Paste Or Write In Your Info
When youre finally ready to put all of your work experience and accomplishments into the template and make it yours, Viviano recommends that you complete the easy things first, like your name and contact info and your education. Itll be like a quick win. Then continue on to fill out the rest.
Make your life easier later by pasting in your information as text onlywithout the formatting it had on your previous resume, in your prep doc, or in the worksheet you filled out. Use this copy-and-paste trick to make sure everything you drop in there matches the formatting of the template. Otherwise, you might spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to get spacing right again, Augustine says.
Finally, make sure youve replaced or deleted all of the dummy text and any instructions that were in the template when you got it!
List Any Awards You’ve Won And When You Won Them
When you’ve been recognized by someone else, you should let potential employers know about it. But you shouldn’t worry if you haven’t received any awards just skip this section.
Examples:
Richmond County National Essay Contest, Honorable Mention, May 2006.
Honor Roll, South Satchewan High School, Junior and Senior Years, 20082010.
How To Find Word Resume Templates
You can find free Word resume templates right in the programin recent versions by clicking on File > New From Template and scrolling through or searching for resume. You can also search for resume templates offered by Microsoft Office online here.
If youd like a Word template but not necessarily one that comes directly from Microsofts library, you can turn to Jobscan, Hloom, and other sources for free templates or pay for one on sites like Etsy. Some career coaches offer original templates on their websites, too .
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Include Your Name And Contact Information
Your resume should begin with your name and contact information including your email address and phone number. You have a choice about whether or not to include your mailing address. Your name should be highly visible at the top of your resume with a bolded or larger font than the rest of the document, but no more than a 14 point size. You might also include a link to your online portfolio if you are applying to creative positions, for example.
Open Microsoft Word And Pick A Template
First, open Word and search for resume by selecting the search icon in the top right-hand corner.
This will bring up a range of options. Choose templates, which will display your choice of resume templates, and then select the one that you like best:
For our examples, we chose Microsoft Words Bold resume template.
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List Your Relevant Job Skills
Add a skills section on your MS Word resume to show that you have the expertise needed to do the job youre applying for:
Make sure that you highlight any skills that are mentioned in the job listing, and include a range of hard and soft skills to show employers you have a variety of strengths to offer.
Heres an example of what your skills section should look like once youve filled out your Microsoft Word resume:
Additionally, if being able to speak multiple languages is valuable to the job you want, include the languages you speak in your skills section.
Simple And Clean Resume Template
This template is the perfect balance of creative and modest — best for the professional who wants to seem casual, thoughtful, but not over the top.
Not only does it feature a space for a headshot on the top-left, but you can customize the color of that entire panel. Created by Zoki Design, the resume template also comes with a matching cover letter template.
Download this template here.
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Add Your Name And Contact Details
For the purposes of this tutorial, well be building a Word resume for Nathan Williams, a creative digital marketer. To kick things off, click in the text placeholder at the top and enter the name and relevant contact details. Having this placed prominentlyand kept up to dateis essential to ensure recruiters and managers can easily contact you. It also suggests your favored ways to communicate.
Design Principles For Successful Resumes
Professional resumes follow a few key design principles:
Sounds simple, right? It really is, but a majority of candidates dont take the time to refine their resumes. By simply following those guidelines, you stand a good chance of capturing the attention of recruiters and hiring managers. Lets explore each of the above ideas in a little more detail. Keep them in mind when youre creating a resume in Word.
Now that we’ve covered some of the most important design principles, let’s review them in more depth and see how to apply them to your next job application.
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Crafting A Custom Rsum In Microsoft Word
Before we start, its important to know that each résumé should reflect a persons personal experience and education. Since everyones experience is different, its no surprise that their résumés will be too.
That being said, there are some general aesthetic guidelines for making a résumé that we highly recommend you follow.
Go ahead and open up a clean, blank document in Word.
The first thing well want to do is set our margins. Go to the Layout tab and click the Margins buttons.
The drop-down menu displays several different margin options from which to choose. If you cant find the one youre looking for, you can click Custom Margins at the bottom and enter your specifications. Lets go ahead and do that.
According to the experts, the best margin size is 1 for the top and bottom and 0.63 for the sides. This may seem like an oddly specific number, but the objective is to get as much information about yourself as possible on a page without overwhelming the reader. With the above credentials, we leave enough white space on the page for the reader to not feel suffocated.
Write Your Name And Contact Information At The Top
Now that you have the template open, start by editing your resume header at the top of the page:
At the very least, you should include your:
- Full name
- Phone number
Here is what a properly formatted header looks like in Word:
Optionally, you can also include your current job title in your resume header to immediately advertise your professional background.
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Urban Development Resume Template
The illustration on the top-left of this template shows who the designers at Hloom had in mind for this resume: civil engineers. But because its a Word document, that graphic is easy to edit and replace with an image that represents your line of work. Are you an analytics buff? Design a clever bar or line graph icon and place it next to your name in blue .
Download this template here.
How To Create A Professional Resume Using Microsoft Word
Learn how to create a professional resume with only Microsoft Word in minutes. Then make sure you stand out from the crowd!
Microsoft Word offers templates and tools for creating resumes. Whether you are new to the workforce or an experienced professional, you have a variety of options.
Many companies use Application Tracking Software which looks for keywords and specific color and design format in your resume. It can be rejected by ATS or a recruiter if the resume is not optimized and lacks standard design.
Sharing your work experience and skills is the first step in getting the attention of a recruiter. Let’s understand how to create a professional resume in Microsoft Word.
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Resume Genius White House Template
Who might use it? Someone looking for a template with a lot of white space.
Caveats:
- You dont need a full address city and state is enough.
- Add your LinkedIn profile.
- Do not use a resume objective section. You can replace that with a summary or get rid of it entirely.
Cost: Free
Download it here.
Stav is the deputy editor at The Muse, where she covers careers and work with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Before joining The Muse, Stav was a staff writer at Newsweek, and her work has also appeared in publications including The Atlantic, The Forward, and Newsday. Stav earned a B.A. in history with a minor in dance at Stanford University and holds an M.S. from Columbia Journalism School. She won the Newswomen’s Club of New York’s Martha Coman Front Page Award for Best New Journalist in 2016. She prefers sunshine and tolerates winters grudgingly. You can find her on and and can visit her website here.
How To Make A Pro Resume On Word With Creative Template Designs
Todays job market is more competitive than ever. Whether youre looking to advance in your own company, or move elsewhere, you must stand outfrom the crowd to land your dream job.
Even the most mundane positions often attract dozens or even hundreds of potential applicants. Of these, a great many may be perfectly qualified. So the question becomes: how do you stand out and get recognized amongst competing applicants?
The answer lies in building a perfect professional resume.
In this tutorial, youll learn how to make a resume on Microsoft Word using a template from Envato Elements. Word is widely used and available, and you wont need any special skills to build a perfect resume. Envato Elements is the premier source for professional templates and more.
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Microsoft Offices Basic Resume Template
Who might use it? A recent grad who doesnt have a ton of work experience.
Caveats:
- Put your name all on one line to ensure the ATS captures your full name.
- Try to differentiate the section headings from each job and education entry by changing the font size or style.
- Add your LinkedIn profile next to your contact info and remember you dont have to put your full address .
Cost: Free
Find it in Microsoft Word.
Include An Education Section
An education section will be especially valuable if you have limited work experience or if you are transferring to a new industry. You can include information such as:
-
Relevant coursework
-
Grade point average
-
Participation in clubs or organizations
-
Leadership positions held
-
Awards, achievements or certifications
When writing your education section, you should include the name of the institution, dates of attendance and your degree or area of study. If you are applying to mid or higher-level positions, you might remove all but the name of your school and dates of attendance to make room for more relevant professional experience on your resume.
If you have certifications or licenses that are relevant to the job description, you can include them in this section as well. To save space, you can leave off any credentials that are not directly related to the requirements of this job.
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How Many Pages Should A Resume Be
The short answer is that one page is the ideal resume length for most candidates. However, if you have a lot of relevant work experience, it can be two or even three pages.
Just note that unless youre applying for an upper-management position or an academic post, one page will be enough for hiring managers. Even Elon Musks resume could be tightened into one page.
If youre applying for an academic position, youll need to send a CV instead of a resume. Keep in mind that CV templates are often several pages long, and contain more information to show the progression of your academic career.
Maroon Sidebar Resume Template
Pulling your more text-heavy information off to the side in an attractive color-blocked sidebar, this resume lets your experience stand for itself in white space at the top. It’s also easily customizable with no difficult-to-manipulate tables or formatting. The sidebars are in movable text boxes that can even be removed if you wish.
Download this template here.
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Resume Geniuss Dublin Template
Who might use it? Anyone looking for a traditional chronological resume!
Caveats:
- You dont need to include your full address .
- Add your LinkedIn profile alongside your other contact info so that the recruiter or hiring manager can head to your page and find additional information about your experience, see glowing recommendations youve received, look at work samples youve posted, and get excited about you as a candidate.
- Dont include your GPA unless youre a recent grad and its impressive.
Cost: Free
Download it here.
Write A Convincing Introduction
Next, add a new section on your Microsoft Word template directly underneath your header for your resume introduction:
The best introduction for most job seekers is a resume summary. Thats because resume summaries can be modified for a wide variety of industries and experience-levels.
A good resume summary lists your main work-related achievements and skills in three sentences, and works as a sales pitch showing that youre the most qualified person for the job.
Heres an example of what a well-written summary looks like on a Microsoft Word resume:
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Resume Template With Personal Endorsements
This resume template has quite a flashy header no photography pun intended but its not just for photographers. What makes this resume unique is the space for references on the lower right-hand side.
Does your field need others to vouch for your experience? This resume gives you room for three solid recommendations.
Download this template here.
Monogram Header Resume Template
We’ll start with a simple one. This is a HubSpot exclusive resume template that is simple and clean with attractive monogrammed headers to call out each section of the resume. The rest of the design relies on a simple serif font for easy reading, which is a good thing considering that hiring managers only take 7.4 seconds to evaluate a resume. You want your experience section to be easily scannable.
Download this template here.
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Pick A Layout That Works For You
Resumes, like jobs, are about fit as much as anything else. So beyond good and bad, youre looking for a template that makes sense for who you are and what your goals are.
Your first step is to pick an overall resume formatchronological, combination , or functional.
The chronological and combination formats both work well for an ATS as well as for recruiters and hiring managers, but beware of the functional resume. Besides tripping up the ATS, which generally isnt programmed to parse your information in that order, functional resumes are really loathed among recruiters and hiring managers, Shields says, because they make it difficult to understand your career trajectory and where you developed your skills.
You should also think carefully about what youll be able to put above the fold, or in the top third or half of the document. People tend to focus more attention there so it needs to be a snapshot of everything they really need to know about you, Augustine says. Ask yourself, she says, Whats most relevant about your past that applies to the current job?
While it might be easiest to find a template thats already set up with the exact sections you want in the exact spots you want them, remember that you can also tweak any template to suit your needs.
If its not immediately clear to you which direction to go in, thats OK! Shields recommends trying out a few different templates and seeing which one presents your experience in the best possible light.
How Do I Make A Resume In Microsoft Word
There are two primary methods for making a resume in Microsoft Word:
To use a template, go to File > New and then select a template from the Resume and Cover Letter section.
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Spick And Span Resume Template
There isn’t a better name for the template below. The Spick and Span resume might be the cleanest-looking sheet on this list.
It uses boldface, all-caps, and gray typeface to structure various headers of the document differently and maximize the hiring manager’s reading experience. And all that minimalism makes the professional headshot at the top pop off the page.
Download this template here.
Should You Make A Resume In Word
Microsoft Word might once have been a top resume-building option, but that time is long gone. Although it has ready-made templates, Word in itself was never meant to be a resume builder – this reflects on the end product, which often looks old-fashioned and dull.
Not to mention that it offers very little space for creativity. Try to make a small change in the layout and see the format crumble in front of your eyes.
On the other hand, if you simply use the Word template without customizing it, yours might just become another resume in the crowd that wont even pass the Applicant Tracking System – the software most companies use to filter through countless resumes they receive daily.
Long story short, here are MS Words main cons as a resume builder:
Long story short, here are MS Words main cons as a resume builder:
- It can be clunky and outdated – chances are, any Word template you choose to use for your resume will look old-fashioned. Technology has changed what is expected of your resume, just as it has changed job-search over the last decade.
- It is not ATS-optimized – the software that most recruiters use not to waste time looking at the resumes? Well, most Word templates are not optimized for it. This means that you can be the fittest candidate for the job and not even get invited to an interview.
- Its time-consuming – making changes to the layout of a Word resume template is a nightmare.
Everyone knows what happens when you move an image in Word:
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