Looking for resume writing help? These resume writing tips and resume writing advice will show you how to write a killer resume that gets you that dream job.
Being skilful in the art of writing a resume is important as resumes are sales tools used to advertise yourself and your skills to employers.
Today, your resume has almost become as important as the skills you have acquired. If you have a perfect resume, you have more likelihood of being hired. It is something like a business card.
There are many free resume templates and CV templates or CV examples available online. There is also free online resume builder software that can help you create your professional resume in minutes.
But if you don’t know what to write in a resume or how to make a resume that gets you a job interview, these tools are of no use. Not everyone knows how to write a resume well, that’s why resume writing tools are so popular.
But if you need some resume writing help and are willing to spend time writing the perfect resume, keep reading for resume writing tips and resume advice to write the perfect resume for the job you want.
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Know Your Career Objective
If you’re wondering how to start a resume, you should start with your career objective. This point frustrates almost everyone trying to figure out the correct way to write a resume.
It is the first thing a potential employer will see and should concisely state what you want to do. So what should be included in career objectives? This is intended to be a short, concise statement about what you are really looking for in a job.
Work on this sentence longer than anything else in the resume, because it’s the section an employer reads and uses to make an instant decision about whether or not to read the rest of the resume.
If your career objective statement is more than a couple of short sentences, it will be seen as fluffy and make the reader feel that you haven’t thought through your resume objectives.
Many people worry that writing super specific career objectives will limit whether or not they are considered for jobs outside of those objectives. However, interviews with employers indicate just the opposite.
A well-written career objective actually serves to make you more interesting, to make sure that your resume is read carefully, and that you are put on the shortlist of candidates who need to be interviewed personally.
But what if you are considering several different job fields? In this case, make several versions of your resume and tailor your resume objectives to fit each opening or category.
This is much more effective than writing career objectives that are very broad and do not contain many details.
If you are having trouble with your resume objectives, you can find many sites with good career objective examples that list sample resume objectives you can copy and tailor to your strengths and goals.
Include as many powerful words as you can without sounding forced. Words like “accomplished,” “completed,” “designed,” and “implemented” make an employer think that you are a person who is motivated and effective.
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How To Choose The Best Resume Format
There are several resume format styles that are popular in today’s job market. These include chronological, functional, hybrid, and targeted resume format styles.
There is no wrong resume format. However, some may present you better depending on your situation and the type of job you are applying for.
Depending on your personal characteristics, job history, and the nature of the job you are applying for, each resume format has different strengths and weaknesses.
These 4 resume format choices will give you some resume ideas and help you choose the best resume format for you.
1. The Chronological Resume Format
It lists your work experience beginning with the most recent and works backwards. Think of it as a timeline of your work history. This resume format showcases your work experience.
However, if you’re a recent college graduate or a mom who’s spent years at home raising children and have little to no work experience you shouldn’t use this resume format.
2. The Functional Resume Format
This resume format is also known as the “skill format” as it puts more emphasis on what you’ve done, rather than when you did it. The functional resume format is more useful for an applicant who does not have a long job history but is very skilled in many areas and has a lot of talent.
However, because there is no timeline of work experience, this resume format tends to be perceived as less credible, especially by more conservative or traditional employers.
3. The Hybrid Resume Format
As you may well guess this resume format is a combination of chronological and functional formats. It tries to include the features of both types of resumes.
Generally, a hybrid resume is designed following a functional resume format, and then an abbreviated work history is included. Although the added timeline can address the question of credibility, if there have been any gaps in your employment, it is easily visible in this resume format.
Always be prepared to give clear explanations for any employment gaps. This resume format is very popular because it allows you to highlight your strengths, but doesn’t appear that you are trying to hide anything.
4. The Targeted Resume Format
This resume format is geared towards a small niche of employers and is used most often by people who have a long work history in one industry, and who intend to stay within that industry.
It employs technical terms to appeal to the employer. This resume format is useful if you have certain skills that are highly desirable in a very specialized field. If your job function scope is too large, this is not for you.
8 Common Resume Writing Mistakes to Avoid
1. Not creating a resume that stands out
Not taking the time to create a professional resume that stands out is a mistake. Learn how to write a resume that showcases your uniqueness is exactly what employers are looking for and you will be far ahead of the competition if you write your resume to highlight that.
2. Forgetting to proofread and edit out typos
Proofread all your material and then proofread it again. Be sure to use your spell check options.
If you have to have your neighbours, friends, family and anyone else you can get to review your resume for you. Ask them to look for typos and grammar errors.
3. Using fonts that are too small or too many fonts
Do not use small fonts like those that are a size 9 and under. Do not use too many different fonts in the same document either. Ideally, chose a font size of at least 10.
Most potential employers will scan through your resume, not read from the beginning to the end. If it is difficult to read because of the font size, no one will spend any time on it.
4. Focusing on previous job duties
Focus on your actual skills and accomplishments. Try not to emphasize your previous job duties too much. Highlight what you have to offer and what you can bring to the table in your new job rather than what your responsibilities were in your past jobs.
When at all possible you should include numbers with your statements. Instead of stating that you helped the company, explain how you did it. You have to be specific because vague assertions have no value.
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5. Focusing on resume design more than the message
While your resume layout does matter when creating a good impression, don’t get so wrapped up in the resume design that you forget to answer to what message it’s supposed to get across.
Be clear about what you want to say. Don’t ramble on and repeat yourself over and over again. This will only make your resume too hard to read through.
6. Using coloured or scented paper
Never use coloured or scented paper to print out your resume. It may have looked in movies like Legally Blonde, but in real life, it’s just annoying and takes away from the message of the resume.
7. Not updating your resume
Even if you’re not looking for a new job it’s a good idea to keep your resume updated because you never know when the right opportunity will come up. Employers are looking for enthusiastic employees who are always up to date on their skills.
8. Not considering a professional resume writer
By getting some help writing your resume, you can dramatically improve the quality of the writing. Professional resume writing services can be your friend because the advantages of taking a quick pen to your resume on your behalf are amazing.
Nowadays it is difficult to imagine a person who cannot at least use a computer with Microsoft Office, but there are cases when office-seekers miss out on this vital information while filling in their resumes.
It goes without saying that a potential employer would skip such candidates without any hesitation. Professional resume writers will help you avoid newbie resume writing mistakes, a benefit that a free resume maker can’t provide.
The Best and Worst CV Examples
When you’re looking for resume examples, a good idea is to search online for resume templates and resume samples. If you do this, you will probably find plenty of curriculum vitae (CV) templates and CV examples to get you started.
Copying ideas from friends and relatives isn’t a good idea, although it can work if you make tailor their examples to your own situation.
In order to demonstrate the effect of different resume writing styles, let’s check out some of the best and worst resume examples and how they could be viewed by an employer.
1. The Long-Winded Bore
Ok, so let’s imagine that you’re the employer and you get this monster 10-page resume. It tells you in minute detail about the person’s work experience, education, qualifications, hobbies and just about everything else about them.
They might be the ideal candidate for the role but you probably aren’t even going to read the whole thing, because they clearly don’t know how to summarize and because life is just too short to bother reading long-winded resumes.
2. The Weak Candidate with a Strong Resume
These are interesting resume examples because they come from someone who isn’t the best candidate but who has clearly bust a gut to attract your attention. The employer you may put it at the bottom of the pile, shift if to the side and think about it but they certainly won’t discard it straight away.
Clearly, if you’re looking for a highly qualified surgeon then a lack of experience is going to mean that you reject them outright, but if you want a salesperson or general team worker you may be tempted to see whether the drive and attention to detail evident in their resume writing comes through in an interview as well.
3. The Too Short and Sweet Resume
Just as a long resume is bad, so is one that is too short. It’s all very well being concise and wanting to write a one-page resume, but you need to give the recruiter reading it the chance to find something in it that tells them you’re the right person for the job.
If you were the employer in this case, you’d probably wonder why they didn’t give you more details and might conclude that either they don’t have anything else relevant to say or that they simply couldn’t be bothered to write anymore.
By putting in the trouble to write a decent length of CV you’re showing the employer that you’ve taken the time to consider your strengths and how they could be applied to this position.
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4. The Perfectly Tailored Example
There might not be too many of these CV examples around, but they’re worth their weight in gold. The candidate has taken the time to craft a CV that has the current position in mind and which highlights all of the right skills and qualities.
It would be very difficult to not give this person an interview. Sometimes all it takes is an extra ten minutes or so of editing to get to a much better place with your resume.
You might want to check out a few different online resume templates and work out how to use a bit of each one in yours.
5. The Wrong Job in Mind
A badly-written resume could rob you of the chance to land your dream job. In this case, you probably missed the opportunity to highlight how good a fit you were for the job.
This could be because you either didn’t read the job description correctly or simply didn’t spend enough time learning how to write a good resume.
This is a common mistake with online job applications, as the speed with which we can send them off means we don’t always pay as much attention to them as we should.
Now that you’ve learned how to write a curriculum vitae, you’re capable of writing a resume outline and, with practice, you’ll start learning how to write a functional resume.
Study these professional resume formats and follow the resume writing advice and resume guidelines above and you’ll learn how to write an amazing resume that gets you a job interview for the job you want.
About the author:
Nicholas H. Parker is a writer for a buy essay papers service. He changed a lot of workplaces so these tips represent his own observations and experience.
Also, read:
- Resume Writing Tips: How To Write A Resume And Cover Letter For Resumes
- Freelancers, Learn How To Write A Resume That Wins Clients
- How To Write A Career Objective In Resumes
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