Your resume is the most important and valuable document as far as your career is concerned. Information about your career progression and achievements would attract a hiring manager’s attention. Almost 40% of hiring managers spend less than a minute reviewing a resume. So, that explains the need for building a great resume to draw the attention of the hiring manager at very first glance. If you are a job seeker, a good resume means half the battle won. A great resume is your vehicle to reach your dream job goal. A weak resume will make you wait for days or months before you hear from a single hiring manager.

But building a great resume may only come naturally to some people and may prove intimidating. It may be daunting to place all the relevant information in a compact form on a single document and place it in such a way that it can look different in many resumes. You may need clarification about the format of your resume that would work for you. Writing a compelling and eye-catching resume can be a challenge for you. How can you write a strong and visually appealing resume that would showcase you as the best candidate for the job you are applying for? Don’t worry! This article will describe a few strategies to make your resume stand out among other resumes. We will show you how to make the best resume in easy steps and tell you what information you should include communicating all the relevant information in one document that a hiring manager would seek from a candidate. But before we hop on to the resume-building exercise, let us first understand what a resume is.

What is a resume?

A resume is your career in brief. Whether you are a fresher and just starting or have been working for years, it summarizes your career to the point you are applying for a job. It is a short document containing brief information about the jobs you have and the ones you are currently in. It includes the responsibilities you have held and the skills you have acquired during your career. It highlights the qualities that you would bring along as an employee. This information in your resume will make it very easy for the hiring manager to assess your fitment for the job. That is why you need to present this information in a form that spells out your experience, skills, and qualities so that the hiring manager is convinced of your suitability for the job at first sight of your resume. As we said earlier, hiring managers generally spend significantly less time reading a resume. Hence, it becomes vital to make them read your resume and impress them with the presentation of the contents so that they don’t toss it out, which results in you not even being in the pool of probable candidates for the job. That will finish your journey to getting the job even before it has started.

Now, let’s come to resume-building. You want to build the best resume. We will provide you with tips to build the most compelling resume.

Building the best resume

Let us first understand the hiring managers’ perspective. What would they want to see in a resume? They would look for three things in your resume. “What have you done so far?”, “Why have you done it?” and “What has been the outcome?” If you can highlight the answers to these questions in your resume and answer them to their satisfaction, you are moving in the right direction. So, the key is a simple language. In a bid to stuff more information into their resume, people use too much technical language that a hiring manager may need help understanding or may include irrelevant information that would only make the resume bulky without adding any value. A hiring manager would like to see in your resume whether you meet the job requirements and are the right fit. So, your resume must present a picture that convinces the hiring manager about your suitability for the job and convey the value you would bring to their organization.

We will now talk about actual resume-writing process. It is a skill you need to develop to get the best jobs.

Steps to writing the best resume

1. Prepare:

Preparing well is the key to doing any work well. So it is with resume writing also. Ready all the essential information you need to include in your resume. Check if your qualifications and experience match the requirements of the job. Make a list of skills that you have learned during your career and see if they match the job requirements. Include the names, hire dates, locations, and titles you held in the list. Add your achievements in previous jobs to this list. And then, add the educational credentials and any awards or honors you have won. That will complete your preparation for writing an effective resume.

2. Pick the correct format:

Picking a suitable format for writing the resume is vital to building a solid resume and is often overlooked by most people. It is essential because a recruiter will first notice how your resume looks instead of what is in it before reading it. This first impression would make the hiring manager read your resume. There are three significant types of resume formats that you can pick from. The information in all three formats is similar but put in a different order. Choose the one that highlights the points you want to bring out most effectively.

The three formats of resumes are:

a. Chronological order:

It is the most commonly used format of resume writing. It suits you if you want to focus more on your work experience. This is the correct format for you if you have a consistent experience and no gaps in employment.

b. Functional format:

This resume format is more suitable if you are just starting or have minimal experience. It highlights your skills and abilities to convince the hiring manager why you would be the right choice for the applied position.

c. Combination format:

This is a combination of chronological and functional resume formats. This is suitable for you if you have more experience and a diverse skill set. It’s also known as the hybrid resume format.

3. Add your contact information:

After selecting the resume format, the first item on your resume should be your up-to-date contact information. It should include your name, address, phone number, email address, and city pin/zip code. You may add LinkedIn profile, personal website if any.

4. Write a resume summary or objective:

As said earlier, hiring managers don’t have much time to go through your resume as they have to read so many resumes for a single position, so you must communicate in brief why you are the right choice for the position so your resume catches their attention. Your resume summary must clearly and briefly spell out skills and experience at the top of the resume. You must limit this to 3-5 sentences and should include your job and experience like “Production Manager with 10+ years of experience in the manufacturing industry.” Next, you should include your core competencies like “Expert in handling technical as well as productivity-related issues.” And lastly, you can mention your desired goal in one sentence.

A resume objective is generally used by those just starting their career. You mention your career goals and how they match the company’s goals here. Those of you who are changing your career paths should also include this section in your resume.

5. Work experience:

This is the most crucial section of your resume. It is the crux of what you have done so far in your career. This is your selling point, as it showcases your career accomplishments and describes what you have done and your responsibilities. This will give the hiring manager an essence of your expertise and show your impact on your previous employments. You may include all your work experience in a single category or split it into two separate categories: “Relevant work experience” and “Additional work experience.” Hiring managers will always be interested in relevant work experience, so it is better to keep the relevant work experience at the top. In any case, you would like to put your most recent work experience first.

To start, you should write each company’s name, where you have worked, the job titles you held, and the amount of time you worked there. Below each company, briefly write (not more than 3-4 sentences or bullet points) your responsibilities, the skills you learned or applied, and the outcomes you achieved. If the results were quantifiable, mention that also. This way, you can bring out what you did and achieved in your previous jobs. The description of your previous positions, responsibilities, and notable achievements will distinguish you and help consolidate your candidature as the right fit for the job.

6. Add your skills:

It is essential to highlight your relevant skills in your resume. Add a skills section highlighting the professional skills that would make you appear the right fit for the job. This will boost your appeal as a candidate.
Moreover, if you have any special skills, like learning some additional language, you can add that too in the skills section. You should mention your competency level in each skill, like good, proficient, beginner, efficient, or intermediate. This will give the recruiter an idea of the level of each skill you possess. It is better to list hard skills first with their proficiency level. Highlight those skills at the top which are most relevant to the job. Next, you can mention transferable skills that come in handy in any job. This way, you can highlight your most important skills and enhance your chances of convincing the recruiter about your suitability for the job.

7. Add education section:

If you are a fresher or just starting your career, your educational qualifications must go at the top. But for everyone else, it should go at the bottom. Mention whatever qualifications you have, irrespective of whether you have a degree. An impactful education section would include your highest degree or qualification first. Follow this up with your subsequent degrees, diplomas, or any other certifications you have acquired. You should also include any honors, academic awards, or recognition you have achieved. For every qualification, mention the name of the university, college, or school and its location, including city and state. The month and year of passing out from that institution should also be mentioned. If you still need to pass out and are continuing your education, mention the expected course completion.

8. Add optional sections:

depending on your experience, achievements, and special skills, you may add optional sections to your resume. Some jobs need specific certifications or licenses. You may add certification and licenses section to your resume. You must mention it in this section if you have the required certification or license.

If you have publications that are relevant to the job, add a section on publications to showcase your publications. Also, mention any awards you have won.

9. Check and recheck:

It is not wise to just shoot your resume right after completing it. Reread it, proofread it, and check if you have missed anything. You may think you have not made any typing errors, but on rechecking, you may be surprised to see many errors in your resume. So, check and correct it at least a couple of times. Check it thoroughly for any formatting errors. One way of minimizing errors is to write a rough draft. Check and recheck it, and once satisfied, make a final copy. Check if your contact information is correct and updated. A slight typo in the email address may cost you the job you desire to get. If you find your resume to be shorter, edit some content. Try to keep the length of a resume to one to two pages. Once satisfied, save your resume. People say that saving the resume in PDF format is better because it saves your formatting. However, you can save your resume in both Word and PDF formats. Next, share your copy with your friend or a colleague to get a second opinion about your resume. This will further provide you with feedback about your resume.

Summing Up:

This sums up how you build the best resume. These are guidelines for making a solid and compelling resume that would attract the hiring manager’s attention at first glance and will considerably enhance your chances of landing your desired job. Follow these guidelines to make a perfect resume and let your resume stand out in the crowd.