These sacred documents represent the whole of your working life.
Theyre your first introduction to prospective employers and can make or break your chances of getting a job.
If youre wondering how to write a resume, there are some important details to keep in mind.
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Use this blueprint to create a great resume that gets you noticed.
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Dont know the difference?
Heres a quick rundown.
Resume or CV?
Well spend a lot of time talking about resumes, but what about CVs and whats the difference?
In short, quite a bit.
Your CV only changes as your accomplishments grow, said Loren Margolis, CEO of Training & Leadership Success.
Whereas, your resume should be modified often and tailored for each company and job to which you apply.
You might associate CVs with academics not very flashy, but chock-full of information.
They can generally be as long as necessary to cover your professional career.
Otherwise, keep things simple.
Hiring managers are interested in your skills and experience, not fancy fonts or formatting.
Create Your Content
Staring at a blank Word document can be daunting.
Getting started is sometimes the hardest part, but weve got you covered.
it’s possible for you to also ask others what they think about you, she said.
take a stab at shy away from wishy-washy, jargon-laden phrases like added synergy.
As youre taking notes, keep each description and accomplishment short, roughly a line.
Margolis said recruiters will spend as little as six seconds reading your resume.
Reach Out
Dont be shy.
The best way to do this is through LinkedIn, said Margolis.
This will help you customize your resume as you apply for jobs across industries.
Plus, you’re free to get an idea of what keywords to include throughout your resume.
(Well get to those later.)
Your resume should contain several important components.
But keep in mind there is disagreement in the HR and recruiting world about what to include and exclude.
Well give you a rundown of all the components, and you could decide for yourself.
One very important thing to remember: You should keep this document to one page, McIntosh said.
Remember, recruiters are going to give you less than 10 seconds to make an impression with your resume.
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Contact Information
Feature your name and contact information at the top of the page.
Start with your name, followed by your phone number and email address.
If you have a LinkedIn profile or professional online portfolio, be sure to include that as well.
This is an area you might use a little hack to avoid any unconscious bias that recruiters may have.
Still, youll want to use your full name when emailing with a human resources manager or applying online.
McIntosh said to skip it and get right to your accomplishments and job descriptions.
But, if that connection you made over LinkedIn advises you to use an objective, make it short.
Write a paragraph two or three sentences at most highlighting the pop in of work youre looking for.
Be sure to mention skills and talents that make you perfect for the job.
This goes at the top of the document, usually separated by a line.
Each job should include:
See those bullet points above?
They should be all over your resume.
Use them for your accomplishments, job descriptions and the education and skills sections, described below.
Theyll help recruiters scan your resume quickly.
If you have no work experience, dont leave this section blank or eliminate it.
As long as you could successfully demonstrate those abilities, go ahead and list them.
It really doesnt matter where you learned them, recommends The Everygirls Kat Boogaard.
Begin with your most recent school and work backwards.
Protect yourself, and do not put graduation dates on your resume, Hernandez said.
Its pointless to do so.
Honors and Community Experience
This section capturesextracurricular activitiesthat dont fit into the previous sections.
Many companies ask job candidates to apply online and upload resumes to their website.
Resumes are often electronically scanned for particular keywords to quickly weed out unqualified applicants.
Then highlight the words or phrases you see pop up several times throughout the document.
Finally, circle the ones you have in common and sprinkle them throughout your resume.
Here are some quick dos and dont while writing your resume.
Print a copy of your resume, then read through it slowly several times to ensure its error-free.
Blow up the font to help catch every problem.
Have the person read it to you out loud to take in the content in a new way.
If your word processing software doesnt include a conversion feature, there are plenty offree online servicesto choose from.
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Alex Mahadevan is a former data journalist at The Penny Hoarder.
Former staff writer Lisa McGreevy contributed to this post.
