasing national sales by 8%.
One reason the above bullet points are effective is that they use action verbs to grab the attention of hiring managers. Describing your experience using strong action verbs helps illustrate to employers what youve accomplished and what kind of skills you have.
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What Is The Best Resume Layout
The first thing a job recruiter notices about any resume is the layout.
Does it look organized or cluttered? Is it too short or too long? Is it boring and easy to ignore, or does it scream out Read me!?
Here are some of the best practices when it comes to your resume layout:
Resume Layout Must-Haves
1. One page in length. You should only go for 2 pages if you really, really believe that itll add significant value. HR managers in big firms get around 1,000+ resumes per month. Theyre not going to spend their valuable time reading your life story!
2. Clear section headings. Pick a heading and use it for all the section headers.
3. Ample white-space, especially around the margins.
4. Easy-to-read font. Wed recommend sticking to what stands out, but not too much. Do: Ubuntu, Roboto, Overpass, etc. Dont : Comic Sans
5. Pick the right font size. As a rule of thumb, go for 11 – 12 pt for normal text, and 14 – 16 pt for section titles.
6. As a rule of thumb, save your resume as PDF. Word is a popular alternative, but it has a good chance of messing up your resume formatting.
One more thing you need to consider in terms of resume layout is whether youre going for a traditional-looking free resume template or something a bit more modern:
If youre pursuing a career in a more traditional industry – legal, banking, finance, etc. – you might want to stick to the first.
Tips For Building Your Resume During College
Take a peak at any colleges calendar or social media page, and youll find a wide range of activities going on, from clubs and athletics to social events and more, not to mention the many classes happening on campus each day. With so many opportunities to fill every available moment, students need practical and effective methods for achieving one of their most important college goals: preparing for a future career.
On average, an employer takes about 30 seconds to look over a resume and make a decision. Adding experience to your resume during college is key to standing out among other college grads.According to Pam Crosby, senior director of the career center at SEU, building your resume before you officially enter the workforce is key to your future career success. Gaining career experience throughout college is important for students because it absolutely matters on a resume. Often, it makes the difference between landing the job or losing it. On average, an employer only gives a resume about a 30-second read. So a students resume not only is a reflection of their unique experience, but those experiences clearly and succinctly stated may very well be what helps a resume to stand out above the rest!
Its never too early or too late to begin building your resume. Whether youre still in the college search process or are even nearing your final semesters on campus, below are five suggestions for helping you get started.
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Customize Your Resume For Your Industry
People are often encouraged to include personality in their resume, but unless they are applying for a job in a creative industry, they may want to rethink that strategy. A lot of pictures and fonts and colors and a whole lot of personality just doesnt align with the jobs we have here, says Schweikert, whose team recruits for positions in sales, product and marketing. If I was in an organization that, for example, was in web design, then I would want to see those design elements in a resume.
Kim agrees that resume layout is wholly dependent on the position you are applying for. If you are applying for a designer role, I want to see something creative there. If youre applying for a finance role, I want to see numbers, she says.
Build Your Personal Brand
Difficulty: 3/5
I like to think of us developers as a business of one. At the start of our career, we are a tiny startup that no one has ever heard of. We don’t yet have customers , and people are reluctant to give us a chance.
However, just like the modern business world, it is getting increasingly harder to be successful and unknown.
Let’s look at the example of Shopify, which seems to be more aware of the importance of personal brand within recent years. Their CEO, Tobi Lutke, has become more public recently, hosting AMAs as well as hanging out in social channels like Clubhouse.
As another example, Quincy, the founding teacher behind freeCodeCamp, is also an active personality on Twitter.
Just as founders are responsible for shaping the narrative of their respective companies, we as individual developers need to be aware of our own brand with our tiny business of one.
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Looking To The Future
No one can tell you with any certainty what the next 3, 5, or 10 years hold. But you can adeptly position yourself for the Web3 future if you believe in it and if its the future you want to bet on.
The way to do that is to start building up your on-chain resume with an Ethereum wallet today. Doing so will give you access to all sorts of on-chain and off-chain opportunities going forward, thus the time to start preparing is now!
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Not financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This newsletter is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Keep It Recent Keep It Relevant
As a rule, you should only show the most recent 10-15 years of your career history and only include the experience relevant to the positions to which you are applying. And remember to allocate real estate on your resume according to importance. If theres a choice between including one more college internship or going into more detail about your current role, always choose the latter .
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What Is A Resume Builder
A resume builder is an online app or piece of software that provides users with interactive forms and templates that focus on resumes. The best applications of this type provide tips and suggestions to help you provide employers with the right kind of information. For example, the Zety resume builder features ready-made content tailored to the needs of specific job seekers. This makes wording each section easier in terms of communicating your value as an employee.
Resume Sections: Your Professional Feature List
Theres often a lot of confusion as to what sections to include in your resume.
This isnt surprising, since their importance can vary depending on your profession, industry and nature of your experience. We can divide section types into necessary and optional ones. Lets assume for the time being that youre using the Reverse Chronologicalformat .
Necessary sections often include:
- Include the most important sections that showcase your professional experience and are likely to impress your employer.
- Analyze which sections are important to your profession. Only then – use the free white available for optional categories.
- Include every section possible, expanding your resume to maximum capacity.
- Include your social media profiles if they contain party pictures. Keep it to your basic contact information such as email, phone number and Linkedin profile.
- List every single life milestone or activity, regardless of available space
These are not iron-clad rules, however. Sometimes certain sections change their importance depending on the job itself. For example, in our Nurse resume guide, we highlight the fact that belonging to professional organizations is much more important than usual. Some questions to ask yourself when deciding to include or resize sections are:
- Will this increase my chances of getting hired?
- Will this provide a positive impression on the employer?
- Is it appropriate for the job description?
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Increase Your Resume’s Aesthetic Appeal
Here is a list of considerations to help ensure your resume is professional:
- Font style: Be sure that the font you use for your resume is clear and professional. Consider using fonts such as Georgia, Times New Roman, Calibri, or Helvetica.
- Font size: Choosing a suitable font size helps ensure a recruiter can read the content of your resume. Consider using a font size of 12 to help ensure readability.
- Template: Maintain a minimalist look in your designs. If you’re using a template, ensure that the visual components highlight the resume’s content rather than distract from it.
- Colour scheme: When developing your resume, choose a visually appealing colour scheme. White is an excellent background colour, black is optimal for writing, and a third colour may be used to draw attention to specific information.
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From Your Career Summary And Work History To Your Education And Skills Learn How To Make Each Section Of Your Resume The Best It Can Be
This is how to write a resume.
Need some basic information about how to write a resume that stands out from the competition? Or maybe youre looking for advice on how to fine-tune your career summary, craft your work history section, and show off your education and skills? Well, youve come to the right place.
Check out the following resume writing tips to learn how to make your own, optimizing each section for maximum success.
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How To Pick The Right Resume Format
There are three types of resume formats: reverse chronological, functional or skills-based, and a combination of the two. The choice depends on the type of job you are applying for and your level of experience.
The 3 resume formats are:
1) Reverse chronological resume format – This is the most popular resume format and is ideal for people with plenty of work experience that is relevant to the position theyre interested in.
2) Functional/skills-based resume format If you lack relevant work experience because you are a student/recent graduate, or you are looking to make a career change, the skills-based format is a better choice.
3) Combination resume format The combination resume is a great choice for job-seekers with a very diverse skill-set. Its useful if youre applying for a role that requires expertise in 3-4 different fields, and you want to show all that in your resume. Say, for example, youre applying for a senior management role, and the requirements are expertise in Management, Sales, and Software Development.
So, which one do you go for?
In 90%+ cases, youd want to stick to the reverse-chronological resume format. This is the most common one, and most HR managers are used to this. Hence, in this guide, were going to focus on this specific format.
If youre a recent graduate, or possess a diverse set of skills & work experience, you might want to pick one of the other 2 formats. Check out our guide to resume formats to learn how to write either.
Add Your Professional Resume Summary Statement
A resume summary statement is a short paragraph or section of bullet points at the beginning of a resume that highlights your professional skills and experience. Your summary should expand on your headline and communicate to recruiters and hiring managers why you are a good fit for the job.
Summary statements are not ideal for all job seekers. If you dont have much job experience or are changing careers, you might use the space to expand on your work history section, skills section, or write a strong resume objective statement instead.
Note: Career experts rarely recommend including a resume objective statement, but these summary alternatives can work in special circumstances such as in the case of career changes.
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Highlight Your Relevant Job Skills
Hiring managers are on the lookout for candidates who have relevant, job-specific skills. While listing a heap of skills on your resume doesnt actually prove youre skilled, incorporating your various skills into different sections will catch the eye of whoever is vetting your application.
For instance, you can showcase your hard and soft skills in your introduction and work experience section. And of course, you should also list your most valuable abilities in your resumes skills section.
Dont Put Everything On There
Your resume should not have every work experience youve ever had listed on it. Think of your resume not as a comprehensive list of your career history, but as a marketing document selling you as the perfect person for the job. For each resume you send out, youll want to highlight only the accomplishments and skills that are most relevant to the job at hand . Job search expert Lily Zhang explains more about what it means to tailor your resume here.
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