Resume Summary Or Objective
Its not a secret for anyone that first impressions matter, whether theyre in your personal life, or your career.
If you leave a bad first impression, chances are, its there to stay. After all, its very hard to change someones opinion of you.
The same applies to your job search – the HR manager spends around 6 seconds scanning each resume. Yep, your carefully-worded, hand-crafted resume only gets 6 seconds of attention. Unless, of course, you manage to leave an amazing first impression.
The way you accomplish this is through either a good resume summary or objective. Both are placed at the top of your resume, right around the contact information section:
So, heres what you need to know about the two:
How To Write A Resume For A Teenager: Top Tips
As a teen, you may need to create a resume to apply to jobs. It is important to create a professional resume, even if you do not have experience, that includes your most relevant skills. Understanding how to write your first resume and the components of a resume can help you improve your chances of getting a job. In this article, we discuss how to write a resume for a teenager and include a template with some examples to help you write a successful resume.
What Is A Master Resum
Your master resumé is the document that lists ALL of your work experience, training, and achievements. While a targeted resumé should only be 1 to 2 pages, your master resumé can be much longer. Your master resumé should include:
- Every full- and part-time job or volunteer position youve ever had
- All of the skills youve developed or responsibilities youve taken on
- Assignments and special projects you’ve completed, and accomplishments youve achieved
- All of the education/training courses youve taken and all the degrees, diplomas, or certificates youve earned
While putting this together may seem like a lot of work now and, depending upon your work experience, could take a long time, it is time well spent. A master resumé will:
- Simplify writing a targeted resumé because you can pick out the specific jobs that demonstrate where you have done the type of work before, and skills and qualifications needed
- Make it easy to remember jobs, titles, dates, and other details
- Help you recognize work that you are drawn to. Because youre listing everything youve done, you can see if theres a type of job you do most often, and then decide if thats a positive pattern or something youd like to change.
- Show you where you may have gaps so you can develop the skills you need for
- Let you see new possibilities, and maybe other dream jobs, because a complete list of your skills and experience could show how you may be qualified for and interested in jobs youve never considered
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Resumes For Internal Promotions
If you are specifically targeting an internal promotion, you already have a major leg up on the external competition. Make sure to leverage your advantage! As an internal candidate, you can ask supervisors, clients, employees, and/or peers for a letter of recommendation talk to people in the know about the qualifications the new job will require and spend some time thinking about how you can help with the obstacles your company is currently facing. A format for a resume for promotion within the same company is also easier to come up with because you know your company culture.
When it comes to crafting your resume for internal professional advancement opportunities, be sure to avoid exaggerating your achievements or taking more credit than you can honestly claim for team accomplishments. In general, this is the best practice, but it is particularly key when the people reading your resume are familiar with your work in your current position. No one benefits from coming across as arrogant. It is much better to cushion your language to indicate collaboration.
Helpful phrasing for team achievements for use in internal resumes:
Played a key role inContributed xyz to project involvingCollaboratively managedPartnered with executive leadership team to capture
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.
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How Much Profit Can A Resume Writing Business Make
Since your resume writing services business has low recurring expenses, most of your earnings will be pure profit. Most resume writing services have annual incomes that range from 50,000 to 200,000 Fortunately, most of the money you make will be pure profit.
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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.
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Targeting Growth Companies Who You Want To Work For Is A Good Question
If you have already exhausted your existing contacts, think about targeting growth companies in your geographic location. You can use to do your research for you. All you need to do is plug in keywords. For example, say you are searching for a position in the pharmaceutical industry in Toledo, Ohio. Pull up Google News Alerts and start plugging in search terms like these:
1.) Ohio + pharma + growth companies2.) Toledo + pharma + corporate expansion3.) Ohio + pharma + mergers/acquisitions
You can set up batched alerts so that Google sends you a weekly batch of news articles containing the keywords you selected. From there, it is a simple matter of wading through the articles to look for interesting opportunities. Once you have found something you want to pursue, the person quoted in the article can serve as your contact person. This is a highly flattering way to approach someone and it really shows initiative, passion for the company in question, and knowledge of the industry trends. It also eliminates the competition if you reach out to an employer about a job before they are even thinking about hiring for it.
Other Important Resume Sections
The sections weve covered so far are must-haves for any resume. Theyre the bread-and-butter for any job application, and if you get them right, youll land any job you apply to.
The following sections, though, can really give you a boost here and there.
Languages
Are you bi-lingual? Or better, multi-lingual? You should ALWAYS mention that on your resume!
Even if the position doesnt require you to know the specific language, it can still come in handy at some point. At the end of the day, its always better to know more languages than less.
To list languages in your resume, simply write them down and assign them the appropriate level:
- Native
- Proficient
- Intermediate
- Basic
As a given, you should never lie about your language skills. You never know, your interviewer might turn out to be fluent in the language, or even be a native speaker!
Hobbies & Interests
Want to add some spice to your resume? The hobbies and interests section, while not a game-changer, can help show who YOU are as an individual. Who knows, maybe you and your interviewee have some hobbies in common?
If you end up with some extra space in your resume, dont hesitate to show off your personality with a hobbies/interests section.
Volunteering Experience
If youre the type of person to use your free time helping others, while expecting nothing in return, chances are that youre the type of employee whos in it for more than just the money. It leaves the impression that youre a devoted, loyal employee.
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List Your Professional History With Keywords
Write your professional history section in reverse-chronological order. Start with your most recent job and provide a short description including the company name, time period in which you were employed, your job title and a few key achievements during your time at the company. You might also include relevant learnings or growth opportunities you experienced while employed there.
When listing your professional history, you should keep a few best practices in mind:
-
Use numbers to measure your impact, when possible. Including specific numerical achievements can help employers understand your direct potential value to their company.
Example: Developed new process for requesting supplies, reducing fulfillment time by 10%.
-
Use keywords from the job description. Similar to your skills section, you should also include information from the job description in your job history bullets. For example, if the job description mentions the importance of meeting sales quotas, you could include information about how youve met or exceeded quotas in past roles.
Example: Achieved goal of reaching 250% annual sales quota, winning sales MVP two quarters in a row.
Follow the same process for other work experiences. If you do not have extensive professional history, you should also include internships and volunteer opportunities following the same format.
Add In Your Work Experience
This section will most likely be the bulk of your resume. Even if youre changing careers, employers still want to see where youve worked, what youve done, and the impact of that work to get a sense of your background and expertise.
Your Work Experience might be one entire category, or you might choose to break it up into Relevant Experience and Additional Experience to highlight the jobs that are most important for hiring managers to focus on. Either way, youll almost always want to have your most recent experience at the top and your older experience down below.
Within your work experience, youll want to include each official job title, the company , and the years you worked there. Below that, youll add in two to four bullet points explaining what you did in that job, the skills you built and exercised, the tools you used, and the results of what you did. If you accomplished a lot during your time there, focus on the responsibilities that made the most impact or youre the most proud of, as well as the ones that best align you with the job youre applying for . Its key here to list, if relevant, quantitative as well as qualitative accomplishments.
For example, you might write:
Associate Accountant, Finances and Co., Ann Arbor, MI
If you have a ton of experience and this category is starting to run long , consider kicking out your oldest jobs unless theyre super relevant to the job youre applying for, or extra impressive for your field.
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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.
Job Seeking Understand The Benefits And Realities Of Certain Methods
Job seekers looking to step into a higher-level role, whether outside or within their current company, should keep in mind that job boards and human resources departments are not necessarily going to be their best bet for landing a dream position. HR is mainly interested in finding a person who has already held and succeeded in an identical role to the open position, so anyone without the exact experience they are looking for wont usually be the top choice.
Instead, think about the people you know and the companies you would be most excited to work for. I highly recommend making a list of everyone in your network as well as a target company list that you can use to start reaching out to people and companies directly. Talk to your friends, your family, and your colleagues about your job target and ask if they know of anyone at a company you are interested in that they would be willing to introduce you to.
The success rates for landing a job through a job board like Indeed, LinkedIn, or Monster is much lower than most people think, accounting for only about 5%-15% of hiring. Networking is still the best way to land your next job, especially when navigating career advancement.
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Professional Profile Tips: What To Include
The professional profile is much more flexible and is ideal for experienced candidates. Whether you choose to format it as a paragraph or a bullet points, you should focus on years of relevant experience, areas of expertise, career achievements, and transferable skills.
Using an online resume builder is the ideal way of producing a professional-looking attractive resume which highlights a candidates strengths. It means you dont have to start a new resume for each job application, but use well-designed templates instead.
Blog About Resume Writing Job Interviews And Career Advice On Resume Writing Business Website
Love it or hate it, content marketing is the future of advertising. Most successful SaaS companies invest heavily in writing stellar and most comprehensive articles that get noticed, both by search engines and readers. Your blog posts draw people into your website, have them subscribe to your email list so that you can follow up with your resume services.
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What Do I Do If I Don’t Have Any Experience
Employers know that many teenagers will not have work experience. It is best to think of some hobbies or interests that relate to the job. For example, if you are applying for a job at your local café, you could say you have always been a keen coffee connoisseur. Just make sure you are being honest.
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.
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Summer Job Resume Examples And Writing Tips
A summer job can be a great way to build valuable work experience while earning extra income. Whether it’s flipping burgers or serving as a lifeguard at the local pool, seasonal gigs can be a great learning opportunity. And the experience you gain during seasonal jobs will be immensely valuable when you apply to full-time positions.
Just because a summer job will only last for a few months, however, it doesn’t mean that there won’t be competition to land a position.
That’s why it’s important to have a resume that stands out. Read on for tips on where to find summer jobs and how to write an effective resume. Plus, see examples of summer job resumes, which you can use for inspiration while developing your own.
Writing The First Section Of A Resume
Once you have decided what to use to start a resume you need to craft it. Whichever of the three formats you choose, your introductions have to be clear, concise, and focus on your strong points.
You should change the introduction for each job application aiming to match your skills, abilities, and experience with the job requirements stated in each job posting. Follow the corresponding tips for starting a resume depending on which resume introduction style you choose.
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Career Objective: What To Include
A career objective should be a single paragraph consisting of two to four sentences . It should include the years of relevant work experience , past job responsibilities, most important skills, abilities, and personality traits, and relevant qualifications, certificates and licenses.
Focus on your strengths. For example, if you are writing a student resume and have no relevant experience, dont highlight this. Instead, place emphasis on your qualifications, abilities, work ethic, and personality strengths.