Writing a resume for your first job can be an intimidating task. After all, without any professional experience, how do you know what to include and how to structure it? You want your resume to stand out among the sea of applicants, but you don’t want to overwhelm employers with too much information. Knowing what to put on a resume for a first job is essential if you are looking to make a good impression with potential employers.
“In the present occupation market”, the resume has become a necessity, potential bosses demand. Before businesses set aside important efforts to talk with you in an interview setting, they prefer to meet you and discover you on paper. Since each job offer gets an average of 250 resumes – so how you plan and plot the content for resume and how your professional document interests the hiring team decides the landing on your dream job!
A well-written, attention-grabbing, simple, and concise line-up of your accomplishments, skills, and professional experiences in essential resume parts – which can convey/ market you as an ideal job position candidate is what makes a good and strong resume! Following are some guidelines for resume writing and competent resume development:
Guidelines for Writing a Resume
- Dig into employer’s demand
- Write an engaging resume introduction
- The input of relevant information only
- Include numbers
- Format and layout
- Proofread and revise your resume
Dig Into Employer’s Demand
Once you’ve gone through the job ad, or you are recommended a vacant employment position and you decide to give it a go – either you are tailoring your already written resume doc or you are producing a fresh one, ask yourself these questions:
- What information is the employer seeking about the job applicant?
- What is the hirer looking for in an ideal candidate?
Answering these bullets would chip in your applying effort in three clear ways:
- A watchful mindset
- Including information apt for the job and hirer
Skipping/ leaving behind all the particulars, which may be valued by you, but is of no use for the position you are applying to!
Understand what the business is searching for! Pick keywords from the job advertisement after giving it a careful read two to three times. You can acquire additional insights into the job position from the job descriptions published on the web.
Another best practice to comprehend your potential boss requirements is to plan organizing discussions with industry experts who can share their experiences – which you can smartly address in your resume document to land a job immediately.
Write an Engaging Resume Introduction
For producing a compelling resume intro, it’s usually advised to save this section till the end. First, write and format other resume sections; experience, education, skills, resume core competencies; first. Then, shortlist what crucial aspects would both you and your hiring manager prefer in your resume introduction!
To ensure your resume is compatible with the requirements of this vacant position, read the job ad again! Pick the keywords you may have missed in your document and try sprinkling them in the most natural way possible. This not only aids in extending the resume reader’s glance but also helps your application pass through the resume reading software ATS.
4 ways you may build in your resume introduction are:
- Career Objective
- Professional Summary
- Qualifications Summary
- Resume/ Professional Profile
The Input of Relevant Information Only
Inputting relevant information means incorporating:
- Relevant work experience
- Relevant skills/ awards and honors
- Relevant education section
- Relevant online portfolio
- Correct/ current contact information
Recruiting supervisors don’t invest a ton of energy perusing each resume. On the off chance that your resume incorporates bygone, repetitive, or superfluous data like minor degrees and accomplishments or jobs/ internships you took 8 years ago – such undue data may divert the reader from reading your suitable and job-promising information in the application!
Include Numbers
Tie numbers to your past achievements and professional experiences! Numbers showcase your capabilities and aptitudes in the most quantifiable ways:
- Enrolled 150 customers in a new debit card scheme within a timeframe of one year
- Boosted sales by 5% in 9 months
Accomplishments covered in such a style give you an edge in salary-negotiation times!
Format and Layout
Myriad editable resume templates are available, which can further be modified as per our own liking and preferences. Solid and professional resume applications, however, take care of the following factors:
- Easy to read, avoid being excessively fancy in using fonts and margins
- Use basic and modern fonts – use the same font throughout
- Use one-inch margins. Plan white spaces in your document smartly, don’t over-crowd the data
Proofread and Revise Your Resume
Some last touch-up left! After you’ve produced a document, read it more than once at different times of the day – reading out loud may also help you decide if or if not, you’ve understated/ overstated information in any of the resume parts. A friend/ family member can also suggest some revisions – you may also seek a resume review for feedbacks and recommendations to further improve your application!
