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When you’re trying to interview for your dream job, your resume is crucial because it’s where the employer starts to get to know you. Let’s figure out how to build the perfect resume and get a recruiter’s response.
What is a resume?
A CV is a summary of your career. It contains information about your education and qualifications, work experience, skills and important qualities. Based on your resume, your prospective employer can quickly get an idea of your skills, experience and knowledge to assess whether you are the right person for the job and whether you will be offered an interview.
Hiring managers may only spend a few seconds perusing your resume, so you need to gain their attention. To make sure that the employer will choose you from a pool of candidates, it is important to build your resume properly.
A resume is usually about one page long and demonstrates your work experience, responsibilities, skills and qualities. Together, these things make it easy for any hiring manager to see your qualifications and suitability for the position.
How to structure a resume? Three resume formats
The division of text in a resume is based on the format of the content:
The reverse chronological resume format demonstrates the job seeker’s professional skills in a linear structure. This resume format is the most common because the resume is clear and concise.
Here’s how to build a resume in reverse-chronological order:
- Contact information
- Resume Summary
- Work Experience
- Education
- Skills
- Additional Sections: hobbies, projects, achievements, suggestions
This resume format is the most common because the resume is clear and simple.
A functional resume format emphasizes the employer’s soft-skills of the applicant. If you are changing careers or have no work experience, building a resume in a functional format will work for you.
A functional resume format focuses the employer’s attention on the soft-skills of the applicant. If you are changing careers or don’t have work experience, a functional format will work for you.
Here’s how to build a resume in functional format:
- Contact information
- Resume Objective
- Skills Summary
- Additional Skills
- Work Experience
- Education
A combination resume format shows both professional skills and soft skills and is suitable for most occupations.
How do I build resume into sections?
Before you write a resume that will convince a recruiter, you need to think about the structure and content.
Before you write a resume that will convince a recruiter, you need to think about the structure and content.
Unnecessary information diminishes the quality of a CV almost as much as the absence of important data.
Your resume should only contain information relevant to the potential employer, so the quality and clarity of the information is important, not the quantity.
So, what should be included in a CV? how do you build a resume?
Section 1: Personal information on your resume
When building your resume you should give your full name, date of birth. Also include your place of residence and address as the employer may prefer employees who live nearby.
Your prospective employer should be able to contact you for an interview. So that he/she can do this, provide your contact details – telephone number and email address. If a driver’s licence is required for the position, it is recommended that you include this as well.
The contact information should be at the top of the first page and highlighted in a specific font so that the recruiter will see it easily.
Section 2: Personal statement or profile of the CV
Most resumes have a short introductory paragraph headed “Personal Statement” or “Profile”. In this section you have the opportunity to introduce yourself in a few sentences and describe why you are the right person for the job.
Section 3. Education and training certificates
Start with the name of your most recent training or your highest level of education.
Some employers offer courses to upgrade the specific skills of their staff.If you have attended any of these courses, be sure to mention this when building your resume.
Section 4: Professional work experience
List your work experience in chronological order, starting with your last job. It is best to focus on the most current and recent ones first: enter your most recent professional position and continue with the activities you held before that.
For each job, provide a brief and clear description of your duties, responsibilities and skills.
Write down the things you think you should mention first and focus on them.
Once you have built your resume, make sure that the key things are easy for employers to see. If you want to emphasise something, such as your qualities, write it in bold or italics.
Section 5: Your non-work experience: professional organizations, community involvement, or social and volunteer projects
This section is optional, but if you have a blank space left on your resume page or need to supplement your resume for a relevant position, you can include this section.
Section 6. Skills (especially challenging skills) and core competencies
Identify your most relevant skills that you have learned through your work or university experience. Highlight your strengths and soft-skills. If you choose to include foreign languages, only put those languages you speak fluently on your resume.
Section 7: Hobbies and interests
Include this if you wish. It may not be the deciding factor in the recruiter’s choice, but your hobbies can show if you fit in with the company culture. Also, the recruiter will know how to start a conversation with you in an interview.
Remember, it’s better to be concise than confuse the recruiter with a lot of information that isn’t relevant to the position you want. Write up to five hobbies on your resume.
Let’s go over it again: how do you build the perfect resume?
The order of your CV is following: personal and contact details, followed by a brief personal profile. Then state your education, work experience, languages, skills, qualities and interests.
Where to build a resume?
Do not use simple word processors to write the final version of your CV. MS Word, Excel and other programs have many potential problems: a complicated formatting process, and possible damage to the file.
You can build a resume using your own word processor, such as Microsoft Word, and then convert it to PDF format.
The advantages of building resumes in PDF: universal formatting that doesn’t change no matter where you view it, and readability for most software systems.
We have prepared three CV templates for you to download, add your details and then export your finished CV in PDF format.
You can also build a resume using our online resume builder. You simply enter your details and then download a ready and stylish CV. Building a resume online will only take 5-7 minutes and will free you up your time to search for suitable positions.
10 basic rules on how to build a quality resume and get recruiters to respond
- Length of an ideal CV: a maximum of two pages. The ideal is one page. To make sure you can fit all your information on one page, we’ve put together the resume templates above for you.
- Your resume shouldn’t be too complicated. Be clear and concise. Use strong verbs (e.g. “decided”, “developed”, “increased”).
- Include only relevant information that adds value to the position you are applying for or is of interest to future employers.
- Adapt your CV to the specific position before you send it to the recruiter.
- Don’t mention hobbies or interests that may raise uncomfortable questions.
- Provide the most important information on the first page. Add a brief personal statement.
- Use bulleted and numbered lists to your advantage. This way your resume is clear and the recruiter will read it easily.
- Preferably choose a chronological resume structure.
- Add your photo when building your resume. The more open you are to the recruiter, the more he trusts you and this increases your chances of an interview.
Here are some tips on how to choose the right photo for your resume, and what kind of photo will only alienate the recruiter.
- Mysterious photos with sunglasses don’t belong on a CV, they don’t fit the business image.
- Photos from a party, at home or in a swimming costume are not suitable. Your resume is a business document.
- Group photos are also not suitable; the recruiter should not guess where you are in the picture.
- Selfies are not a good idea when building a resume. Leave them exclusively for the photo gallery in your phone.
- Is it appropriate to use a passport photo on a CV? It’s definitely better than, for example, a swimming costume photo, but people often look unnatural in photos for documents.
The best type of photo for your resume is a portrait-quality photo that shows your face clearly.
There should be no unnecessary objects in the photo on your CV. If the workplace is cluttered, it is best to stand against a plain background. Don’t forget to smile slightly.
However, these rules may vary depending on the requirements of the employer and the position you want to apply for.
- Finally, visit our blog to learn more about resumes, recruitment and job search tips.
To build your resume the right way, ask yourself the following 3 questions:
- Will it increase my chances of getting the job?
- Will this make a positive impression on the employer?
- Does it fit the job description?
We have prepared a section cheat sheet for you to download to help you build your resume properly.
What is ATS and why should you adapt your CV for ATS?
The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a software application that examines your CV for keywords (skills, experience, education, position) before the resume is sent to the recruiter.
If your resume doesn’t work well with ATS, it will never reach the recruiter.
If you want the recruiter to get your CV, it must meet the requirements of ATS: be easy to read, contain keywords and be properly formatted.
How do I make a resume ATS-friendly?
- Keep resumes simple and clear for the ATS or choose an ATS-compatible resume template
ATS won’t be able to read resumes filled with complicated graphics, so use a plain legible font (e.g. Times New Roman, Arial), structure resumes with headings and save resumes in PDF format.
- Use key terms
Include keywords that are specific to your line of work. For example, if you are applying for a marketing job, make sure you include words such as performance analysis, social media and e-commerce.
But try not to overload the text or impair its readability.
Formulate your headings clearly and concisely so that ATS can easily scan your text.
- Check your resume text for spelling errors. A hiring manager may excuse inattentive mistakes, but the software doesn’t.
- Include a paragraph in your CV about your “skills and qualifications”. Formulate these in easy-to-understand language and think about what the recruiter will want to see in this section.
- Choose a chronological resume format. This format is most understandable to ATS, so the system will have no problem understanding your resume.
Want to make sure your resume meets ATS requirements? Use the ATS online resume checker to see if your resume meets the requirements.
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Ucanremote will find the most suitable jobs for you where the chance of getting a positive response is close to 100%.
Ucanremote allows you to create a resume that differentiates you from others through:
- background checks with standardized tests from employers;
- feedback about you as a professional from your friends, acquaintances, former colleagues and managers;
- rating system based on your competencies.
Ucanremote will allow you to create a professional profile and compare your resume to that of your competitors, provide salary recommendations based on your knowledge, skills and experience.
Why Ucanremote is what you need now?
Do you have questions about resume construction? Or maybe you’d like to share your tips and experiences on responding to vacancies and job searches? We’d like to hear what you think in the comments.
