Have you ever wondered why you always get rejected for a job? Is it because of your resume? Is preparing a resume is quite tough at times and intermediating? Well, this guide is for you!
In most cases, resumes are the greatest criterion based on which employers and hiring managers make their decision. Like two sides of a coin, resumes can hugely influence employers and hiring managers. Thereby, they play a huge role in the selection or can lead to a direct rejection of the candidate for the job.
But how to write a PERFECT resume? Well, do not worry, writing a perfect resume is not a tough row to hoe! In this article, we will provide you with the best guide on how to prepare a perfect resume. Resumes that can separate you from the rest of the crowd and get you selected. So without any further delay, let’s get straight to the topic.
What Is A Resume?
Well, we are pretty sure that most of you reading this must be knowing what is a resume. To cut it short, a resume is a professional summary of your skills, professional background, and education that you present to apply for a job. Most people confuse a resume with curriculum vitae (commonly known as a CV).
A CV is a complete detailed document that includes all the details of your career, education, and qualifications without any restriction of the length. But a resume is a summary of all the important information that should be just one or two pages long. Another major difference is that a candidate can use the same CV for many job applications but a resume has to be modified and tweaked for each specific job application.
Are resumes important?
Yes, A professional resume is a very crucial element for any job search. It shows the candidate’s ability to write comprehensively and adequately communicate their skills and experience to the recruiters and hiring managers. An unambiguous and orderly presentation of your relevant skillset on the resume shows self-awareness and professionalism.
Studies show that employers reject nearly 90% of resumes they get daily. Out of this, 76% of resumes are discarded for an unprofessional email address whereas 88% of them are rejected due to including a photo on the resume. Only 35% of applicants actually quality(not selected) for the jobs they apply to. Hence, this proves the importance of resumes while applying for a job. Now that you flawlessly know about resumes, let us see how to structurize them.
How To Build A Perfect Resume?
1. Header and Contact Info.
Each resume has to be very singular and unique but generally, a good resume includes the following sections:
At the very top of your resume (i.e. header), always start with your name. The very next line should be followed by your contact information. This should include your phone number, personal email address, and also links to social profiles or personal websites. The purpose of contact information is to cut the difficulties faced by hiring managers or recruiters in finding and reaching out to the right author of that resume.
However, it is not advisable to put the contact information in the header or footer of your document as the Application Tracking System (ATS) might fail to notice it while scanning through your resume.
2. Professional Summary
The very next section that follows the contact information is a Professional Summary. This has to be kept very brief, about one to three sentences will be sufficient enough. The summary section must be crisp and to the point, as this will be a salient feature of the resume. The summary must include what you do and why are you a perfect fit for the job. This is in very much contrast with the objective statements that in which described what kind of career opportunities you are looking for (it’s outdated!).
Professional summaries aren’t about what you want to become, instead they are more precise and focused on the profit that you could give to a potential employer. However, this section is not mandatory and it won’t cause any harm if your resume misses one. But it can be a polite way to inform the recruiters why you are the right person for the job without consuming much of their time.
3. Skills
As we keep moving downwards, the recruiters and hiring managers increasingly look for candidates with specialized backgrounds herein, the skill section plays a huge role. Clearly listing your skills and abilities and will compel the hiring folks to consider the resume much seriously rather than wasting time reading the entire resume and hunt through the typical bullet points to find your skills.
4. Work Experience
The Work Experience section is one of the most important parts of the entire resume. This is where the candidate must include the information regarding their work history in a compelling and congruous format. The candidates must include the company’s name, employment dates, locations, your positions, and titles that you held along with bullet points containing the details of each accomplishment of each position.
This section is essential for hiring managers and recruiters as they compare it with other candidates’ experience and see whose skills match their requirements the best. The hiring folks are often flooded with numerous resume submissions and have to carefully identify the right candidate from the crowd. Therefore, make sure that your work experience section stands out!
5. Education
Many jobs focus more on the academic credentials of the candidate. Simply listing the details of your school, the year of completion, college/university name, and the degree will be sufficient. Again, this section should be short and to the point.
6. Additional Experience
The Additional Experience section is not mandatory, but a noteworthy addition to a resume. This can also be a game-changer present at the tail end of the resume that allows the candidate to put forward any of the awards, volunteer experience, or hobbies to the recruiters and hiring managers. The same rule applies here as well, the section to be kept brief and compact, as this can detract the hiring folks from your skills or work experience. Although it is a fine way to provide a well-round sketch of yourself.
Wrapping It Up
Crafting a resume can be both astounding as well as a nightmare. With a resume that’s polished, professional concise, and error-free, you’re one step closer to catching the eye of prospective employers!
And lastly, be sure to have a look at hiringmentor.com/blog before you make the final resume. Hiringmentor is the right stop to get the best resume pointers and career guidance.
All the best with your future job applications!