Add An Optional Headshot
The placeholder in the upper left corner is meant for inserting a professional headshot. This is an easy and unique way to make your resume stand out in a stack of others. Many people dont think of including their photograph, so its an excellent option for literally putting a face to your name.
To add a photo, click on the placeholder to select it, and then press delete on your keyboard. On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click on Pictures. First, youll want to browse to where your photo is stored on your computer. Click to select it, and then choose Insert to add it to the Word resume.
Once the image is added, you can change its size and placement. Simply click and drag to move it around the page, or click on one of the corners and drag to resize the image. Its easy, its unique, and it can really help you be noticed by encouraging that key first look.
Add Your Education History
Next, fill out the resume education section on your Microsoft Word template:
If you already have a few years of work experience, you should keep your education history brief. All you need to do is include the following details for each school youve attended:
- School and its location
However, if youre writing a resume with no work experience, or have recently graduated college, consider adding more detail to your education section.
For example, including extracurricular activities or relevant coursework in your resumes education section helps give employers a better idea of your skills and qualifications.
Heres an example of a well-written resume education section:
They Are Not Optimized For The Ats
What’s worse than blending into the crowd? Not making it to the party at all. Most of today’s employers use applicant tracking systems to sort and rank all of the resumes they receive. If your resume doesn’t hit the right notes for that system, it ends up in the reject pile, and the hiring manager probably won’t even see it. You can be the best candidate in the world for that job, but if your resume isn’t optimized for the ATS, prospective employers will never know.
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Sign Into Gmail Or Set Up A Gmail Account
First, youll need to sign into your Gmail account by going to www.gmail.com. If you dont already have a Gmail account, create one by clicking the Create account link that you will see at the bottom of the Sign in screen.
Keep your email address professional ideally just using your name. In the case of a common name, youll have to get creative by adding a middle initial, middle name, number or something else to make it a unique account. Resist all temptation to make this account name or something that will make your potential new employer see you as less than professional.
Choosing The Right Template
Now that you have learned the importance of using a template, let’s see how to choose the right one. Microsoft provides an array of templates for diverse job profiles. Usually, designers or artists use templates with prominent visual elements.
These elements help in showcasing their portfolios, such as artwork, wireframe designs, or photographs. In contrast, technical or sales professionals prefer a design with a maximum of two colors and a simple layout.
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Why Is A Cover Letter Template Important
A cover letter template is important because it helps ensure you’re including all the key elements by providing an outline for you to input your own information. A template is especially beneficial If you don’t come from a design background because it has a pre-designed layout.
Because hiring managers view several applications per day, it’s important to have a clean and polished cover letter that can set you apart from other candidates. Cover letter templates are a great tool to use when you want to take a formulaic approach and ensure you’re submitting a professional job application.
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Choose A Resume Template
Remember that we’re making a resume in Microsoft Word, so it helps to narrow our search to include templates that support Word. Lets keep it pretty broad by searching for resume Word. With plenty of resume template options, there’s no shortage of options. Choose a template that meets the design principles we covered earlier in this tutorial.
When youre ready to download, simply click on on the right side of the Elements screen. Elements will ask you for a license usage. This is just a description of how and where you intend to use the file. And even if you stop subscribing to Elements, youll still be licensed to use anything you downloaded.
Once you enter a license usage, go ahead and click Add & Download. The pre-built Word resume template file will download, typically as a .zip archive. Go ahead and extract the files, and double-click on the .docx file to create your new resume in a Word document. Word will launch, and your template will appear, as you can see here.
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Using The Resume Wizard
If you are looking for the resume wizard in Word 2007, you are not alone.Word 2007 saw a significant overhaul, more so than any other time. As a result, Microsoft decided the Wizard was a tool that could be replaced simply by offering more resume templates.
If you upgraded from Word 2003 and you had the 2003 wizard, it should still be available to you in 2007, even using the .wiz extension. However, if you installed Word 2007 as a fresh install you no longer have access to the resume wizard in your computer simply because it was removed.
However, at the Microsoft website, there is a resume wizard template to download.Here is a link and a screen shot of the Microsoft resume and Cover Letters.
Detailed Step Of How To Create A Resume/curriculum Vitae Using Word Template
Step One: Open Microsoft Word. After opening Microsoft Word, click on the New tab. Then, you will see a list of Microsoft Word template types and a search box above. In the search box, write resume and press enter key on your keyboard. Alternatively, you can click on the search icon at the extreme right-hand side of the search box.
In the illustration below, I have numbered steps that you can follow in ascending order. From one to three
Here is how it appears on my screen.
After searching for the resume term in the search box, different resumes will appear below the search box. Feel free to browse and explore the available results.
After you have decided on the outlook and the design that impresses you, on it and it will open a dialogue where you can read some general information about the template you will use.
At the lower right side of this dialogue box, there will be a create button. In case you are ready to continue with the selected template, press that button. The template will open and will be ready for editing and customization.
Note: Remember, you can always visit the Microsoft website for templates at templates.office.com and search for the template type you need. In case this, you would type resume. You will find many templates that are free for download and re-use. Some templates may require signing in.
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Write An Objective Or Summary
Following your title header will be your resume objective or summary.
This will be a short statement between 1-5 sentences detailing your desired job title, experience, and career goals.
You will want to write this statement in the Normal style.
However, you may want to use a slightly larger font than the rest of the text in other sections.
This will help your objective or summary statement to stand out.
Here is an example of how this might look with the title header example from before:
Website: Janesmith.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/janesmith
Resume Objective: I am a copywriter with over 5 years of experience. working with corporate clients. I am seeking the position of Head Copywriter at your company, bringing with me over 10 major corporate clients.
Determine The Type Of Rsum You Want
Chronological, functional, and combination résumés are the three categories of résumés. If youre looking for many jobs, you might want to consider using more than one résumé format.
- Chronological is the most common format, and it presents events in the order in which they occurred. These résumés cater to an older audience and are best suited to a conservative sector.
- A functional résumé categorizes your work experience by expertise. If youre changing careers, this is the format you utilize . Because it emphasizes your talents first, it does not premium your professional experience .
The most excellent features of both chronological and valuable layouts are combined in this style. This style requires caution when it comes to length the résumé can rapidly become lengthy.
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Can You Fake A Resume
However, if you try to prove your lie by providing fake qualifications, then you are breaking the law. You can lie as much as you like on your resume, and there is often very little a company can do about it. In fact, there are few jobs in the USA where you are liable for your lie
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Make A Resume In Microsoft Word In 7 Easy Steps
First, letâs make sure you can navigate the Microsoft Word ribbon!
The ribbon is the toolbar found at the top of the screen.
It should look something like this:
The main parts of the ribbon you should familiarize yourself with on the Home tab are Font, Paragraph, and Styles.
These are how you will edit the appearance of your text and headers.
You should also familiarize yourself with the Layout tab.
This tab is where you will adjust your margins and add columns!
Once you have taken your time to figure out where all of your tools are, itâs time to begin building your resume!
Important Note: These steps detail how to create a resume in Microsoft Word from scratch. By using one of the programâs pre-made templates, you can bypass many of these steps and simply fill in the pre-made format.
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Using The Resume Assitant By Linkedin
When you create a resume in Microsoft Word, the Resume Assistant is displayed on the right panel. The assistant shows samples of popular LinkedIn profiles relevant to you.
If you face writer’s block or need ideas to enhance your content, follow these steps to use the assistant.
Make Your Own Resume Format
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Create Your Base Format
This will help you to tailor your resume to fit specific jobs!
The idea of the base format is to provide outlined sections with the correct spacing and number of bullet points.
You are essentially creating a skeleton for your resume that you can edit and adjust over time.
For example, this is what your base Work Experience section may look like:
Work Experience
Job Title 1, Company NameDate â DateâJob Title 3, Company NameDate â Date· Descriptive Sentence· Descriptive Sentence
As you gain more work experience, you can return to this base format and make changes as need be.
Because you have already outlined the section, you wonât have to worry about reformatting the entire resume to make a few simple changes.
Where To Find A Word Cover Letter Template
You can find Microsoft Word cover letter templates on the internet or via the software application on your desktop. Both methods provide you with a library of templates to choose from and download for your professional use. If you have a subscription, you have access to the premium library of templates. Even without a subscription, you can use the free cover letter templates offered.
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Alternative To Microsoft Word 365
Now that you have learned to create a resume in Microsoft Word, you can share it with recruiters or upload it to job portals. If you do not have access to Microsoft Word, alternate web-based software can help you get started.
You can also use external services to align your resume with the job description. These services will ensure that your resume is aligned with your role and meets industry standards.
Tips For Creating A Cover Letter Template In Word
When you create a cover letter template, it’s important to be strategic so it stands out to hiring managers. A well-composed cover letter can increase your chances of getting the job. Here are some tips for creating a cover letter template in Word:
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Be consistent. When you apply for a job, it’s important for your cover letter and resume to match aesthetically. Create a cohesive design that accurately portrays your brand. This includes choosing the same fonts, colors and overall format between the two files.
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Choose a professional file name. When you save your cover letter from Word, rename the file to something easily identifiable with your full name. This will help you easily identify your file when sending it to hiring managers while also making you easily identifiable to hiring managers.
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Choose a template that reflects your industry. If you’re in a creative profession, consider using a cover letter template with more color and designs. This allows you to display your artistic style. Positions in finance, business or technology may enjoy a more simplistic and minimal 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.
Should I Use A Microsoft Word Resume Template
And no, its not good to build your resume using a MS Word template! You should definitely steer clear of any resume templates you can find out there on the internet unless you are applying for minimum wage jobs. Resume templates found on MS Word were not built to be ATS friendly and do not pass companies filters.
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Free Resume Templates For Microsoft Word
A resume template can help you create a document that will impress every employer, whether you’re writing your first resume or revising your current one. Microsoft Word has resume templates available for users. All you have to do is find one you like, click on it, and start writing.
Even though it’s easy to use a template, carefully customize your resume. Taking the time to match your experience to the job will give you the best chance of getting chosen for an interview.
What Is The Best Microsoft Program To Create A Resume
Microsoft WordAs most people would guess, 85 per cent of professionals create their resumes on Microsoft Word. This program is an obvious choice for most job seekers because it is user-friendly and already provides dozens of resume templates to choose from so that youre not getting started with a blank canvas.
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How To Use Word Resume Templates
It is relatively simple to access and use Microsoft Word resume templates, as long as you have the right software.
Word templates are free if you already have Microsoft Office, but if you dont youll first have to buy the software and download Word or get a subscription to Office 365 to access and use them. In addition to the free templates for Word, you can also buy a number of specially designed premium templates for an additional fee.
You can select these options when you start a new file in MS Word. First of all, go to File and click on New. Youll then be shown a selection of example templates for letters, invitations, and other documents.
Select Resumes and Cover Letters from the Suggested Searches option at the top of the page to see the full range of options available. Alternatively, you can also type resumes into the search bar above the Suggested Searches to get there too.
Once youve chosen the resume template you like best, you simply need to select it from the menu and open the file. When you enter the template you only need to edit the placeholder text with your own details and youll be ready to apply for jobs using it.