A resume is the master key to your desired job and that key needs to be a fitting one. It so happens at times that a person is well versed with the industry and has all the skills but a failed resume distances him from the job he wants. Albeit a written documentation of your achievements and skills, but if not put in the right way, the document doesn’t work. Your resume needs to speak to the employer at one glance, whether it is your work experience, your skills or your educational qualifications. A perfect resume is the one which is well formatted, free of clutter and easy to comprehend. Now the question is how to create that perfect resume? Well, we are here with the answer – it just takes 5 steps.
Here is a step-by-step resume writing guide to create a perfect resume, that’ll land you any job.
Step 1. Pick the right format
If you didn’t already know, your resume needs to follow a format. Sticking to a format helps you showcase what you want the employer to see the most. There are three widely accepted formats i.e. Chronological, Functional and Combination. Each of these formats have their own charm. Where Chronological resume focuses on your work history a functional resume focuses on your professional skills and a combination resume highlights both your work history and your skill sets. So choose the one that fits best with your case.
Step 2. Name and Contact Details
Now that you have chosen a resume format the next step is to add your personal details and contact information. Might sound basic but it is the core of your resume and you don’t want to mess with it. Write your full name, your contact information should include Phone number, email address, full postal address (city, district, state, pincode), linkedin profile url. When writing your name always write your full name which is in your documents, never ever go with nicknames.
| Name: First Name Last Name/ First Name Middle Name Last NameAddress: City, District, State, Country, Pin CodeEmail id: your personal email addressPhone no: your personal phone number/add alternate numberLinkedin Url: your linkedin url |
Step 3. Objective/Summary
After you have given your personal details give the employer your objective and summary of your professional career. It can help create an image in the employers mind. To put it simply, it tells the employer how you can add value to the organisation and entices them to go through your resume further.
Step 4. Add Work History/ Professional Skill Sets
Now, what comes after summary depends on the resume format you have chosen. If you chose a chronological resume add your work history first. Make sure to highlight your key achievements from your previous jobs. The format usually goes like this
| Work History Job Title (Duration) Job responsibilities and Achievements Job Title (Duration) Job responsibilities and Achievements Job Title (Duration) Job responsibilities and Achievements Professional Skills |
If you have chosen a functional resume, add your professional skill sets first. Make sure you highlight all soft skills and hard skills. Put industry skills on top then followed by others, mention how you have developed the skills over the years. The format usually goes like this
| Professional Skills Skill 1 Give a description of how you executed the skill in your previous job, any new developments of the same. Skill 2 Give a description of how you executed the skill in your previous job, any new developments of the same. Skill 3 Give a description of how you executed the skill in your previous job, any new developments of the same. Work History |
If you are writing a combination resume, it totally depends on you what you want to highlight in most. If you have a longer year of work experience, highlighting your work history by putting it first would work for you. Similarly, if you don’t have that much of work experience then highlighting your skill sets would be best for your resume.
Step 5. Education Qualification
In this section add your highest degree, the name of the institution and the university from where you obtained it on top. This should be followed by your prior education. Add any other training, courses or diploma certifications you have done regarding your industry.
| Educational Qualification Highest Qualification (Ph.d, MBA, any other Master’s Degree) Graduation (Duration) Schooling Any other training, courses or diploma certifications (Duration) |
