how to write an effective, modern resume!
delivered to you in text and video format!
It’s incredibly important to Play The Game and have a perfect resume if you want to get a job. Employers receive many, many resumes for every position they post, and a poorly designed resume is an automatic no for many employers. Having a well designed resume shows you have great attention to detail and that you will go above and beyond to get the job, and once you have it, you’ll probably go above and beyond in your work too. I have had to hire people at multiple jobs and if someone’s resume was poorly designed it was an automatic no. In addition to this, I’ve used these tips/this formula and beat out 71 people for an office job with no previous office job experience, and 37 people with minimal real estate experience for a real estate job. It really works!
In my opinion, It is not acceptable to have a Times New Roman Microsoft Word resume anymore. There are too many free tools and templates online to make a modern, well-designed resume. My favorite tools for this are Canva and Google Docs templates.
Use a modern, sans serif font. Perhaps use a different font for your name and headings than for the rest of your information. Use one accent color if you aren’t applying for extremely professional jobs like attorney or accountant, and keep it relatively muted. I like using a soft grey-blue or red-orange. Don’t go too crazy - some templates on Canva are a little ridiculous and unprofessional. No need to add patterns, photos, or extremely flashy designs. Keep it simple and minimalist. The point of a resume is to convey your information, not to show off your design skills (even if you’re a designer). Also, EVERYTHING should be spelled right. Your spacing should be right. Ask multiple people to read it over to make sure everything is correct. If I received a resume with a typo, that person was automatically disqualified - they didn’t even bother to use spell check, seem like they don’t care enough to make sure it’s done properly, and have poor attention to detail.
Your resume should never be longer than one page. Put your last 2-4 relevant jobs on your resume. If you’ve had many jobs, take off the ones that are not relevant, but put them on your LinkedIn so it doesn’t look like you’re hiding them. If you have a large gap in your work history, don’t put anything longer than 5+ years ago on your resume. It needs to be fresh and current.
I might do a post next about how to beef up your first resume and make it sound important + look good when you have little to no experience!
Your name and contact information:
Include your full name, email address, phone number, and zip code. There’s no reason to put your full address on there, especially if you are applying to positions off of Craigslist. Use a template to decide on the best layout for this information.
Consider including a profile overview or an objective, but not a summary or “Hard worker seeking a position as a cashier in order to use my strong interpersonal skills”. I like this guide to writing an objective, but I’ve never used an objective personally - I think it’s fluff and your cover letter + resume should convey why you want the job and why you should be good at it.
The next section is your actual job experience. Format this clearly and concisely. You need to put the dates worked (month and year is fine), the name of the company, your job title, and the tasks you completed at this job. When writing the tasks you completed, I have two main tips:
1) Use ACTION words. Demonstrated. Served. Acted. Improved. Investigated. Developed. Solved. ALWAYS start with an action word, for every single bullet point.
2) Use NUMBERS. This really demonstrates your successes and volume of work. You can use dollar amounts, number of customers, number of clients, percentages, anything.
Examples: Served 150+ customers per shift. Managed and analyzed three KPI markers. Exceeded corporate sales goal by 200% each day. Improved average daily sale by $120.
This should be a short section. Follow the formatting of your work history. You should write your school, degree, and years attended. If you received any awards, put them underneath. GPA isn’t necessary anymore in my opinion, but if you had a 4.0, throw it on there - can’t hurt, especially if you’re freshly out of school.
If you did not go to college, put your high school and format the same way as above. Put any continuing education you’ve done. Put any certifications you’ve completed. Here are two helpful lists of certifications to consider if you want to beef up this section on your resume.
Volunteer Experience or Special Projects:
Put any special projects, internships, volunteer jobs, or events you managed here. Format it like your work history and your education experience. Show off here! If you accomplished something or won an award, this is the place to put it. If you’ve had anything published, put it here. If you don’t have anything to put here, consider volunteering somewhere if you have the time. It looks great on your resume and provides you with more references for future job applications!
There are two kinds of skills - hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are things like software, programs, and computer systems. Soft skills are things like fast learner, detail oriented, and great multitasker. You should have the same amount of each of these on your resume - I usually go for six of each. You probably have more hard skills than you think - Microsoft Office Suite, Facebook, Instagram, Social Media Management, Microsoft OS, and iOS are great ones to start with.
Don’t put “References Available Upon Request” - obviously they’re available upon request. It wastes space and looks outdated.
Always send cover letter and resume as PDFs - especially if you’re using a designed template like the ones I described above. Different computers and softwares open things differently and if someone opens it on a different computer than you, it could be completely unreadable. Flatten it into a PDF so everyone can open it.
Thanks y’all! Let me know if you have any questions or comments. also heres an infographic i made if the video + text is too much and u wat Kwik Tips:
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