Landing your dream job is the ultimate goal of every job-hunting candidate. The recruiter can immediately decide whether they are going to call you for the interview or not just by looking at your resume.
If you’re struggling to get a call for an interview, chances are that your resume is not portraying your skills well enough.
A well-written resume should perfectly summarize your educational details, work experience, and skill set. It should demonstrate your skills for the job position you are applying for.
Your resume plays a crucial role in marketing your skills. Creating a perfect resume is a work of art. While writing a resume, a few things must be kept in mind. We have made an 8-step guide to help you craft a perfect resume.
Formatting of the resume plays a huge role in making it a success or a failure. Therefore, choose a format very wisely.
A resume should be aesthetically pleasing when you first look at it. Your task should be to ease the job of hiring a manager.
There are different types of formats, and you should choose the one that suits you. Following are some of the common formats for writing a resume.
The chronological format of the resume focuses on work experiences with respect to time. This is one of the most common types of resume formats.
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The functional format emphasizes skills rather than work experiences. New graduates and people switching careers usually opt for this format.
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The hybrid format or also called the combination format, is the perfect choice for candidates who have skills and work experience as well.
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Once you have chosen the right format, it is time to start writing a resume.
Your contact details are an important part of your resume. The top of the resume should contain a phone number, email address, location, and LinkedIn profile link.
While creating a resume, candidates sometimes forget about the most basic part, which is including contact information. Mark these checkboxes while writing contact details on the resume.
A resume headline is a one-liner of fewer than 10 words below your name that perfectly describes your position. It is not absolutely necessary to add a headline to the resume.
But since we are talking about creating perfect resumes that compel the recruiter to call you for the interview. A good headline is important in this case.
A headline can intrigue the hiring manager and compels them to read more about you. If you want to create a resume that makes you stand out, then adding these details can really help.
Headlines can include the keywords of the job posting. Using keywords makes it easy for the resume to pass ATS (application tracking system).
A resume summary provides a concise overview of the whole document.
Even if HR does not want to read the whole resume, your summary should display your skills and work experiences.
Therefore, a summary should make it clear why you are the perfect fit for the job.
Learn to write a summary with precision. We recommend using a paraphrasing tool if you want to avoid duplication of information.
Paraphraser allows you to reword the sentences without ruining the quality of the content. The paraphrasing tool rewrites the text with accuracy. This makes it easier for job hunters to write a summary, especially if it is your first time creating a resume.
Below are a few things that you must mention in summary.
It would not be wrong to say that this section is the heart of your resume. Make sure to write it in the most flawless way possible.
The employer’s only concern is your previous work history. They will closely look at it to determine if you’re a potential candidate or not.
While writing about your work experience, do not forget to include the job responsibilities. This is your chance to show the employer that you will be valuable to the company.
Each work experience must include the job location, job title, name of the company, and time duration of working for that company.
It is a common norm to include educational details in the resume.
Education background is very important if you are applying for jobs that are relevant to your degree (for example, jobs in academia, medicine, and law firms).
Other jobs which are skill-based and are not relevant to your degree do not require educational information. In this situation, this section can be minimized. You can always check out other resumes for the job you are applying for. For example, you can draw inspiration from a personal support worker resume sample if you want to work in the healthcare industry.
However, fresh graduates and people switching careers must focus on presenting this information carefully.
Recent graduates can stretch this part further and include awards and certificates.
You can also highlight if you used to be a member of any societies and organizations. This will prove your excellence and enhance your chances of getting the job.
Good grammar and professional writing skills can instantly brighten up your resume. Therefore, be careful about grammar and writing style.
Bad grammar can instantly reduce the chances of getting a job. Writing aid tools are perfect for those who struggle to write good phrases without any punctuation and spelling mistakes.
Use grammar checkers to proofread your resume and remove any unwarranted grammar mistakes.
Here’s how you can use grammar checkers to polish your resume.
Many online grammar checkers give suggestions for the right spelling and grammar one by one. Others allow you to upload the whole document and scan it. These tools remove all the errors at once.
The majority of grammar checkers allow you to copy-paste the text. Other options for uploading the file from the device are also available.
Choose the tool that supports the maximum formats of documents. Such as a tool that allows you to upload docs, txt, and pdf files should be your priority.
Upload your resume to check grammar in the text box or copy-paste the content. The tool will start scanning the document once you click on the “check grammar” button.
It will highlight any grammar mistakes and also provide you with suggestions to make them right. This is how you can polish and make your resume free from any errors.
Employers won’t even look at your resume if it is not optimized according to the job description.
This can be the reason why you are not getting calls for the interview. Employers have an applicant tracking system through which they scan the resumes of all applicants.
Therefore, it may not even reach the recruiters if it doesn’t fit the criteria of the job.
You can optimize your resume and tailor it according to the job posting with the help of online tools available on the internet.
We hope this helps you to write a good resume. Follow these guidelines to polish your resume writing skills.
Lastly, it is important that you tailor and customize your resume for each job. One of the mistakes that candidates make is that they create one resume for every job.
This can be a major factor in why you are not able to get your dream job. At the end of the day, this game is about hard work and putting your best foot forward.
If you are planning on following this guide, congratulations!! You are on your way to creating a perfect resume.
Click here for some creative & modern ready-made resume template designs!