How to Impress with your Resume?

Resume / CV on a desk — Image from Freepik with proper License.

Your resume is a blueprint of your achievements.

It is the first step you take towards getting the job of your dreams.

Therefore you must present a resume that will be impossible to ignore and will make an instant mark on your future employees.

Work towards making your resume attractive and appealing. But never neglect including vital information as this is what the resume is meant for.

Don’t prepare your resume in a hurry.

Spend proper time and give it careful thought. Bear in mind some essential things:

• The very first thing you need to do is to understand why you are writing the resume. Know the company you are going to target and bear in mind their likes and dislikes.
• The next thing you need to do is select a resume that suits your designation as well as your experience.
• A proper resume has 5 essential parts, make sure to give proper focus on all of those.
• Never use too many fonts. It is taboo to use designer fonts as they look very unprofessional. It is better to stick to the conventional Arial, Helvetica, Georgia or the Times New Roman font styles.
• Make use of bullet points to highlight blocks in your resume.
• Use catchy jargon but never go overboard with it.
• Maintain a proper hierarchy (see my article on how to write great resumes here) and include your professional details before you include your personal information.
• “One size fits all” is not a very good idea, so one resume may impress a particular company while it may not seem very impressive to another company. Therefore it is a good practice to customize and update your resume before every interview.
• Never lie. Your resume should provide authentic information. Ensure that the information you include is relevant and to the point.
• Be precise and concise. A very long resume is bound to reach the trash can. Ideally, your resume should not exceed more than two pages.

Spare a thought to the cover letter as well.

A resume without a cover letter seems incomplete and unprofessional. Therefore you need to include a cover letter as well.

Remember, haste makes waste. So it is better to sit down and think clearly. Draft a rough resume and discuss it with someone who can give you critical feedback before you finally make the final copy.

If you bear these tips in mind, you surely stand a chance of getting your resume noticed.

Here are some websites that allow you to create resumes online:

• Canva (has a Resume Builder)
• ResumeLab
• ResumeHelp
• EnhanCV
• ResumeNerd
• Wozber
• ResumeNow
• ResumeGenius
• Kickresume
• Resumonk
• VisualCV