Dont Worry Too Much About Gaps
One of the questions that Lees and Heifetz get asked regularly is how to account for gaps in a resume, perhaps when you werent working or took time off to care for a family member. If you were doing something during that time that might be relevant to the job, you can include it. Or you might consider explaining the gap in your cover letter, as long as you have a brief, positive explanation. However, the good news is that in todays job market, hiring professionals are much more forgiving of gaps. In a recent survey, 87% of hiring managers said that they no longer see candidates being unemployed or having an employment gap as a red flag.
Take Stock Of Your Achievements And Activities
Make a list of absolutely everything you’ve done that might be useful on a resume. From this list, you’ll then need to narrow down what to actually include on your resume. Different things might be relevant to different jobs you apply for, so keep a full list and pick the most relevant things from it to include on your resume when you send it out.
+ Pdf Resume Templates
Online resume builders are an awesome option when youre making a resume.
They are ready-made and set up for you – whats left is to fill in the data. You can customize everything: font, color, layout AND you can also get feedback on the content.
The best part: You can save your resume as a PDF.
Check out our list with the top PDF resume options below.
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Technical Skills And Proficiencies
What technical platforms and tools are you proficient? List all that apply to your work. Be specific and as comprehensive as possible. This list can include anything from social media platforms to project management systems and computer languages. If you’ve worked with proprietary platforms, list those as well.
Need to brush up on a skill or tool that’s routinely popping up in the job descriptions you’re targeting? Check out edX, Coursera, and SkillShare for free or low-cost online courses.
Infographic Video And Website Rsums
As the Internet becomes more driven by multimedia, job-seekers have sought to take advantage of the trend by moving their résumés away from the traditional paper and email media to website résumés or e-résumés.
Video, infographic, and even Vine résumés have gained popularity recently, though mainly in the creative and media industries.
This trend has attracted criticism from human resources management professionals, who warn that this may be a passing fad and point out that multimedia-based résumés may be overlooked by recruiters whose workflow is designed only to accommodate a traditional résumé format.
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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.
The Unorthodox Route: A Functional Or Skills
Rather than listing out your experience in reverse chronological order, a functional or skills-based resume has bullet points that reflect how each of your skills is demonstrated by the work youve done over the course of your career. At the bottom, youll include everything else, such as your education, job history, professional achievements, community involvement, and other technical skills. This is a good option if you have a somewhat all-over-the-place work history and want to tie everything together neatly.
Who its good for: Career changers whose work experiences may not appear to be relevant and people with an abundance of temporary jobs or gaps in their work histories.
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Align Your Linkedin Profile
Your is just as important as your resume. You want to make sure youre presenting yourself in the same way. But dont just cut and paste from your resume. LinkedIn is a different beast altogether so you want to make the best use of the platforms features. You dont have to use bullet points you can be more narrative, and even more casual, says Heifetz. You also want to tweak the tone. Theres a greater expectation that youll demonstrate personality, she adds. For example, the summary section should be written in the first person. It gives you the opportunity to present yourself as a living, breathing human being. Heres my colleague, , after she got some help revamping it from a professional.
Importance Of A Good Cv
Think of your CV as your own living, breathing personal pitch a pitch that succinctly answers all the questions a recruiter or hiring manager has about you. The degree to which you present the reader with the information they require to make an informed decision can determine whether you are invited to interview.
This includes why you are applying for this job, with this organisation and in this industry, what value you can bring to the organisation and whether you have what is required to be successful in the role.
To leave the reader with no doubt about your suitability, you must present a strong CV that clearly conveys this information.
To do this, below youll find our tips on how to write a resume. Alternatively, you can download our resume template.
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Tips For Writing Your First Resume
If you are worried about writing your first resume or are struggling with the task, youre not alone! However, it does not have to be intimidating.
Many students and recent graduates worry that they dont have enough experience to create a compelling resume. However, dont worry.
There are many ways to emphasize your skills and experiences, even if this is your first job.
How Long Should My Resume Be
Your resume should be approximately two pages long. If it is substantially longer, eliminate information that isnt relevant to the role or industry. For instance, look back at the key skills and attributes required for the job in question and then review your resume are you using valuable space to describe skills, attributes and responsibilities from roles that dont match up to the job in question? If so, remove this content or, at the least, simplify your language. On your resume, you must get to the point, so dont use ten words to say something you could say in five.
On the other hand, one page may suffice in certain circumstances. The main thing to keep in mind when youre writing your resume is that you must be able to demonstrate and articulate your skills, experience, and future potential to the reader. If you can do that well in one page, thats great. However, the average length of a resume is usually around two pages.
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Why You Need A Resume
In todays job market, the resume has become the number one requirement potential employers request. Before an employer will take valuable time to interview you, he or she wants to meet you on paper. How you impress that employer with your resume can, and will, make all the difference.
Without a resume, you cant even begin to compete, and an inferior resume will quickly eliminate you before you even have a fighting chance. That is why it is imperative to have a superior resume, one that effectively lets employers know what you can do for them.
A Resume is a Summary of Your Qualifications
The term resume comes from the French and means a “summary.” Thats exactly what your resume is: A summary of your qualifications, skills, and achievements. It shows a future employer what you have done in the past. It details your skills and training, work experience, and education, and, most importantly, the accomplishments you have made with past employers.
It should also inform the employer of your career objective and communicate in a concise manner the benefits you will bring to the job if hired.
Skills Versus Employer Benefits
The Purpose of the Resume is to Get You an Interview
How often have you thought, “If only I had met with the employer in person, I could have convinced him that I was the right person for the job!” Your only chance is to compose an impressive resume, one that will get noticed and get you in the door so you can meet the employer in person and get the job.
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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Tips For Designing Your Resume
Many people are surprised to learn that resume design is just as important as content, but its absolutely true. Research suggests that your resume has only seconds to make the right impression, so it must be eye-catching and easy to read.
There are many different ways to design and format your resume. Check out these resume templates to help you format your own resume.
Using a template will make it easier to create your resume. Not only will it save you time, but it can also reduce formatting errors. You can look at these other resume templates available through Microsoft Word and .
How To Format Your Resume
It’s important to choose a font and font size that are legible and will leave enough white space on the page.
You also want to keep style features to a minimum reserve the use of boldface for section headings and for quantifiable achievements that you would like to have pop on the page .
When you use a particular style, use it consistently. That is, if you bold one section header, make sure to bold all of them.
You should use consistent spacing throughout, and evenly sized margins on all sides if possible. Its generally best to stick to your word processors default settings, but in some cases, if you shrink the margins on the left, right, top and bottom, this can help buy more space to fit your resume on one page.
Although visual or infographic resumes have become trendy in some industries, it is always a safe bet to stick with traditional formatting: white page, black text, readable font. Choose a basic font such as Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, Helvetica, or Georgia. Ideally, your font size should be no larger than 12 and no smaller than 10.5.
Even if you are only sending in copies digitally, it is a good idea to print your resume to be sure it prints on a single page, and is easy to read in printed form. Reading over a printed copy of your resume will also help you ensure that there is plenty of white space on the page and it looks professional.
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Start With Your Header
As with any standard business letter header, you should include a few pieces of personal and role specific information at the top of your cover letter. This section should include your contact information, date of application and recipients contact information. If youd like, you can also center your name and address at the top of the page, mirroring the way it looks on your resume.
Cover letter header template:
123 Vineyard DriveLas Vegas, NV
Including a professional and detailed heading will make it easier for the hiring manager or recruiter to follow up with you regarding the position.
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Can I Use Any Of These Examples To Help Write My Own Resume
Yes, we have plenty of examples you can use. Select any resume example from the list on this page, and youll find the following:
- A professional template with job-specific bullet points and information
- Sections to present your skills, experience, education, and professional accomplishments
- A free download in Microsoft Word format for you to personalize
- All resume information provided in text format ready for you to copy and paste
- Writing tips for creating a resume in that particular industry
We also have guides on how to write your own resume introduction, how to use resume action verbs, and articles outlining every other part of resume writing and formatting imagineable. Theyre all accessible on our resume help blog.
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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.
Proofread Your Resume And Finish Strong
Once youve written your resume and cover letter, youre in pretty good shape to send out that first application. However, youre not quite done yet.
The most important step before sending out any resume is to read it over and make sure that there are no issues that could get your application discarded.
To help make that process easier, heres a checklist you can go through to make sure your resume is looking spotless:
The Resume Genius Resume Checklist
Is your contact information accurate?
Does your resume NOT include details like headshots or sensitive personal information?
Does your resume fit on one page ?
Is your information easy to read ?
Is the design of your resume appropriate for the position youre applying for?
Did you include all relevant sections on your resume?
Did you include quantified achievements in your work experience section?
Does your resume address the requirements stated in the job ad?
Is your resume free of typos and grammatical errors?
Is all of your information clearly formatted and professional?
Feel free to use our on-page checklist, or and begin reviewing your resume.
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Stressed About Your Resume These Templates Will Show You How It’s Done
Monster’s resume examples can help you craft your own.
If you’re wondering how to make a resume or CV, you’re in the right place! Below, you’ll find a list of resume examples that can help you with your job search.
It doesn’t matter what level you’re at in your careerto get noticed by potential employers, your professional resume needs to knock their socks off. Your resume is much more than a compilation of your work history it’s a tool that lets hiring managers know that you’re the candidate they’ve been hoping for.
Recruiters and hiring managers have seen every type of resume format imaginable. For maximum wow-factor, you must build a resume that highlights your industry-specific experience, accomplishments, and credentials, as well as important skills.
How Long Should A Cv Be
Were going to say it before you ask:
Yes, in the USA, a CV is different from a resume.
A resume is customized to each individual job you are applying to and is strictly one page.
A CV, on the other hand, covers the in-depths of your career and academic journey. It is usually used in Academia.
Because the goal and nature of a CV are different than that of a resume, you shouldnt necessarily strive for the shortest pitch possible.
Most recruiters agree that the average golden length for a CV is two or three pages.
However, depending on your years of experience, accomplishments, training, and education, it can go up to eight pages.
Not sure if you need a CV or a resume? Check out our guide that explains the difference between the two.
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Hard Vs Soft Skills: Whats The Difference
Heres the difference between hard skills and soft skills:
Hard skills
Hard skills are quantifiable, job-specific abilities learned through education, training, or on-the-job experience. Language skills, computer skills, and being able to operate heavy machinery all count as types of hard skills.
Heres a list of 24 popular hard skills to put on your resume: