What Is A Professional Resume

Should I Use A Professional Resume Template If I Work In The Arts Or A Creative Field

Professional resumes work well for most careers. However, if you work in the arts or a creative industry, a professional resume may not be the best template for your background.

Check out our page of creative resume templates.

While a professional resume wont hurt you as the way to organize all of your skills and work experience, it might not be as strong as a creative resume would be to help you showcase your individuality, artistic taste and style.

Using a creative resume template would better show your eye for design and capability for outside-the-box thinking, whereas a professional resume would organize your information much like an accountants.

So, if you work in a creative industry and are applying to a company that values creative thinking, look at some creative templates that might be better suited to your field before you get set on a professional-style template.

Start By Choosing The Right Resume Format

A format is the style and order in which you display information on your resume. There are three commonly-used resume formats you can choose from depending on which is right for you: Chronological , functional or a combination.

A chronological resume format places the professional history section first and is a good option if you have a rich professional work history with no gaps in employment.

1. Name and contact information2. Summary or objective4. Educational history5. Skills and abilities

The functional resume format emphasizes the skills section and is a good option if you are switching industries or have some gaps in your work history.

1. Name and contact information2. Summary3. Skills grouped by theme4. Any relevant professional experience5. Education

The combinationresume format is a good option if you have some professional experience, where both skills and work history are equally important.

How To Make A Resume

A resume is a document commonly used in the hiring process. It includes information about your background and qualifications and should communicate the most important, relevant information about you to employers in a clear, easy-to-read format. The goal is to quickly communicate why you are uniquely qualified for the position based on your skills and experiences.

To create a resume that will get noticed by employers, you can follow a few simple steps and best practices. The main goal to keep in mind is to make your resume relevant and readable. Lets take a closer look at the best ways to write each of these resume sections. For more inspiration when writing or updating your resume, look at resume samples from your industry and job title.

If you’re interested in professional and personalized resume feedback, learn more about Indeed’s free and paid resume review services at indeed.com/resumehelp.

1. Name and contact information2. Summary or objectivec. Description of role and achievement4. Education6. Optional

Recommended Reading: How To Put Ged On Resume

How To Fill The Gap Left By The Covid

The first thing to know is that COVID-19 has disrupted the career plans of thousands of students and you’re not alone. As a result of the pandemic career-boosting activities such as work experience, internships and volunteering have been postponed or cancelled. If this has left you worrying about the corona-shaped gap on your CV let us put your mind at rest.

Employers understand the challenges caused by lockdowns only too well and they won’t expect you to have completed a period of work experience in this time. That said you could still demonstrate to potential employers how you used this time wisely – showing yourself to be a proactive, dedicated and resilient candidate.

You could mention:

• details of online courses or Massive Open Online Courses you’ve undertaken or webinars or online events you’ve attended
• the acquisition of new skills, such as learning a language or learning to code
• volunteering work such as checking in on and shopping for vulnerable neighbours or caring for young siblings or elderly relatives
• charity work – perhaps you got involved with fundraising or raising awareness of a particular ogranisation.
• new hobbies such as starting to vlog, picking up a sport, learning to cook or setting up a community book club.

Remember – you’ll need to relate these to the job you’re applying for so focus on the skills these activities taught you and how/why they’d be useful.

Read our example cover letter explaining a gap in your CV.

Whats A Resume Objective & When To Use It

A resume objective is, in a nutshell, the goal of your resume. It communicates your motivation for getting into a new field. As with a resume summary, a resume objective should be around 2-3 sentences.;

As weve mentioned before, a resume objective is the go-to for anyone that either has no work experience or is going through a career change.

Formula to Create Your Resume Objective:

Looking to apply my at

to help .;

Examples of Resume Objectives

1) So, heres how that would look like if youre a student:

• Hard-working recent graduate with a B.A. in Graphic Design from New York State University seeking new opportunities. 3+ years of practical experience working with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, creating illustrations & designing UX / UI. Looking to grow as a designer, as well as perfect my art, at the XYZ Design Studio.

2) Or, on the other hand, if youre going through a career change:

• IT project manager with 5+ years of experience in software development. Managed a team of developers to create products for several industries, such as FinTech and HR tech. Looking to leverage my experience in managing outsourced products as a Product Owner at XYZ.

You May Like: Where Should Skills Go On A Resume

Changing Times For Resumes

It goes without saying that resumes these days are delivered as email attachments, not printed out and mailed.

Although the two-page maximum still stands, many applicants use the web to the max when it comes to attachments. Video introductions, charts, graphs, and other illustrations can make you stand out, as long as they’re relevant and slickly made.

Have Your Cv Either Created Or Optimised

• Do you find it difficult to create your own CV? Or are you just too busy, and don’t have the time? Then have your CV created or optimised by a professional.
• Send us your current CV and we will make your CV in one of our professional templates.
• Your content is professionally, powerfully, and clearly rewritten.
• Within 24-48 hours, your CV is professionally created or optimised, and available to download from your personal account.
• Free CV maker account allows you to continuously edit your generated CV, and make use of all other functionalities available.

You May Like: How Far Back Do You Go On A Resume

When To Use A Chronological Resume

A chronological resume is a good choice for anyone whose employment history shows a consistent, advancing career path. For example, you might select a chronological resume format if youve spent the past several years in the same industry and each role youve held was more senior than the last. Its also often used by people who are applying to a position in the same or similar field to the majority of their work experience.

However, if you have multiple gaps in your employment history, youre looking to change careers or your work experience is heavily varied, you may want to consider a functional or combination resume.

How To Find The Best Skills To List On Your Resume

Before you begin writing your resume, familiarize yourself with the hard and soft skills associated with the job you want.

The best way to identify these important job skills is to analyze job openings in your industry. Take this job ad, for instance. For your convenience, weve highlighted soft skills in green and hard skills in yellow:

In this ad, you can quickly pick out several good skills to put on your resume. This includes a range of technical skills needed for the position, as well as many soft skills that help define the best candidate for the role.

Once youve looked at several such job ads, youll have a clearer idea of what job skills hiring managers are looking for.

You May Like: How To Write A Sponsorship Resume

How To Write A Professional Summary For A Resume With No Work Experience

A lot of people with no work experience default to writing a resume objective because they think they have nothing to summarize.

However, this usually ends up backfiring on them as a resume objective brings little to the table. Thats because a resume objectives main focus is you as opposed to a professional summary which focuses on solving the needs of the company.

Also, writing a summary objective can make you appear more inexperienced then you truly are.;

Instead, as someone with no work experience you can write a professional summary by including:;

• Your education level;
• Adjectives that emphasize your work ethic ;
• Relevant skills gained at school, volunteering or internships;;
• Professional hobbies .;

In addition, if you have volunteered or interned, know that regardless of whether they were paid or not they are still considered work experience. As the skills and knowledge gained as a volunteer or intern can be quite valuable to an employer.;

With that said, heres an example of a professional summary for someone with no work experience:

People United Foundation Fundraiser Volunteer;

How To Write A Professional Summary

As we said before, a good professional summary should compel an employer to read the next section of your resume thats all. If it manages to do that, then it has accomplished its purpose.;

However, doing this is easier said than done, as it can be tricky to cram the most exciting bits of your career into a 3-5 bullet points summary.;

Luckily, theres a few tips and tricks you can use to craft an impressive resume summary.

Heres how you can do that:;

Recommended Reading: How To Put Community Service On Resume

Write A Resume Summary Or Objective

A resume summary and resume objective are brief sections on your resume that introduce you to the hiring manager. While a resume summary briefly describes your work experience and background for a job, a resume objective highlights your relevant career goals. No matter which you write, it’s important to review the job posting to determine what the employer is looking for in a candidate.

Typically, a resume summary suits candidates with work experience they can quickly summarise, whereas a resume objective is best for recent graduates with minimal job experience. Here are examples of both a resume summary and resume objective:

• Resume summary:âThoughtful construction labourer with over five years of experience helping manage teams toward successful and safe completion of housing projects.â
• Resume objective:âRecent graduate eagerly looking to expand construction labour experience with a growing contractor.â

The Difference Between A Resume And A Curriculum Vitae

Adrian Mange / The Balance

What is the difference between a resume and a CV? When should you use a resume, and when is it better to use a curriculum vitae?

The primary differences between a;resume;and a;curriculum vitae ;are length, what is included, and what each is used for. While both are used in job applications, a resume and a CV are not always interchangeable.

Recommended Reading: How To Get Past Resume Screening Software

Where Is The Company Based

Depending on where the company is located, CV may refer to a standard resume or it may refer to the longer form, highly detailed document explained above. To determine which you should send, first consider the type of job. If its an academic or research position, the employer is likely seeking a traditional CV. If its any other type of job, including a role with a business or even a staff position within academia, then the employer is likely seeking the shorter form resume-style document.

If youre in doubt about whether you should send a CV or resume, reach out to the recruiter or hiring manager and ask for clarification.

If you have a resume but not a CV , it may be worthwhile to put one together. A CV is, in many ways, a more detailed version of a resume with a few additional pieces of information, so creating one from the other shouldnt require a great deal of work. Having the right document for a job application is crucial, and keeping both options on hand will ensure youre prepared no matter what the job posting requests.

Rsum As One Part Of A Personal Branding Mix

In some sectors, particularly in the startup community, use of traditional résumé has seen a consistent decline. While standalone résumés are still used to apply for jobs, job seekers may also view their résumés as one of a number of assets which form their personal brand and work together to strengthen their job application. In this scenario, résumés are generally used to provide a potential employer with factual information , while the social media platforms give insight into the job seekers’ motivations and personality in development.

Also Check: How To Send Your Resume To Recruiter

How To Edit Your Resume

Youve written your resume, and read it twice, but thats not enough. A good editing job will take a little longer and some specific tactics meant to catch resume errors.

First, dont attempt to edit your resume until its done. Yes, it can be difficult to leave a glaring error while you move on to write your skills section, but force yourself to finish your resume before you edit it. Why? Youll save yourself time, and letting go of errors now could help you write a better first draft because youre focusing on the writing itself. Youll be glad you decided to go back and make all the edits at once.

Next, never try to edit your resume right after youve written it. In fact, you should give yourself a 24-hour break before editing your resume. With time away, youll see your resume with fresh eyes and for what it really isnot what you meant it to be.

When you give your resume a read, try reading your resume backward. It sounds odd and its not always easy but reading backward forces you to focus on each word, and helps you better catch both spelling and grammatical errors in the text.

Ask a friend or family member to read your resume, too. They may spot errors that you missed, or have suggestions for how to show yourself in an even better light.

And lastly, be sure to look for common resume pitfalls before you press send.

List Your Soft And Hard Skills

Take a moment to consider which skills make you a great fit for the job. Review the job description and highlight keywords that you have had proven success with in the past. Consider both hard and soft skills, as well as transferable skills you can use when changing careers or industries. Create a skills section with the keywords that are relevant to the employer. List any required skills like certifications or licenses first.

Also Check: What Format Should Your Resume Be In

Put Them Among Your Work Experience Bullets

One of the best ways to showcase your skills on a resume is by writing resume work experience bullet points that feature your greatest professional accomplishments. These bullets then show that you not only possess certain skills, but also prove youve used them to produce results for previous employers.

Simply follow these three steps and youll be able to reinforce your experience section with skills that help you attract recruiters and impress hiring managers.

Step 1: Make a list of all your relevant skills

List every ability you feel is relevant to the target position. If youre struggling to think of any, use the job descriptions used in ads from your industry, as well as looking at LinkedIn profiles of people working in similar roles.

Once youve created your list, go through and circle all the skills that are relevant to you. These skills should be your focus.

Step 2: Create achievement-oriented bullet points

Once you have your list of skills, convert these skills into bullet points that show you produce positive results. The easiest way to do this is by using the STAR method.

Check out how a project manager used the STAR method to emphasize their communication skills:

Cover Letter For A Professional Resume

A cover letter represents an opportunity for the candidate to introduce themselves to their potential employer through a personalized letter accompanying their resume.

It is advisable to use the cover letter to detail anything that may need explaining from your resume, such as gaps in work history. You can also take this chance to go more in depth on a subject or specific experience that you feel is of significance to the role at hand.

Like the resume, the cover letter is a spokesperson for you and your career therefore you must ensure to format it well and create a good structure, with no errors or spelling mistakes, truthful throughout, highlighting your strengths and adapt it to the role or company youre applying to.

It is essential to send a cover letter accompanying a professional resume for each job vacancy. Without the cover letter, it is possible that your application will not even be considered in certain companies or for specific positions, thus it is of vital importance that you work just as hard on writing a winning cover letter as for your professional resume.

For more tips and advice on making a cover letter, take a look at our blog.

Don’t Miss: What Is Difference Between Resume Cv And Biodata