A professional resume plays an important role in your job-seeking campaign. A resume is a detailed synopsis of your skills, expertise, and accomplishments, it’s should be easy to read and avoid vague language or inconsistent formatting. Others may say resumes are just for formality, most, if not, all hiring managers want it to be professional and polished. Because if not, these application materials won’t even get a second glance from these hiring managers. An unprofessional resume makes you look as an unprofessional job seeker and might cost you not to get an interview, worse, the job.
Think of your resume as a key marketing tool with the purpose of helping you get a job interview.
Tips on Creating a Professional Resume
1. Choose the Best Resume Format
There are three types of professional resume formats such as chronological, functional and combination. Choose the one that’s fit for your work experience, educational background, and skills. Choosing the right format is all well worth the effort. Having said that, it is also important to have a consistency in your format. For instance, if bullet points were used to describe your responsibilities and achievements, be sure to use bullet points for the rest.
2. Make A Strong Starter
This is the first thing that the hiring managers read when they check your resume. Make sure you will write a great impact on the first 15-20 words of your resume as it is critically important. It will determine whether they will read the rest or not. For this part, you can write a brief summary of your expertise, however, do not make it too long as you will have the opportunity to expand that on the latter part of your resume. Make it short, but powerful.
3. Readable Content
Your resume should be easy to read. Make it as attractive to the eye by using the right font, standard margins, and appropriate spacing. Use consistent formatting that will make your resume clear and easy to read. Just make sure the content you feature is visually appealing and quickly scannable to catch the eye of the employers.
4. Highlight your Skills and Accomplishments
It is important to prioritize the content of your resume to be noticed by employers. List the most important and relevant experience first, with key accomplishment at the top of each position. These accomplishments will serve as your edge among the other applicants. So make sure your resume should have the skills and attributes that qualify you for the job.
5. Contact Information
It’s very necessary to include all your contact information at the top of your resume which includes your name, address, phone number and email address because this is the only means of communication your potential employer will have with you. Make sure all your information is correct and accurate so employers can easily get in touch with you for an interview.
6. Be Honest When Writing Your Resume
While most job seekers aim to impress their hiring managers with all those achievements, awards and accomplishments, make sure all information written on your resume is real. It is important to keep your resume achievements truthful and doesn't pretend you have achieved certain aspects in your career or personal life if they are not true. As a job seeker, you don’t want to misrepresent yourself, so be precise and consistent when writing your resume. It is important, to be honest, accurate and to not exaggerate your qualifications.
7. Review and Edit your Resume
You need to proofread your resume by a second person or any language tool. Typographical and grammatical errors are one of the common mistakes job seekers tend to commit while writing their resumes. Hiring managers are very keen and meticulous when it comes to this. Having a lot of typographical and grammatical errors in your resumes will give your hiring manager the impression that you did not exert any effort in writing your resume. It needs to be typographically and grammatically flawless, if not perfect. So before sending your resume to employers ensure that it is polished and error free.
