A resume is a great way to showcase ourselves. It makes a stranger believe in our skills and passion to work. To get an interview, and to get a job offer, we need to get the attention of a hiring manager or recruiter. Creating a resume is not as easy as it sounds. There are a lot of things that should be kept in mind while creating one. In this article, you will see 10 things to remember while creating a perfect resume.
1. Keep it within one or two pages.
The resume should be brief. It must not be more than two pages otherwise your chance of selection will be very low. According to a study the interviewer gives only 10 seconds to your Resume. .So, we have to make it short, clean and write important things only. With only 10 seconds to make a first impression, it is necessary to be concise so that recruiters read the highlights of your education, achievements, and career history quickly and completely.
Sometimes because of a lot of information included in your Resume, some important information is missed out. But make sure that you don’t miss out on important information in a race to keep your resume short. Your resume should not exceed one or two pages, and it should only list the necessary information. Make it clean and concise by getting rid of all the fluff.
2. Do not include unnecessary information
Recruiters have thousands of Resumes to review at a time. So, you have made it harder for them to read yours. Include only relevant information to make it short.
- Don’t mention your age, religion, sex kind of things.
- Don’t make the personal details section lengthy.
- Include name, date of birth, and address only.
3. Use bullet points for lists.
For sections like achievements and responsibilities always use bullet points. Bullet points are a good way to keep everything concise. Listening to all achievements one by one using bullet points will give the interviewer a clear cut view. Ensure each point has a clear purpose and it shows how you stand out from the competition. Bullet points are visually attractive and help the reader to point important information easily.
4. List qualifications and career history in reverse chronological order.
Chronological order is the arrangement of stuff following one after another in time.
Reverse chronological order means to include the latest qualifications and career history at the top. They are interested in your latest goals first then they look at secondary ones.
5. Look for keywords in the job posting.
When you are applying for a job just go through with all the requirements they are looking for. Find out everything you can about the specific requirements of the job. Create a list of all the keywords. Try to mention these keywords in your Resume. If you know these skills then directly mention them.
So, before applying for a job just Research the company, including its history, products, services, culture, demands, and recent developments. A resume is a marketing tool designed to sell your capabilities and potential. So, you have to look at the customer requirements first.
6. Give it a professional view.
The resume should always be in a professional format. You can’t afford the rejection after coming at the peak. So, follow proper guidelines while creating your Resume.
Always keep the overworked recruiter in mind, and remember that a well-organized resume is half the battle. Forget fancy, colorful, and multiple fonts and jarring text sizes. Also, forget center alignment for texts and random bolding and italicizing of a copy. Follow the below instructions:-
- Use Common font styles like Helvetica, Calibri, and Cambria
- Font size must be between 12 to 14.
- Always use appropriate spacing
- Don’t use more than six bullet points when highlighting experience, education, and skills.
- Margins at 1” all around.
- Use Left Aligned format.
7. Avoid spelling and grammar errors.
Don’t make grammatical mistakes because recruiters don’t forgive this. You can use the Grammarly app for better spell checking and suggestions but don’t rely entirely upon electronic spelling and grammar checkers.
Proofread your resume several times and then give your resume to your friends to check for errors. Use proper tenses if you are writing about your past achievements, use past forms of verbs, or if you are currently doing a role do use the present tense.
Focus on voice and speech as well. It is easy to overlook simple mistakes in your own writing, so it is important to get a second look from a fresh pair of eyes at your Resume.
8. Don’t copy it
Create your Resume on your own. Don’t copy it from anywhere. Copying the Resume from some sources will make your future a question. A resume should always be unique. A resume is a personal document; it’s about what you’ve achieved in your life. Even if you can only come up with one page or maybe half, let it be original.
9. Don’t overuse ‘I’
Start sentences with verbs, don’t use I in every sentence. Avoid “I did this and that” examples. Instead, use sentences starting with “Completed …” or “Achieved…” etc. Don’t use words like “I” or “me” or “my.”
10. LinkedIn
It is very important to make your LinkedIn profile stand out. Many people add a URL link to their LinkedIn profile on a Resume and highly recommend you do this. LinkedIn is a great way to go into a bit more detail about what you’ve done, build up recommendations from others, and post business-related articles that interest you.
Try to be active on LinkedIn. Recruiters always look at LinkedIn profiles while appointing you to know your achievements and reach in social media as well.