Name And Contact Information
At a minimum, your contact information section should include your name, phone number and email address. Depending on the type of job youre applying for, you might also include a link to an online portfolio or professional website.
An example contact information section might look like this:
A common practice is to use your name as the title of the page, formatted so that employers can easily identify your name and contact information first.
Related:
How To Write A Resume Profile Or Summary Statement
A resume summary or career prole is a brief statement at the top of your resume. If you are a career changer or have many years of experience, craft a powerful summary to highlight your accomplishments and skills. Show the employer, at a glance, why youre qualied for the job!
Resume Prole Guidelines
General guidelines to keep in mind:
- Keep your prole short. Two to ve phrases written in a bulleted form or brief paragraph will do. Think of the summary as a snapshot of your skills, accomplishments, and knowledge.
- Label your prole professionally: Summary of Qualications, Career Prole, Career Highlights, Professional Summary, or just Summary or Prole.
- Place your prole section at the top of your resume page, above your work history, so that the employer can see it when they rst review your resume.
One Thing You Should Never Put On Your Resume
One Thing You Should Never Put On Your Resume
It may be part of who you are, but it wont help you win over employers.Monster Contributing WriterWhat if its hard to avoid?What else should you leave off?
You May Like: Cum Laude In Resume
Common Resume Spelling Mistakes
Because the English language rarely uses accents, theres some confusion about which accent to use on words like resume.
The accents on the letter e in résumé are called acute accents. The accents on the letter a in apple pie à la mode are called grave accents. If you feel compelled to use any accents on the word resume, acute accents are your only option.
Why You Do Not Need An Objective On A Resume
If you applied for an employers job, then they know your objective is to obtain an interview and potentially earn a job offer. Rather than including a resume objective, utilize the space below your header and contact info to write one or two brief paragraphs about your career accomplishments and who you are as a professional.
You can find 10 examples of this HERE.
Many modern employers will also view a resume objective as being out-dated and old-fashioned, which could actually hurt your chances of getting hired.
If you do put a resume objective, a hiring manager will likely skip it anyway and look for information thats more helpful as they decide whether to interview you for example, your employment history section.
If you insist on standing out and expressing your unique interest in a certain position, thats what a cover letter is for.
Read Also: Email Submitting Resume
Which Skills Are More Important
The debate rages on about which of these two types of skills are more important.
According to executive consultant and Forbes contributor Naz Beheshti, There is an ongoing debate about the relative importance of soft and hard skills that imply a competition between the two. However, they are both necessary and complementary to one another.
On one hand, in a tough job market, job seekers with a proficiency in a specific hard skill may get hired more quickly as companies look to hire people that can deliver value with fewer resources .
However, we are also seeing that many hiring managers are choosing to hire candidates with highly developed soft skills.
Why?
Because they feel that they can always train the candidate in the hard skill that is required to complete the job, but soft skills are often skills that cannot necessarily be taught.
So what does this mean for you?
But Keep A Master List Of All Jobs
Since youll want to be swapping different information in and out depending on the job youre applying to, keep a resume outline or master resume on your computer where you keep any information youve ever included on a resume: old positions, bullet points tailored for different applications, special projects that only sometimes make sense to include. Then, when youre crafting each resume, its just a matter of cutting and pasting relevant information together. Think of this as your brag file.
You May Like: Conferences On Resume
What To Put On A Resume If You Have No Work Experience
Now, if you just graduated and have absolutely no work experience, heres what I recommend
However, if you have absolutely no work experience, heres what to put on your resume
Were going to follow the sections outlined above, but move #5 up to #3 so it will be right below your Summary section.
So it will look like this
Other Outdated Sections To Leave Off Your Resume
Hopefully Ive now convinced you that you dont need an objective section on your resume. So while were here, there are a couple of other things you should leave off your resume.
First, dont put references directly on your resume. Make employers ask you for references, and ideally wait until youve spoken with them and know theyre interested. Offering up references before even talking to an employer signals to them that youre either desperate to find a job or very old-fashioned/outdated. Or both.
Next, leave off hobbies and interests unrelated to your work, as well as personal information like height, weight, etc.
None of these will help you land the interview.
And unless youre in the EU, dont put a photo on your resume, either. I know this is customary in many countries in the EU, but if youre a job seeker in North America, your resume shouldnt have a photo of you. Let hiring managers go to your if they want to see a photo.
If you follow the advice above and stop putting an objective on your resume, youll get more interviews and have a more modern-looking resume.
You May Like: How To Indicate Promotion On Resume
We Recommend Deleting Your Professional Summary For The Following Four Reasons:
1) Your resume is already a short document: you dont need a summary to summarize it
At most, your resume is two to three pages long. At best, its only a page.
If youre effectively incorporating skim value into your document, a recruiter should be able to skim it in under 30 seconds and still pick up the key information theyre looking for such as:
- skills
- education
2) Professional summaries tend to be generic and full of empty buzzwords
The typical professional summary boasts numerous cliches regarding how the candidate has ten years of proven sales and digital marketing experience, is a strong team leader, and has effective verbal and written communication skills, for example.
If you do, thats great!
However, always aim to show recruiters examples of these characteristics instead of simply telling them.
3) Your work experience section allows you to convey your skills in a more believable manner
Professional summaries that incorporate generic buzzwords dont sound believable without any concrete evidence to back up the statements.
These types of statements also make you sound like similar candidates who are applying for the same position.
Aim to differentiate yourself from your competition.
Youll be able to do so in a much more compelling manner by providing real-world examples in the context of your work experience.
4) Its best to simply stick to the facts and let your experience speak for itself
Elaborate Formats And Designs
When it comes to selecting a design for your resume, less is more. Not only do elaborate designs and unconventional formats confuse most applicant tracking systems, but they also annoy recruiters who are accustomed to quickly scanning a resume for specific information they expect to find in particular spots within the document. Don’t make recruiters hunt for the information they care about. Play it safe and stick to a clean resume design with a clear hierarchy. Not sure what works? Check out TopResume’s library of free resume samples.
Also Check: Where To List Cpr Certification On Resume
Classes Training And Certifications
Now its time to list any relevant classes, training, or certifications that are relevant for your resume.
For classes, include coursework that you took through school that are relevant to the position you are applying for. Just list the class title instead of the class number, such as ECON101. You can also write a brief description that is one to two sentences long to describe the course, if it is relevant to the job youre applying for.
For every training session and certification on your resume, list where you received the training, the type of course taken, the date you received it, and the date it expires .
Example of how to list a class in a resume:Intro to Hospitality Introduction to the hospitality industry, including various types of career paths. In-depth lessons on the food and beverage sector, including the categories of restaurants and the different types of food service.
Example of how to list training and certifications:Coral Springs University, Coral Springs Florida Valid 9/2018 9/2021First Aid & CPR Certified
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.
Recommended Reading: Writing A Resume For A Teenager
Choose The Most Suitable Format
Before you start writing anything, the first step is to decide on the right format for your resume. There are three basic resume formats used by job seekers today: reverse-chronological, functional, and combination. Each format has advantages and disadvantages based on how the resume sections are arranged:
Detail Your Work Experience
The work experience section is the heart of your resume. Employers look at this section closely to determine whether your job history and prior accomplishments make you a promising candidate.
Thats why its important to detail not only your job responsibilities but also your competence in prior roles. The work experience section is your chance to show recruiters and hiring managers how you have added unique value to other companies.
The first things a recruiter looks for on your resume are the job titles youve held and the caliber of companies youve worked with. Make this information easy to find by sticking to a familiar format.
List each job in reverse-chronological order. Each job should have its own subheading that includes the following information:
- Company
Recommended Reading: Adding Gpa To Resume
What Is Past Tense What Is Present Tense
First, let’s have a review of what past and present tense means. Is your sentence describing something that’s happening now, or did it already occur?
-
Past tense is anything that’s already happened. The verbs that describe past tense often end with -ed. Of course, there are some exceptions like oversaw.Reminder: every sentence of your resume should start with a verb.
-
Present tense is anything that’s happening now. You’d use present tense in the summary paragraph at the top and in the bullets you use to describe your current job.
-
Pro tip: The gerund form of present tense verbs often adds an -ing at the end. There is some debate as to whether the use of the gerund is appropriate for a resume. With that said, you should avoid using it.
Choose The Best Resume Format
There are different types of resumes, and each has strengths for your needs. Depending on your professional circumstances, you can choose between chronological, functional, combination or targeted resumes. Decide on one that fits your work experience, educational background and skills.
-
Chronological resume: This type of resume lists your education and experience in reverse chronological order with your current job at the top. It’s easy for hiring managers to read chronological resumes quickly. This resume is easy for automatic resume scanning software to scan. Chronological resumes are good for people who have experience in their industries.
-
Functional resume: Functional resumes are resumes focusing on skills and education. These resumes focus on what you have learned from your education as well as the skills you have developed. Functional resumes are good for people with employment gaps in their careers or people new to the job market.
-
Combination resume: A combination resume is a resume blending a functional resume and a chronological resume. Combination resumes are good for those who have strong job experience or those who are changing careers. A combination resume is best for those who are senior executives or for those who are changing careers.
Also Check: How To Add Leadership Skills To Resume
Pick The Ideal Resume Layout
The hard part is over. Youve written your resume, and are feeling confident about getting that interview. Now its time to take a moment and consider your resumes design.
Depending on the industry you work in or the job you want, you may need to adjust your resume layout to fit the expectations of the hiring manager.
Highlighting Duties Instead Of Accomplishments
Your resume needs to show how good you are at your job, but it’s all too easy to slip into a mode where you simply start listing your duties. For example:
- Attended group meetings and recorded minutes
- Worked with children in a day-care setting
Thats more or less an echo of your job description. Employers, however, don’t care so much about what you’ve done as what you’ve accomplished in your various activities. One of the most basic resume tips is to go beyond showing what was required and demonstrate how you made a difference at each company, providing specific examples. They’re looking for statements more like these:
- Recorded weekly meeting minutes and compiled them in a Microsoft Word-based file for future organizational reference
- Developed three daily activities for preschool-age children and prepared them for a 10-minute holiday program performance
- Reorganized 10 years worth of unwieldy files, making them easily accessible to department members
Need help? Ask yourself these questions:
- How did you perform the job better than others?
- What were the problems or challenges faced? How did you overcome them? What were the results? How did the company benefit from your performance?
- Did you receive any awards, special recognitions, or promotions as a result?
Don’t Miss: Relevant Coursework Examples
What To Put On A Resume: 7 Things To Include
If youre wondering what goes on a resume, Im going to share everything you should include to get more interviews, including:
- What to put in a resume for experienced candidates
- What to put in a resume if you have no experience
- What NOT to include in your resume
- How to look at the job description for clues about what skills and experience to put on your resume to grab each employers attention. .
Heres exactly what to put on a resume, based on my experience as a recruiter
Academic Project Relevant To A Job
Including an academic project in a resume is straightforward. Include where the project took place, what class it was a part of, the title of the project, the date it was completed and a short summary of its purpose.
Example of how to list an academic project in a resume:Coral Springs University, Coral Springs, Florida Intro to Hospitality Course McDonalds Restaurant Analysis Group ProjectWorked within a team of 4 to analyze data on the revenue, size, and customer base of a popular fast-food chain in Florida. Created and presented findings during a course presentation. Was personally responsible for collecting data on McDonalds revenue and creating a PowerPoint presentation.
Read Also: Places To Print Resume
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 .
When To Use Present Tense On Your Resume
The career summary or profile summary of your resume should always be in the present tense. The skills you list in this prominent section of your resume are skills you do all the time. You can write your current position in present tense, too. This is the it-can-get-tricky part because you can also talk about your current position in the past tense — more on this in just a bit. Here are a couple of examples:
-
Direct full-cycle hiring processes, including telephone interviews, to ramp up department operations.
Train 6 associates and 2 clerks to ascertain the needs of clients and improve customer satisfaction.
Read Also: Emailing Resume Body
Why A Career Highlights Section Is A Stronger Alternative
Instead a writing a professional summary in paragraph format, we recommend including a Career Highlights section, which consists of 4-5 bullet points that:
- Outline key achievements from your career
- Demonstrate how your experience aligns with the target role
In these bullet points, avoid generic descriptions describing your skills sets.
Instead, mention company names and provider concrete examples of projects you completed and your achievements.
Experienced Executives
If you are an experienced executive, use the career highlights section to provide an overview of your career progression.
What were your biggest contributions?
What aspects of your career are you most proud of?
Career Switchers and Job Hoppers
If you held unrelated positions across multiple industries or have a non-linear career path, you can leverage the career highlights section to tie your diverse experiences together around a common theme.
In this case, its best to approach this section by keeping the jobs you are applying for in mind.
What aspects of your unique experience are most applicable to the roles youre now pursuing?
Academics and Researchers
Academic and research CVs tend to be significantly longer than a professional resume.
In these cases, your highlights section will serve as an executive summary or elevator pitch outlining your career trajectory.
For academic CVs, a traditional professional summary written in paragraph format can also be appropriate.