essay about resume

How To Write A Resume Essay

Writing a resume essay is a tricky thing to do. It can be  difficult for even experienced writers  to create an interesting, persuasive piece that appeals to employers. That is why it is so common to use templates or generic resumes with tweaks here and there.  

However, this may not work in every situation! If your career has some major changes coming up (or maybe you just don’t like what you are writing at the moment), then it is worth looking into other types of resumes.

If yours need revamping, there are many ways to go about doing it. The best way depends on your personal style, what messages you want to send, and how you feel about yourself as a person.

Create a good outline for your resume essay

Now that you have done some research, gathered some samples, and organized all of your materials, it is time to start writing!

When writing a resume essay, there are several components that must be established first. These include an introduction, body, and a conclusion.

The introduction should tell who you are and what you want to achieve with your career.  This is followed by the body, which is typically where you describe past experiences. The body can also be used to emphasize why you are qualified for a position and how well you performed during previous jobs. Your conclusion reiterates your goal and describes how you will contribute to the employer’s company as a member of the staff.

With this structure in place, now you can begin writing about yourself and your achievements. Stay focused and try to use examples that relate to the job opening they represent.

Use an eye-catching title

Now that you have addressed the overall structure of your resume essay, it is time to think about what to include in your resume. While some employers may not read beyond the first few lines of your application, they will probably spend several minutes reading through your career highlights and achievements.

As such, it is important to make sure that these things can be seen easily by potential employers. The trick is to pick a strong theme or focus each body paragraph on, then use this focused content as supporting examples.

Your goal should be to create a powerful overall message which inspires action. If possible, refer back to the initial body paragraph or bullet point to reinforce this. Make sure to organize your thoughts and writing process to flow naturally without too much interruption.

General rules apply when proofreading and editing your work, so be careful to stick to them! Avoid using short forms or slang words. Use appropriate grammar and vocabulary to convey messages clearly.

Begin writing

Now that you have done some research, gathered your thoughts, and picked your career goal or career field, it is time to start writing!

Your resume should be a concise document that leaves no room for interpretation. It should grab their attention within the first few lines and show off your skills and achievements clearly.

Do not underestimate how much content matters in a successful resume, so make sure to keep that tip in mind as you write. Make sure to include enough details about yourself and your career goals.

Make sure to proofread your essay several times to ensure that there are no mistakes.

Ideas about what to write on the main body

Now that you have addressed how to begin, you will want to know what to include in the body of your essay. You should devote at least two paragraphs to this step!

In the first paragraph, you can discuss why you are qualified for a position. It is important to emphasize your strengths, but also note any weaknesses or areas where you feel you do not possess enough knowledge.

You may also mention some experiences or achievements that are related to the job posting. For example, if the advertisement asked whether you had supervised employees before, then you could talk about a project as an intern or assistant manager.

Your second paragraph should be dedicated to discussing how well you fit into the organization’s culture. This includes things such as whether you would be able to handle their current projects, and if there are any opportunities available to you.

If possible, add testimonials and references from past employers or colleagues. These proofs help bolster your confidence and message, while also supporting your case.

Even if you use templates, it is not the same as writing yourself! Your career will depend on how well you represent yourself, so make sure yours says good things about you.

Include examples of achievements that show who you are as a person. Tell stories that emphasize your strengths. Include testimonials and proof of success.

Remember, this essay does not have to be longer than one page, but it should be full of information. Take your time and edit out anything that you do not feel fits.

Good luck with all of your applications! May God bless you richly.

How To Write A Quality Resume

How To Get Past The Applicant Tracking System

How To Add Resume To Linkedin profile in 2022

• Organizational Behaviour
• Business Communication
• The Importance of a Resume

The resume acts as a bridge between you and the prospective recruiter. Hence the importance of a resume can never be underestimated. So, to make the first impression, it is imperative that your resume stands out from the crowd first.

It is up to you how do you want to be remembered by the hiring manager? Since companies do not have that much amount of time to interview each and every candidate, they require resumes from candidate to select the best ones to work with them.

Rejection happens, and it goes on and on until they find something interesting in one particular resume. This is the time when a well-structured, clean and precise resume plays its part.

You might be thinking why is it so important to have a resume? Let’s find out:

So, a well-written resume does half of the work for you here only. Hence it is very much important to have a structured and concise resume to make the first impression work for you.

Just imagine a small piece of paper talks so much about you including past, present, and future. Doesn’t that sound amazing? But remember this story of past, present and future needs to be conveyed quickly, else they will lose interest. So, this job of telling a short story can be little tricky. Hence you might need help in drafting your resume by professionals.

Before you appear for the face to face interview, your resume would convince them first that you are the most eligible candidate for the position offered or not. Now you must have understood what important role does a resume play for you.

To showcase your knowledge, your skills, experience, expertise, and accomplishments, it is necessary to have a perfectly written resume which can portray you as a good professional or a budding professional who is ready to face this challenging world.

For those who have no work experience so far and applying as a fresher, it is suggested that they talk about their projects, internships, industrial visits, trainings and additional value-added course in the summary section, so that even if a recruiter chooses not to go through the entire detailed resume, at least the summary section will be good enough for him to understand and gauge your worth as a candidate.

So, if you have a good resume, you will remember each and everything you have done and achieved in your professional career. It will happen if you keep updating your resume whenever you change a job and join a new company, whenever you get a new role, a new project, a new team to handle.

Take a note when the company is rewarding you for your work. That does not mean that you make your resume, a daily diary, just keep note of the important happenings in your professional front. And you can always edit your resume keeping the master copy with you. And remember even the greatest writer in the literary world need the help of the editor. You can read it, re-read it, proofread it ten times, but it is always good to take a second opinion.

A professional writer would understand your requirement, evaluate your work history, validate your educational background and articulate it in a better manner. So, there is no harm in taking professional help in making your resume a perfect one.

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Authorship/Referencing - About the Author(s)

The article is Written and Reviewed by Management Study Guide Content Team . MSG Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. We are a ISO 2001:2015 Certified Education Provider . To Know more, click on About Us . The use of this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.

• Business Communication - Introduction
• Communication Process Components
• Oral Communication
• Written Communication
• Non Verbal Communication
• Importance of Communication
• Communication Flows
• Writing Effectively
• Effective Writing for Results
• How to make a Great Presentation?
• Body Language in communication
• Grapevine Communication
• Feedback Communication
• Communication Barriers
• Effect of Communication Barriers
• Overcoming Communication Barriers
• Seven Cs of Communication
• Informal Networks in Organizations and Organizational Effectiveness
• Corporate Meetings
• Conducting Effective Meetings
• Intercultural Communication
• Guidelines for Effective Communication
• Effective Communication For Students
• Communication Skills For Professionals
• Effective Listening Skills
• Resume Writing
• Format of a Resume
• A Resume - What it is and Why You Need One ?
• Different Types of Resume
• How to Write an Impressive Resume
• Resume Mistakes to Avoid
• How to Make Your Resume Stand Out and a Winning One
• How to Address Career Gaps and Other Career Weaknesses in Your Resume
• Writing a Resume in the Absence of Strong Work Experience
• Tips for Providing the Resume a WOW Factor
• Business Negotiations
• How to Conduct High Stakes Negotiations in the Digital Age without Being Short-changed

How to Write a Resume Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

Tips on how to write a resume, how to guide and critique.

A resume is a document showing the skill sets and the background of an individual. The resume document is commonly drafted by an individual mainly to secure a new employment opportunity. A resume is composed of various vital components that help an individual to secure certain job opportunity. Among the elements contained in a resume include concessive information of education and experience related to the targeted job. The document is one of the prior devices developed by an employer together with an application packet of a job and a cover latter. This is basically used to screen the applicants’ potentiality of the given job before conducting an interview. A resume in most of the countries can be compared to curriculum vitae with exception of the United States and Canada among other countries.

Before drafting anything in the name of a resume on a writing sheet, one should consider the job opportunity in question. The writer should target a specific job of great qualification and experience in the career field. However the writer should try as much as possible to shade the truth by simply being honest to his allegations and transparent parse. The employee should not always boost himself in the documented content in the resume instead should give a true picture of whom he is. The employee should strictly maintain the professional posture while presenting the resume so that whatever is written should be entrusted thus earning someone a job (Cortes & Mueller, 2007). The writer should also ensure that, these existing funny titles, email addresses, and fonts never feature in the document when writing. Considering this condition, an individual will always be described as being disciplined and responsible. The final tip on developing a resume is the actual creating of the document. A resume is created with a designed cover letter for the specific kind of the job that is being applied for. At this point, all the relevant details that can earn someone marks are added to the document. For instance, education background and working experience related to the applied job should be clearly stated in the context to enhance effective selection of the qualified applicants to attend an interview.

Guiding and critiquing processes involve the evaluation and analysis of the document to determine the legitimate ability of an individual to perform the specified job. To critique any given content regardless of the mode, the following elements need to be focused: the content of the essay or the resume, one has also to consider the organizational structure of the resume, third element is that, the style and the format used should be the most appropriate and finally consider an element of correctness in the resume. For analysis of the resume, the content should be in line with the topic under discussion. This aspect of topic connectivity with the content should also be linked to the topic development. Considering the organizational structure, one should focus on the way the resume is introduced or if it is an essay, the procedure is the same. One has just to consider how the ideology under discussion is introduced and finally concluded. The style used to present the ideology in terms of resume critique should be looked at. The prese3ntation of one’s true picture should be clearly in focus with regard to the relevant information given about the applicant. Finally the document should be correctly punctuated free from grammatical mistakes (correctness). This does not mean that someone has to know all the grammatical terminologies for him/her to be correct instead, he should just used simple language that can be easily perceive thus driving the point home.

A document is one of the prior devices developed by an employer together with an application packet of a job and a cover latter. This is basically used to screen the applicants’ potentiality of the given job before conducting an interview. Anyone interested in creating one ought to target a specific job, be honesty by giving relevant information; a professional stature should be maintained at all cost whenever creating this document. Finally, a resume should be created with a designed cover letter for the specific kind of the job that is being applied for. At this point, all the relevant details that can earn someone marks are added to the document. For instance, education background and working experience related to the applied job should be clearly stated in the context to enhance effective selection of the qualified applicants to attend an interview.

Cortes, L. & Mueller, K. P. (2007). How to Write a Resume and Get a Job. New York: Simon and Schuster.

• Job Searching and Career Planning
• How Job Applicants Try to Hack Résumé-Reading Software by Pardes
• Graduate Employment Plan: Checklist
• Writing Skills: Key Aspects
• Router Documentation Contents
• E-Business: Technology, Audit, and Strategic Decision-Making
• American Psychological Association Style Manual
• Supporting the Development of Writing Skills
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, January 7). How to Write a Resume. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-write-a-resume/

"How to Write a Resume." IvyPanda , 7 Jan. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-write-a-resume/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'How to Write a Resume'. 7 January.

IvyPanda . 2022. "How to Write a Resume." January 7, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-write-a-resume/.

1. IvyPanda . "How to Write a Resume." January 7, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-write-a-resume/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "How to Write a Resume." January 7, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/how-to-write-a-resume/.

How to Write a Résumé – Practical Guide with Example Résumé

Writing a résumé can be a little intimidating. And the pressure to make it really good and fill in each detail can be tiresome and scary. This is especially true if you're doing it for the first time, because you might not know what to add in or what to leave out.

Before we get into more detail, let me share my experience. I have applied for lots of job that all required a professional résumé. But in the beginning, I had no idea how to write one.

So I would head over to the browser and search for online résumé builders. A list of a bunch of websites offering the services would show, but since am only human I would always choose the ones labeled FREE. I mean, who does not like free services – 'cause I do.

Just as Luther Vandross said: "The best things in life are free."

Then I'd craft my résumé on the site and it was always a good experience with amazing templates – until I reached the downloading point. Then they always asked for cash despite advertising that it would be free.

But don't worry – writing a good professional résumé does not have to be this difficult. Actually it should be easy and fun, because you are putting down your achievements down on paper.

The best way to make résumé writing smooth is to get some guidance on what you should include and what you should leave out. So that's what we will talk about in this article.

We are going to go through the steps of writing a professional résumé so that by the time we are done, you will want to show off your newly crafted résumé to the world. You'll also be ready to apply for that dream job you have always wanted.

Let's get started

What is a résumé?

Your résumé will likely be the first document potential employers request and review when considering hiring you, followed by a cover letter.

Before we get any further, just a quick reminder that a résumé is different from a curriculum vitae (CV) .

Types of Resumes

Most professionals résumé writers argue that there are three different types of résumés: Functional, Chronological and Combination

Functional résumé - This type of résumé focuses on what you've done, and the experience you have gained from multiple projects.

Chronological résumé - This is the most commonly used type of résumé, which focuses more on your work history. In this résumé, you list jobs in reverse chronological order, beginning with your most recent job back to the oldest.

Combination résumé - Just as the name suggests, this is a combination of both the functional and chronological résumé types.

How to write your résumé

Your résumé should not be the same as anyone else's, because we all have different skills and experiences. But your résumé should still have the following sections and information in common regardless of what template you choose to use:

Header Section

This section is where you should include:

• Phone number
• Email address
• Social links (social media and personal website/portfolio/GitHub)
• A headline that tells who you are as a candidate

Profession Summary Section

This is a brief paragraph at the beginning of the résumé that describes who you are, what you do, and why you are perfect for the job.

This section is not all about what you want, but what your potential employer can expect from you. It can make or break your chances with your recruiters.

Work Experience Section

This is the most important part of your résumé where you get to detail your work history.

This section should include the companies where you've worked, your employment periods, roles and titles you've held, and also the accomplishments you achieved. You'll definitely want to make this section stand out.

First you will need to list your experience from the most recent (top) to the oldest (at the bottom). If you are currently working at a certain company include the "[start month and year - current]"

Under this section, I highly recommend using bullets to list your role/duties from your past and current companies. I think 3-5 bullet points is ideal here.

Use action verbs to describe your tasks and accomplishments, and also remember to write in the past tense.

When listing your duties, include a measurable accomplishment with each role. This will give the recruiter confidence in your abilities.

Skills Section

This section has become more and more important to recruiters as they look for candidates with a specialized background.

When listing down skills you have, make sure to include both hard skills and soft skills.

By hard skills, I mean skills related to your field of study, the ones you have gained through work and study. Soft skills are more personal and related to your character, like being team-player, having integrity, excelling at teamwork, having the ability to focus, and so on.

You will want to balance both types of skills and not to rely on one type alone. Also remember to use keywords here, as companies use Application Tracking Systems (ATS) to scan through your résumé for ideal candidates.

Taleo is a common ATS that recruiters use, and for the top résumé keywords check out this resource

Education Section

Many jobs require a certain level of education. So if you have a degree or have completed a bootcamp or other certificate, it is important to include it on your résumé.

If you have just graduated, then your education section should go above your work experience. You should also include relevant course work and other voluntary work or projects you've done that support your application.

But you might be wondering – what if you don't have formal higher education? What should you include in this case?

Instead of listing a degree, you can highlight the different ways that you have learned and grown in that field. For example, high school education, bootcamps you've participated in, projects you've completed/worked on, and even internships. List them here if you lack a formal degree.

Awards, Certifications, and Accolades Section

You can include this section in your work experience section as achievements if you want. But I think highlighting it in its own section is better.

This section will increase your credibility, assuming you have things to list in it. Some certifications you can include are things like:

• Marketing certifications
• Education, coding bootcamp, and freeCodeCamp certifications
• Online course certificates
• Awards or grants you've received

Résumé Formating Tips

Now that you are done with the first step of building your résumé, you should make sure it's formatted properly.

Double check to make sure you haven't missed anything. A well-polished résumé will make it easy for recruiters to go through it and get the information they need.

✔ Be honest ✔ Use easy to read fonts ✔ Use simple words and action verbs ✔ Include unpaid internships to showcase your skills ✔ Limit your résumé to two pages max (one page if you're early in your career ✔ Write the résumé to suit the position you are applying for ✔ Proofread you résumé ✔ finish crafting and then start editing it

How not to write your résumé

✔ Don't include reasons for leaving your previous job ✔ Don't include references - instead say that references will be provided if requested ✔ Avoid using too many bullet points ✔ Don't save your résumé as a PDF unless asked to ✔ Don't use an inappropriate email address ✔ Avoid including unnecessary information like your age, weight, and so on. ✔ Avoid including your picture in your résumé - just let the recruiter focus on your skills.

Now that we've covered what you need to do to write a professional résumé, you'll probably want to actually make one.

If you're still finding it difficult to format your résumé yourself, don't worry – you're not alone.

There are easy ways to make your résumé look good. You can check out the sites below, but keep in mind that you will have to pay:

Résumé Builder Sites

The sites listed below offer different formats of writing résumés with templates to use. If you check them out they offer guidance on how to write résumés easily.

I would not suggest copying everything you see there, but you can follow their template guidelines and try to create your own résumé to match those templates.

Feel free to check out and try different templates and designs as you decide which one to work with for your résumé:

• Zetty Résumé Builder
• Résumé Genius
• RésuméBuilder
• Résumé Baking

If you really want to improve your chances of getting a certain job, make sure you write your résumé so that it's tailored to each individual job application.

If you have a well-written résumé that matches the job requirements and includes relevant keywords from the job description, it'll help you stand out to recruiters.

This article was quite long, so if you have read this far, thank you!

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How to Write a Resume Personal Statement

What is a resume personal statement?

A resume personal statement expresses who you are, where you’ve been, and sometimes where you plan to go next right at the top of your resume.

Everyone has different circumstances, so the personal statement helps to orient a potential future boss in terms of what they are about to read in the resume. Think about what you would like to share that matters to you. This space is particularly useful if you are changing industries, coming back in to the employment market or looking for a promotion. Your shop window starts here. The personal statement may be the only thing than an employer reads.

The resume personal statement hooks in a reader, influencing them to read more. So, how do you write a resume personal statement that is both natural and grabs an employer’s attention? Offer them a brief insight into who you are and why you would be a fantastic hire. So what do you write in a personal statement for a job?

This guide will cover:

• The basic formatting of a personal statement: How to tailor your personal statement to give you a competitive advantage
• Personal statement examples you should (and shouldn’t) use
• Practical steps for getting started on your resume personal statement

The personal statement format

The personal statement is a short paragraph that sits right below your contact information at the top of a resume. It sums up your experience, goals and skills with confidence. Think of your resume’s personal statement like an extended tagline for your career. A resume personal statement should include:

• Between 50 and 200 words in 3 - 4 sentences
• Your title or function, for example “Junior developer” or “Passionate hospitality manager”
• An opening hook
• Soft skills and hard skills
• Impressive facts and stats
• Your short and/or long-term goals
• Job-specific slant for the position you’re applying to

This may seem like a lot to cram into 200 words but perfecting your elevator pitch shows that you have a firm grasp of why your experience, goals, and skills make you the perfect fit for the job. Go all out to make this as fitting for each role as possible. Too often candidates come up with what they see as the perfect introduction to them and forget about how a hiring manager for each specific role might read it. Be flexible with the personal statement. It might not present the very best version of you - it should present the best version of you for this particular role.

This brief introduction is only a short piece of text, it is not disruptive and in many cases even serves as a welcome addition to what is otherwise a dry and impersonal document. It should be clear to you by now how we feel about the personal statement: Include it, especially because it allows you that bit of creativity that may make all the difference. Adopt a coversational tone and consider using the first person for these few lines. Third person (past tense) is standard for resumes, but if you want to go personal, this is where to do it.

How do I start my personal statement? How do you not start a personal statement? Even with a personal statement of 3-4 lines, sometimes the first sentence is the hardest. Even the first few words can have a disproportionate effect on how your personal statement is viewed. Your starting "hook" should make your fit with the role clear and specific. Use an example that is as unique to you as possible - you have to make your future employer sit up and pay attention. The first word of your personal statement should never be "I" - a great resume explores the potential of a common partnership and should not be a uni-directional monologue.

Align your resume’s personal statement with the job description

The hiring manager delicately chose every word in their job description. Gather clues from its tone, which skills they highlight, and any hints that point toward their dream employee. One of the top resume tips from HR managers is to include relevant keywords specific to the job posting itself as well as the actual wording of the job title .

What would this job description look like in 3 - 4 sentences? What keywords, skills, and tone would the job description have?

While still sticking to the facts about who you are and your experiences, your resume personal statement should highlight as many similarities with the job description as possible. When the hiring manager reads the first few sentences in your resume, they feel like you are exactly the person they were describing when they wrote the job description.

Position of the personal statement

Recruiters still prefer to see a candidate's personal details at the top (or running along a column on either side) of the resumes that cross their desk. This allows them to quickly search through the resumes that Applicant Tracking Systems have sorted into their virtual “yes” pile. You do not want your (relatively modern) personal statement to get in the way of this tradition. 

The best place to put your statement is after your personal details (if they are at the top) and before your employment history section. Remember that the length of your resume is important. If you have already been very selective and cannot possibly leave out any more information and if adding your personal statement means your resume spills over onto a third page, you may consider not including your statement for the position in question. This ensures you comply with the unwritten rule that a resume should not be longer than two pages.

What is a good personal statement length? 200 words is the maximum suggested length, but if you go with one powerful sentence that you want the hiring manager to remember for the rest of the interview process, then why not? Less is more, but you have to be confident in your application to go with this option.

Plan to write your resume personal statement last

Instead of getting stuck at the beginning trying to write the perfect statement, skip this section and jump right into your employment history first. Once you’ve added your relevant work experiences, take a look at your keywords, phrases and skills from your past positions.

Your complete work history and the job description for the job you want are the foundations for your personal statement. By writing your resume personal statement last, it should be easier to get started once you have the right inspiration.

It might be the case that you leave a certain number of lines for the personal statement on your resume and write an individual statement for each role. You will often have a public version of your resume that is accessible on job boards (etc), so there should still be an "ideal" personal statement version.

How do I write a resume from scratch? While it is good advice to write the resume personal statement after your have written the resume itself (giving your brain a chance to ponder your true highlights), starting writing a resume is a mammoth task in itself. There are many useful pieces of advice when sitting down to write a resume, but for me, the key is to think about the reflecting the combination of what you are good at, what you enjoy and how those things will contribute to the direction of your career. For sure, be honest about your experience, but there has to be a creative flavour of ensuring that your past adequately reflects where you want to go.

Check out resume personal statement examples

Before you dive into writing, get a sense for different rhythms and layouts by checking these resume personal statement examples. How do you write a good personal statement?

Let's start with the basics. Since every person is unique, all personal statements should be unique too. You should, therefore, resist the urge to (largely) copy someone else's existing statement. This is the only spot on your resume to let your voice be heard, so try to write something that would prompt a friend to exclaim, “That sounds like something you’d say!” while, of course, keeping it professional.

Example. Innovative Executive Assistant with 10+ years of experience with global financial firm assisting a team of three C-Level directors. Expertly coordinate travel, manage large-scale expense reports, and streamline communication and calendars across departments..Seeking an Executive Assistant role with the Resume.io team to expand my office management career and thrive in an environment that requires independent problem-solving skills and focus under short deadlines.

The example above does the following things:

• States their title in the first sentence
• Includes specifics such as team size and duties
• Succinctly sums up major responsibilities and skills
• Highlights hard skills—experience arranging travel and expense reports—as well as soft skills—grace under pressure, attention to detail and communication.
• Specifically tailors the final statement with the company and/or job description

Here are a few more resume personal statement examples:

Experienced Digital Marketing Manager with five years of expertise in heading up a global firm. Increased inbound leads by 500% and raised online sales from 100,000 annually to over 2 million in a three-year period. Looking to grow career by applying skills to the Resume.io marketing team.

Straight to the point and accomplishment focused, without the use of “I”. Now let’s look at a less effective example:

I have worked as a Digital Marketing Manager for five years. During this time I have been an important and hard-working member of the team and showed my ability to work under pressure to deliver on company targets. I am looking to bring my skills to a new role in digital marketing.

Generic and ignores accomplishments. Also, too many uses of “I” in a passive voice.

Next is an example of a personal statement that focuses more on career objectives . A career objective can be used as a way to get across your skills and experience, without the personal bit. It’s a good option if you’re an entry-level candidate or college graduate without a lot of experience in the industry you’re applying for. The idea is, because you don’t have the relevant experience to talk about, you pull skills and experience from other areas of your resume so you can show you have what it takes.

Keep your career objective brief — 2-3 sentences max — following the same rules as the personal statement.

Content writer with three years' experience in a large e-commerce company. Delivered content that grew brand social presence to over 700,000 across three channels and improved email open rates by 48%. Looking to further career by joining the Resume.io as an SEO Executive.

See how it uses transferable skills? Combining these with numbers makes them all the more impressive.

And a less effective resume personal statement example:

I am a content writer looking to secure a role as an SEO Executive. While I have no experience in this field and am a dedicated individual and a keen learner. My enjoyment of how search engines work will help me excel in your company.

There’s not enough here to capture attention and it doesn’t sell transferable skills. Whichever type of opening statement you go for, if you have numbers to show, make them count.

Writing your personal profile resume

Always write the first draft of a personal profile resume without editing. Don’t worry about length or word choice in the first pass. Brag about yourself, be proud of your accomplishments , and add in all of your most impressive stats.

Some of the best writing happens without editing too soon, so don’t worry about sounding over the top or egotistical, that’s what editing your personal profile resume is for. If the goal is to get 3 - 4 perfect sentences, it’s likely your first draft will be closer to 6 - 8, maybe even longer. Then consider which parts are closest to helping you get the job and cull the rest. It might seem brutal, but brevity is critical at the top of your personal profile.

Polish your personal statement and experiment

Once you’ve narrowed your focus, use the following questions to help you review your work and edit your statement:

Is my first sentence clear and concise? The opening line should state your position and use strong, enthusiastic language to hook in the reader. It often includes years of experience as well.

Is it direct opposed to passive? A strong sense of self comes through in a personal statement. Instead of sentences that begin with “I believe I am…” or “I enjoy…” be bold. Get right to the point and take ownership of your skills.

Does it include objective information? For this one, try to get inside the hiring manager’s mind. If you were filling this role, what boxes would you need to check off? The second and third sentence often include specific skills, facts or figures to support this need.

Does it read naturally? Even with all these specifics, the statement should still be easy to understand and have a natural rhythm when read aloud. Cut out any jargon that acts as filler or that changes your tone. Formality may vary from company to company, but personal statements should always reflect the type of employee or person you are.

What are three tips for writing a personal statement?

• Make sure that your personality comes across in the writing.
• Quantify any accomplishments and include financials where possible.
• If you are at a moment of career change, don't fail to mention your goals.

Common mistakes in personal statements

When writing your personal statement, beware of platitudes. These are clichéd expressions that have become meaningless from overuse. They induce recruiters to roll their eyes and move on to the next candidate. Think of such terms as “an administrative jack-of-all-trades” or “a cog in the wheel’ and being ready for a “new challenge.”  Definitely avoid this list of human resources’ most hated resume phrases. 

Try to be original in your choice of words and ask a friend or family member to take a critical look at your personal statement when you are done. By the way, you should always have someone proofread your entire resume when you think you are ready to send it.

Some people call their personal statements " resume objectives ." This is something else entirely. A resume objective is required when a candidate needs to project their hopes for their next role that differe from their previous experience a little. This objective can then be used to outline the motivations behind a career change and is also common with early-career professionals. 

Does a personal statement need a title? Some resume templates might call the opening statement a summary and others may exclude a description entirely. Either option is fine as employers are conditioned to expect a few lines at the to of a resume to serve as a headline for your job application.

What do employers expect from your resume opening statement?

Sometimes it is useful to consider job seeking activity from the point of view of the end hiring managers. External recruiters are important people to impress, but it is the employers that will be making the ultimate hiring decision. They will be reading lots of resumes, so what would they want to read in your resume opening statement?

• They will want the resume opening statement to be written for them. When you are on the hunt for a new member of your professional family, an intensely personal connection is vital from the first lines.
• They will expect a quantifiable context to your resume opening statement. Impressive words come easily when you really need a job, but backing them up with numbers to demonstrate their scale is less simple.
• They will expect to be impressed. If you cannot impress a specific employer for a specific role with the first lines of your resume, then the role is almost certainly not for you. Nothing to shout about? Move on.

Key takeaways

Think of your CV personal statement as the first 2 minutes of an interview—whether on the phone or in person. The HR manager asks you to “tell me a little about yourself,” and you have a quick minute to set the tone for the rest of the conversation. Similarly, the CV personal statement should include:

• A natural, yet professional CV tone that reflects your personality
• The top reasons your experience makes you a unique fit for this position
• Why this role aligns with your career plans
• Facts and data on your CV that back up your earlier points

Crafting a personal statement for each role will cause some serious thought. What is your essential fit for the role that will make a hiring manager sit up and think "wow, I need to have them on my team?" What would you want to read if you were in their shoes. You will definitely have lots to say, but keep it simple and powerful.

One more good CV statement example:

Expert SEO copywriter with a decade of B2C and B2B experience across three industries. Versatile in writing social, website and long-form copy to convey each brand’s unique tone and message. I cultivated 15 new clients in two years and grew readership by over 200%. I am now seeking to expand my editing and content creation expertise in a Marketing Manager position.

Once you’ve mastered writing your CV personal statement, this clear sense of who you are and what you want will prepare you to pitch yourself during interviews.

Resume Writing

Your resume is a tool with one specific purpose: to win an interview. If it does what the fantasy resume did, it works. If it doesn't, it isn't an effective resume. A resume is an advertisement, nothing more, nothing less. A great resume doesn't just tell them what you have done but makes the same assertion that all good ads do: If you buy this product (Me), you will get these specific, direct benefits. It presents you in the best light. It convinces the employer that you have what it takes to be successful in this new position or career.

It is so pleasing to the eye that the reader is enticed to pick it up and read it. It stimulates interest in meeting you and learning more about you. It inspires the prospective employer to pick up the phone and ask you to come in for an interview.

In order to ensure that all the years of schooling and other experiences will pay off in the job hunt, even before contacting employers, one must learn the art of resume writing.

Your Resume Should Be:

• A concise and factual presentation of your credentials
• Focused on your education, accomplishments, strengths, employment history and goals
• An invaluable marketing tool
• Your introduction to a potential employer
• Brief, easy to read, and grammatically well-constructed

Below, we have gathered the essential information for everybody who is working on their resume.

What is a resume?

The importance of your resume

Quick answers

The different types of resumes

What employers want

Effective resume

Action words

Education section of the resume

Experience section of your resume

References section of your resume

The issue of GPA in the resume

Track and leverage your accomplishments

What your resume should always include

What your resume should never include

Objective statement of your resume

Appearance, length and style

The audiences of the resume

Additional sections to include in the resume

Resume writing tips

Fast tips for electronic submittal of your resume

The financial value the resume

Helpful resume writing quiz for college students and recent grads

Cover letter writing

Cover letter writing tips

Effective cover letter

Presentation

Organization

Visual Aids

7 Things to Remember

Useful links

• 5-paragraph Essay
• Admission Essay
• Argumentative Essay
• Cause and Effect Essay
• Classification Essay
• Comparison Essay
• Critical Essay
• Deductive Essay
• Definition Essay
• Exploratory Essay
• Expository Essay
• Informal Essay
• Literature Essay
• Narrative Essay
• Personal Essay
• Persuasive Essay
• Research Essay
• Response Essay
• Scholarship Essay

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• The 3 Main Resume Types
• How to Write a Resume
• Functional Resume
• Chronological Resume
• Combination Resume
• Resume Examples
• CV - Curriculum Vitae
• Cover Letter
• Bibliography
• Business Plan
• Business Letter
• Business Writing

What is a Resume: All You Need to Know

What is a resume.

Also known a as job resume, a resume is a brief written summary of a job applicant’s past employment history, education, and other pertinent information. The term resume is used primarily in America, where it has taken the place of the Latin expression curriculum vitae, or CV.

How are resumes used?

Resumes are used to make a favorable impression on a prospective employer. Your resume is often the first impression a potential employer has of you. For this reason, it is often referred to as one of the most crucial steps taken during a job search.

Why is a resume important?

Without a favorable initial impression, a prospective employer is likely to stop considering you as a suitable candidate for the job on offer and move on to other candidates who have provided better resumes.

Think of a resume as a tool for marketing yourself. It’s more than just a document: It outlines your background, your skills, and your education so that a potential employer is quickly and easily able to see how your individual experiences can contribute to a company’s success.

If you’ve never written a resume, don’t worry. Visit how to write a resume to learn how to format your resume, which information to use, and much more. A perfect resume isn’t difficult to write with Ginger on your side.

Resume examples provide valuable insight. What does a winning resume look like? Spend some time viewing professional resumes, and use them as a roadmap to write a great resume of your own.

Avoid embarrassing formatting mistakes that could cost you the job of a lifetime. Useful resume templates can be customized to suit your needs, no matter what type of job you are seeking.

Functional resumes, chronological resumes, and combination resumes have important differences, but deciding which one to use doesn’t have to be difficult. In A complete guide to various types of resumes , you’ll find resume writing tips and vital information for properly preparing resumes of all types. Choosing and preparing the right type of resume will help you stand out to employers.

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Perfect Resume (With Examples!)

Your resume is arguably the most valuable piece of paper for your career. But this document can be daunting for many. Maybe you’re not sure how to fit in all your information onto one page. Maybe you’re not sure about the right way to format and write your resume. Maybe you don’t even know what the heck a resume is!

Whatever your concern, we’ll break down everything you need to know about making the perfect resume, from scratch.

What Is a Resume?

What are employers looking for in a resume.

• Pick Your Format
• Start With Your Basic Information
• Add in Your Work Experience
• Consider Including Volunteer Work or Other Experience
• Don’t Forget Your Education
• Top It Off With Some Skills and Interests
• Write a Resume Summary Statement (if Relevant)
• Tailor It to the Job (and the ATS)
• Edit and Refine It

What Are Some Examples of a Good Resume?

A resume is a summary of your career, whether yours is just getting started or has been going on for years. Coming in at around one page in length (two only under specific circumstances), it showcases the jobs you’ve held and currently hold, the responsibilities you’ve taken on, the skills you’ve developed, and the qualities you bring to the table as an employee. Together, those things make it super easy for any hiring manager to see your qualifications and fit for a role.

For all the work you may put into writing one, hiring managers actually spend very little time—mere seconds in many cases—looking at your resume. But despite this sad fact, it’s safe to say that creating a great resume (rather than hastily throwing one together) still matters.

“If you miss the mark, your resume may never be read. Even worse, you might be removed from the applicant pool by a computer before a human even knows you exist,” says Muse career coach Heather Yurovsky , founder of Shatter & Shine. So you want to get it right because, as she explains, isn’t the goal to “spend less time looking for a job and more time in a role you love?”

You might be wondering if you can lean on your LinkedIn profile instead of writing a resume. The answer, sadly, is no. Most hiring managers still expect you to submit a resume, even if they also look at your LinkedIn. Even if you don’t need a resume for a job you’re applying for now, you’re going to need one at some point in your career—they’re not anywhere close to going out of style. So it’s best to always have one at the ready should an opportunity pop up.

And although LinkedIn has plenty of benefits, a resume has one clear advantage: While your LinkedIn is usually a broader picture of your career trajectory, your resume gives you the opportunity to tailor your career story to a specific role or company (more on that later).

Oh, and you’ve probably heard of something called a CV? It’s slightly different from a resume , and usually more common with academics and job seekers outside the U.S.

Hiring managers look for three things on your resume, “What did you do? Why did you do it? And what was the result?” says Muse career coach Martin McGovern , owner of Career Therapy. “If you can answer all three of these questions in...your resume bullet points, you’re going to be on the right track.”

Clear, easy-to-understand language is key. “The truth is that most resumes make no sense. They are stuffed with jargon, they are too technical, and they are filled with redundancies. Try to read a resume that isn’t yours and you will quickly realize that it feels like an alien wrote it,” McGovern adds. Put yourself in the shoes of a recruiter who has no idea how your role works—how can you make your resume accessible to them?

The hiring manager also cares about more than just you and you alone—they care about you in relation to them. “Hiring managers want to see if a candidate matches the requirements” of the role they’re hiring for, Yurovsky explains. “Your resume should paint this picture so the hiring manager not only knows what day-to-day responsibilities you can handle, but why you, above other[s], bring value to their organization.”

How Do You Write a Resume?

Whether you’re someone who’s never written a resume in your life, or you need a nice, thorough refresher on the process of creating one, follow these steps to go from a blank page to a complete—and dare I say beautiful—document.

Related: This Free Worksheet Makes It Easy to Create (or Update) Your Resume

1. Pick Your Format

Before you start typing one single thing, you have to decide what you want the overall resume to look like.

Resume builders can be helpful for this step—they’ll take all your basic information and organize it for you, eliminating some of the legwork. You can also use a pre-made outline, such as one of these free Google Docs templates .

But it’s often safest to start with a clean slate all on your own and eventually upgrade to a more advanced layout. (If you'd still like a place to write all the relevant information before you get started, check out our resume outline .) This allows you to course correct, edit and re-edit, and choose a resume format that best fits your particular situation (after all, not everyone has a career trajectory that’s easy to compartmentalize).

In general, you’re most likely to cover and/or include sections on the following:

• Your work experience
• Your non-work experience, including professional organizations, community involvement, or side projects
• Your education and certifications
• Your skills (specifically hard skills) and interests

So how do you format and organize all of that information?

By far the most common (and safest, if you’re not sure which route to take) option is reverse chronological order . This means you organize your experiences from most recent to least recent. So your work experiences would go above your education, and your current role would go above previous roles you’ve held. This of course has its exceptions—maybe you went back to grad school between jobs, or your most recent role is irrelevant to the job you’re applying for. So the whole page may not be exactly in reverse chronological order depending on your situation. It’s just a guideline.

There’s also something called a functional or skills-based resume . This is used pretty rarely, mainly with career changers and those with limited or complicated work histories. It gets its name because it’s primarily about listing your skills rather than experiences, and showcases them above your work history and education.

You can also opt for a combination resume , which is a mix between a reverse chronological resume and skills-based resume. It highlights your skills at the top, but allows just as much room below to cover your job and school experience.

Use caution when choosing these two formats: “Combo and skills-based [resumes] can be hard to follow, because [they force] the reader to hunt for connections between your skills and experience, and [don’t] provide the full context of your work,” says Muse Career Coach Angela Smith , founder of Loft Consulting. “I’ve also heard a lot of recruiters say that they automatically discount skill-based resumes because they feel the candidate is trying to hide something. I don’t necessarily believe that, but I think it’s important for job-seekers to know that perception is out there.”

2. Start With Your Basic Information

Your contact information should always go at the top of your resume. In this header you’ll want to include anything that could be helpful for a recruiter to get in touch with you. Usually, this means adding in:

• Your full name (preferably the name you use across the web)
• Your phone number
• Your personal email address

You might also choose to include other basic information, such as your LinkedIn or personal website URL, your GitHub (for technical roles), your social media profiles (if relevant to the job), or your address. If you’re looking to move for a job, you may choose to leave out your address or write “open to relocating” to better your chances of getting an interview.

The key is to make this part as clear as possible. If a hiring manager can’t reach you, there’s no point in perfecting the rest of your resume.

3. Add in Your Work Experience

This section will most likely be the bulk of your resume. Even if you’re changing careers, employers still want to see where you’ve worked, what you’ve done, and the impact of that work to get a sense of your background and expertise.

Your “Work Experience” might be one entire category, or you might choose to break it up into “Relevant Experience” and “Additional Experience” to highlight the jobs that are most important for hiring managers to focus on. Either way, you’ll almost always want to have your most recent experience at the top and your older experience down below.

Within your work experience, you’ll want to include each official job title, the company (and possibly its location), and the years you worked there. Below that, you’ll add in two to four bullet points explaining what you did in that job, the skills you built and exercised, the tools you used, and the results of what you did. If you accomplished a lot during your time there, focus on the responsibilities that made the most impact or you’re the most proud of, as well as the ones that best align you with the job you’re applying for (more on that in the following sections). It’s key here to list, if relevant, quantitative as well as qualitative accomplishments.

For example, you might write:

Associate Accountant, Finances and Co., Ann Arbor, MI September 2017 – Present

• Manage billing and invoicing for more than 50 clients, ensuring the deadlines and needs of our enterprise partners, including Big Company and Super Star Org, are met
• Collaborate closely with sales, account management, and project management teams on project setup, maintenance, and invoice management
• Assist in the streamlining of invoicing guidelines and procedures through documentation and the implementation of new software, resulting in an average two-week decrease in total time spent per client

Your resume bullets should be in past tense if you’re referring to past jobs and present tense if you’re talking about your current roles. In addition, your bullets should always start with a strong action verb that best describes what you did. And if you have examples of your work, consider hyperlinking them here as well.

If you have a ton of experience and this category is starting to run long (read: over one page), consider kicking out your oldest jobs unless they’re super relevant to the job you’re applying for, or extra impressive for your field.

Not sure where to start? “It’s helpful to do a brain dump and create a document that has everything and anything you consider as experience or an achievement,” says Yurovsky. From there, she explains, you can start to whittle down what is and isn’t important. And you can refer to this document later if you ever decide to update your resume for a specific role.

Need more specific advice on listing your work experience on your resume? Check out these additional resources:

• When you’ve held multiple jobs at the same company: 2 Jobs, 1 Company: How to Show Multiple Positions on Your Resume
• When you’re not sure what your accomplishments are or how to explain them: Resume Revamp: How to Turn Your Duties Into Accomplishments
• When you want to spruce up a boring or insignificant job: How to Make Your Most Boring Jobs Sound More Interesting on Your Resume
• When you’re considering fudging a job title: The Answer to “Can I Change My Job Title on My Resume to Make It More Accurate?”
• When you’ve had a bunch of short-term gigs: How to List Temporary Jobs on Your Resume

4. Consider Including Volunteer Work or Other Experience

Anything you’ve done that’s not work experience—your side gig, volunteer work, special projects—can be hosted under clearly-labeled sections (“Volunteer Experience” or “Activities,” for example). Depending on how robust your work experience is, these things may be worth including, particularly if they’ve helped you level up your skill set or better align you with your dream job. Plus, they make you look that much more well-rounded, passionate, and hardworking.

If you’re a recent grad, you might also build out a section for on-campus activities, such as clubs, organizations, or leadership experience. This can be a great supplement if you’re lacking in the jobs department. You can frame these just as you would professional jobs—including your title, the organization’s name, and bullets describing what your role was and what you accomplished.

Read More: This Is Exactly How to List Volunteer Work on Your Resume

5. Don’t Forget Your Education

If you’re still in school or just graduated, your education can go at the top of your resume, but for pretty much everyone else, this goes near the bottom. Most people include their school, graduation year (for folks less up to about a decade out of school), major, and degree. Brand-new grads might also write in their GPA, honors and awards, study abroad, thesis, or other notable achievements. But keep this section super simple, as you don’t want it to take up too much space over your work experience.

It’s possible you have unique education experience, such as taking an online course or certification. If you did this specifically as a way to boost yourself within your industry, definitely include it. Again, list everything more or less reverse chronologically—so a grad school degree would go above an undergrad degree, and a more recent relevant online course would go above that.

Learn more about the ins and outs of listing your education on your resume:

• How to (and How Not to) List Education on Your Resume
• How to List Online Courses on Your Resume the Right Way (Because Yes, There Is a Wrong Way)

6. Top It Off With Some Skills and Interests

The skills section of a resume gets a bad rap, but it’s just as important as the rest of the stuff you include. It’s a quick list a recruiter can scan to see if your skill set aligns with what they’re hiring for. And it’s super ATS-friendly (ATS stands for “applicant tracking system,” the robot that in some cases reads your resume before a human does) because it allows you to add in keywords the machine is scanning for.

Usually this section goes at the bottom of your resume, but in special cases—such as a skills-based resume or when someone’s switching fields—you may place it further up.

What exactly do you throw in here? You’ll want to list any hard skills and applications you’re familiar with (Photoshop, SEO, JavaScript, to name a few examples), and, if relevant, your level of expertise. Avoid including soft skills here, like time management or public speaking—save those for your bullet points instead.

Be strategic when filling in your skills. Don’t list things you actually couldn’t do at a high competence level (I’m looking at those of you who say you’re “great” at Excel), and maybe nix skills that are completely irrelevant to the job you want. For example, you may not even need to include Excel if you’re applying for say, a design position, unless it’s listed as a job requirement.

Maybe you’re thinking, I’m a really good volleyball player, but that’s not a “skill,” right? No, it’s not, but it is a hobby. Adding in a hobby section at the bottom of your resume is underrated, and frequently a smart choice. It can be a great conversation starter with a hiring manager, and it can show that you’re a good culture fit—or a culture add—for the company. Also, it’s just a nice way to add in some of your personality. So tack on a bullet point listing out some of your interests, such as hiking, rowing, or crafting (no more than five to seven work-appropriate verbs), and you’re all set here.

7. Write a Resume Summary Statement (if Relevant)

You may have heard of a resume summary statement . They’re not super common, but they can be useful to include near the top of your resume if you’re looking to add clarity or context to your resume. If you’re a career changer, you might find a summary statement helpful in explaining your leap and tying your experience to your new path. Or if you’re a more experienced professional, you can use a summary statement to highlight a theme that brings your career trajectory together.

Overall, you probably won’t need a summary statement if your career is pretty linear and your bullet points do a great job of emphasizing what you have to offer in terms of skills and experience. But if you think it makes sense to include one, “Take the time to think about what the person reading your summary wants to know before you write it,” says McGovern. “Good summaries explain why you do what you do and how it can help. For instance: Merging a background in ABC, I help companies improve XYZ through 123. Summaries shouldn’t be any more complicated than that.”

So, taking McGovern’s example, you might say:

Merging a background in social media marketing and PR with seven years in the consumer tech space, I help companies improve their internal and external communication and brand awareness through data-driven, quality content and strategies that align with the modern trends of the space.

Yurovsky adds that “you don’t want your summary statement to be a dense paragraph with too much information. You want it to be easy to read, concise, and memorable. Almost like a tagline.”

Read More: 3 Resume Summary Examples That’ll Make Writing Your Own Easier

8. Tailor It to the Job (and the ATS)

Once you have your resume written out—you’ve broken down your work experience, tagged on some activities and additional experiences, and listed out your skills—it’s important to go back to the job description (or multiple job descriptions, if you’re applying to several similar jobs) and make sure that what your resume says matches up with the kind of candidate the employers are looking for. In other words, tailor it .

Let’s explain further. You’ll want to begin by tackling the ATS . This means combing the job description to see if individual words and phrases line up. What skills are they asking for, and have you listed them (so long as you actually have them)? What words are they using to describe their ideal hire, and do you use similar language in your resume?

Next, take a bird’s-eye view. If you were the hiring manager for the role, where on your resume would your eyes be drawn to? And what would you be looking for? Whatever you think will be most important for the recruiter, make sure it’s near the top of your resume, or otherwise emphasized.

Finally, dig into the role and responsibilities of the job. Does your resume reflect similar experience? If not, is there a way you can spin it so that it’s clear you’re capable of doing the job (and doing it well)?

These articles can help you if the word “tailoring” makes you start to sweat:

• What It Really Means to “Tailor Your Resume”
• Your Guide to Making Unrelated Experience Look Relevant on Your Resume
• A Cool Trick: How to Spin 1 Resume Bullet 5 Different Ways

9. Edit and Refine It

Please, please don’t just write your resume and shoot it out without giving it a second glance. Hiring managers may not spend hours browsing it, but if there’s one thing that sticks out more than anything else it’s a glaring typo.

The best approach? Write a rough draft, then leave and come back to it later with fresh eyes to give it an edit.

Cover the basics: Is your contact information correct and updated? Are you using the right verb tenses? Does everything look consistent and accurate in terms of spelling and grammar?

Then do some cutting if your resume’s quite long. It’s no longer a hard-and-fast rule that all resumes must be only one page—but consider it a smart guideline for most applicants, especially if you've got less than 10 years work experience. The exception is if you’re very senior or very established in your career; in this scenario, a two-page resume isn’t completely out of the question. Everyone else, read this article for advice on how to cut your resume down.

Formatting-wise, it’s key to consider a couple things. First, what font are you using , and is it legible (for a human and a robot)? When in doubt, go with one of these simple, but sleek, options: Arial, Arial Narrow, Calibri, Cambria, Garamond, or Helvetica.

Second, are you going to save it as a Word document or PDF ? Neither option is wrong, although a PDF helps ensure that your formatting is maintained, no matter what type of computer the hiring manager uses to open the document.

Third, is your resume formatted in a way that it’s skimmable? If it’s feeling crowded or overrun with words, read this: 12 Tiny Changes That Make Your Resume Easy for Recruiters to Skim .

Once you’ve given it a few good looks, it may be worth sending it to a friend or colleague (or even a career coach ) to get a second opinion. Don’t just have them edit it for spelling and grammar—they should dig into your bullets and offer feedback on whether or not your resume is showing you in the best possible light (it’s smart to also send them the job description for something to compare it to).

Here’s the thing: Your resume won’t ever look exactly like someone else’s, nor should it. How you choose to format it, organize your information, and talk about specific experiences depends not just on your career path, but on your field, the job you’re applying for, the company that job is at, and more.

So there isn’t a universal way to do a resume. But there are common themes. To give you some context as to how yours might turn out, here are three examples of different kinds of resumes.

The Most Popular: A Reverse Chronological Resume

As previously mentioned, a reverse chronological resume is preferred by many coaches and HR experts, mainly because it’s super readable. When everything’s in a clear order, it’s easy to skim and even easier to draw lines between experiences.

Who it’s good for: Just about everyone—from students applying to internships all the way up to senior-level executives (with an optional resume summary statement)

Download an Example Chronological Resume for a Software Engineer

The Unorthodox Route: A Functional or Skills-Based Resume

Rather than listing out your experience in reverse chronological order, a functional or skills-based resume has bullet points that reflect how each of your skills is demonstrated by the work you’ve done over the course of your career. At the bottom, you’ll include everything else, such as your education, job history, professional achievements, community involvement, and other technical skills. This is a good option if you have a somewhat all-over-the-place work history and want to tie everything together neatly.

Who it’s good for: Career changers whose work experiences may not appear to be relevant and people with an abundance of temporary jobs or gaps in their work histories.

Download an Example Functional Resume for a Project Manager

The Creative Angle: An Infographic Resume or Resume Website

This resume type is characterized by how it’s formatted visually. You may choose a reverse chronological order or skills-based style to organize your information, but also use graphics, colors, unique fonts, and even multimedia elements to help that information pop. Keep in mind that any creative resume is still likely subject to an ATS—and certain elements may be unreadable by a robot. So consider going this route only if you know a human will be reading your resume (and that said human might enjoy it).

Who it’s good for: People applying to creative roles (designers, editors, writers, marketers, video producers, for example), startups, or fun companies, or to jobs where a creative resume is encouraged, if not required.

Download an Example Infographic Resume for a Designer

Not a designer but want your resume to look just as pretty as this example? Check out these articles:

• 5 Sites to Create an Awesome Infographic Resume (Even if You’re the Least Creative Person Ever)
• How to Build a Resume Website That Will Impress Every Hiring Manager Who Sees It
• 5 Digital Tools That Will Make Your Resume Infinitely More Beautiful

Your resume is a living, breathing document. So while you won’t go through this whole process every time you apply for a job, you should be thinking about all these things as you go to update your resume for your next career step. You might decide later on to switch up the order, or remove or add things, or even get creative and try out a whole new format. If you’re not getting the calls back you expect, you may decide to scrap it and start over —and that’s totally OK.

Regardless of where this piece of paper goes and how it grows, when you give it the care and attention it deserves, you set yourself up for success. And you’ll make it that much more likely that you’ll land an interview and get the chance to prove to the hiring manager—over the phone or in person—what you’ve got to offer.

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• Resume and Cover Letter
• How to Describe Yourself on a...

How to Describe Yourself on a Resume (With Examples)

8 min read · Updated on January 23, 2024

It doesn't have to feel like nails on a chalkboard when trying to describe yourself on a resume!

How you describe yourself on your resume directly impacts whether you land that interview you so eagerly want. It's essential to describe your qualifications and experience in such a way as to grab the employer's attention without hesitation. 

How do you do that, exactly? By incorporating self-descriptive words on your resume that stand out to hiring teams and showcase that you're the best fit for the job. 

In this post, we start off with tips for developing self-descriptive words for your resume, followed by examples of descriptive words to use and avoid. 

Tips for developing self-descriptive words for your resume

It's not uncommon for individuals to struggle with talking about their accomplishments and strengths. We tend to share about another's skills and abilities easily, but when it comes to describing ourselves, we fall short. Fortunately, below are some steps you can take to boost your creative juices and find the words for your resume to help you stand out from the competition. 

Ask friends and peers for help

One way to come up with ways to describe yourself is to ask your peers, friends, and managers for input. For a comprehensive perspective, ask for feedback from those in your personal and professional lives. Here are some questions you can ask to receive the information you need:

What are three adjectives you would use to describe me?

How would you describe me to a coworker or friend?

If you could sum up my personality in one word, what would it be, and why?

Consider past performance reviews

Another way to develop self-descriptive words for a resume is to reflect on past performance reviews. What did supervisors have to say about you? What about coworkers who provided input? What were some of the strengths and achievements emphasized?

Make a list of your past accomplishments and strengths

Brainstorm to come up with a list of all your strengths, so you can more easily refer to them when describing yourself on a resume. Do this by first listing some of your key achievements and considering what strengths allowed you to achieve them. 

For example, suppose you implemented a new customer service rating system two weeks ahead of schedule, which led to a 10% increase in customer feedback. In that case, you might describe yourself as efficient and productive. 

Refer to the job description

If you're struggling to come up with the best self-descriptive words for your resume, refer to the job description. Highlight any skills, knowledge, and requirements you possess that align with the job. By incorporating these keywords into your resume, you're not only emphasizing that you meet the job qualifications but are also improving your resume's chances of getting past an employer's  applicant tracking system , or ATS.

Think positive

It's good to be humble and clear on your strengths and weaknesses. However, when it comes to self-descriptive words for a resume, you want to focus on the positives only - your strengths. 

Save sharing your weaknesses for the interview, when you'll likely be asked about them. During an interview, you can - and should - give your weaknesses a positive spin with context, which is challenging to do on a resume.

As you develop your list of strengths and how you'd describe yourself, work to develop some unique adjectives to use that are specific to your qualifications. Refer to the list of strengths you've developed, and look up synonyms for those words that could help you to stand out from other applicants. 

For example, instead of incorporating the commonly used term “creative,” you might use words like inventive or prolific. A word of caution is to avoid words that come across as boastful or exaggerating your qualifications.    

Review example resumes

An excellent resource to refer to when you're attempting to craft your own resume is to look at  resume examples  online. The resume examples you review don't need to be specific to your field, since self-descriptive adjectives and descriptive verbs aren't industry-specific, as shown in the examples below. This approach not only helps to generate ideas for self-descriptive words for your resume but also provides guidance on  how to write your resume  as a whole.

Self-descriptive words for a resume - examples

When it comes to self-descriptive words for a resume, technically, we're referring to adjectives, since adjectives describe a noun. However, two additional categories of words are essential to fully describe your abilities and work history: descriptive verbs and skills.  

Powerful adjectives for a resume

Here are only a few of the many adjectives you could use on your resume, with examples of how you might include them in a sentence. 

Adaptable:  Adaptable professional with ability to move from project to project within different departments. 

Compassionate:  Compassionate caretaker with 10 years of experience, working with hospices and providing end-of-life services. 

Knowledgeable:  Knowledgeable mechanic with 3 excellence awards for superb service and quality, earned in less than 6 months. 

Perceptive:  Perceptive speaker with ability to navigate an audience to know where to direct attention to garner the best outcome. 

Tech-savvy:   Tech-savvy Visual Artist with ability to bring together ideas and people to produce valuable and thought-provoking content, including images, videos, and graphics. 

Top tip: For an extensive list of 100 power adjectives, refer to “ 100 Powerful Resume Adjectives that Can Make Your Resume More Compelling .” 

Descriptive verbs for a resume

Action verbs  are vital in really making your work section stand out. Each bullet point you include for the jobs you list should begin with a power verb that emphasizes your role in the activity or achievement. Power verbs are also used in the resume summary to highlight accomplishments. 

Skills for a resume

Skills on your resume  should include a combination of soft and hard skills. In many instances, hard skills are spelled out and soft skills are inferred based on our past achievements. 

Unusual words to describe yourself on a resume

As mentioned, be creative and specific when selecting self-descriptive words for your resume, to help set you apart. A great way to do this is to use a thesaurus to gather synonyms for the list of self-descriptive adjectives you come up with. Some interesting choices that aren't used as often yet can still sound good on a resume include:

Inventive 

Self-descriptive words for a resume: what NOT to use

Yes, there are some words to leave off your list of self-descriptive words for your  resume. These words tend to be overused, generic, highly subjective, or boastful. Here are a few examples:

You might think you're likable, but likability is in the eye of the beholder. Instead of using likable, consider adjectives that refer to being likable, yet add value, such as team player, compassionate, and energetic. 

Intelligent 

Don't flat-out state you're intelligent, at risk of coming across as overly confident. Also, it should be inferred that you're intelligent by the other adjectives and proof you provide to back them up on your resume. Words like big-picture thinker, agile, and quick learner are better word choices.

Saying you're successful is very broad. Instead, you want to narrow your successes to specific skills and strengths with qualifiers and quantifiable data. 

Here are a few more self-promotional adjectives to leave off your resume. 

Got-to-person

Outside the box thinker

Instead of using these types of adjectives, come up with alternatives where you can show results linked to them. A good place to begin is by asking yourself, "What have I achieved that shows I'm a go-getter, the best, and so on?"

Where to incorporate self-descriptive words on a resume

Now that you've seen some examples of self-descriptive words, where do they belong on your resume? There are three main areas to place them:

Resume summary. Your  resume summary  falls just below your contact information and is the main area where you'll incorporate self-descriptive adjectives, with a few skills and power verbs. 

Competencies and skills list. Your  core competencies or skills list  should include the soft and hard skills required for the job, based on the job description. 

Work experience section. The  work experience section  is where you'll include the power verbs that describe what you did on the job, as well as some of the skills that supported you in doing so. You might also include some adjectives in this section, though generally, the adjectives are inferred. For example:

“Motivated team of 10 to implement an enhanced customer booking log project on time, resulting in an 8% increase in positive customer experience ratings”

From this achievement, one can infer that the person is motivational, a leader, and efficient. 

Apply a variety of self-descriptive words on your resume

Now you have some tips to help you discover the best self-descriptive words for your resume, with examples. You also know where to include them. As a final tip, when you incorporate your descriptive words, be sure to use a variety of adjectives and power verbs so your resume doesn't sound redundant. Good luck! 

If you're wondering if you're using the right self-descriptive words throughout your resume, why not submit it for a  free resume review ? Our  TopResume team of experts  will help to ensure your resume describes you in a way that lands you interview after interview!

Recommended reading:

How to List Certifications on a Resume with Examples

What Are the Best Fonts for a Resume

How to Include Relevant Coursework on a Resume (with Examples)

Related Articles:

Do Hiring Managers Actually Read Cover Letters?

How to Create a Resume With No Education

Why You Lose When You Lie on Your Resume: Learning From Mina Chang

See how your resume stacks up.

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• Resume Writing
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• Try Kickresume

How to Write a Resume: The Only Resume Guide You’ll Need in 2024

• Kaja Jurcisinova , 
• Updated January 16, 2024 16 min read

Your resume is arguably the most important document you'll create during a job search. So taking the time to learn how to write a resume properly can make a job hunt much quicker and easier.  

What would otherwise take you hours of hard work and research can be done in a few minutes. All you have to do is follow our simple step-by-step guide on how to write the perfect resume. 

In the end, a good resume gives you a chance to make a great first impression and ultimately decide if you'll be invited for an interview. 

What makes a great resume?

• Clear division of resume sections
• Prioritizing relevant information
• Tailored for a specific position
• Typo-free and well-written
• Usage of bullet points

There's more to it, though.

Table of Contents

Click on a section to skip

What is a resume?

Before you start writing your resume, how to write a resume, step 1: choose the right resume format, step 2: add contact information and personal details, step 3: begin with your professional summary, step 4: list relevant work experience, step 5: summarize your education , step 6: highlight your soft and hard skills , step 7: add optional resume sections.

• Step 8: Wrap it up with a cover letter 

Final tips before you click “Send”

Let's cover the basics first. Before we learn how to write a good resume, we should know what a resume even is. 

The word resume comes from French, meaning “summary” . This is the perfect word because that’s exactly what a resume is: a short, straight-to-the-point summary that details your professional achievements, skills, qualifications, education, work experience, and past employers. It's also known as a curriculum vitae (CV) .

The aim of a resume is to get invited to a job interview . It should aim to convince an employer that you're a good fit for the job. 

Because of that, your resume should be adjusted and tailored to each job vacancy.

TL;DR Here's a step-by-step video guide on how to write a professional resume in 2024

If you’re already familiar with what should be on your resume and just want a quick and informative recap, or if your time is limited, just check out our 5-minute step-by-step video guide .

Before we move on to how to write a resume, we recommend setting a few minutes aside for research. These few minutes can save you hours of frustration and ultimately make your job search that much easier.

Here’s what we recommend to research before you write your resume: 

• Research the company, specifically the “About Us” page. This is a great place to search for keywords you can use in your resume or cover letter. What are their mission statement and their values?
• Research the position you’ll be applying for. Great resumes are tailored to a specific job opening. You can do this by asking these three questions as you go through the job post: “ What are the essential keywords? What adjectives, nouns, and phrases occur repeatedly? What language does the company use?”
• Discover your strong points , as this will make it easier to pinpoint the qualities you want to highlight in your resume. Ask people around you: “What are my skills and abilities, and what are my weaknesses?” Also, look at your past accomplishments. What were the skills and abilities that helped you succeed in the past?

Another way of preparing for writing your resume is by looking at these well-researched, specifically tailored, and properly formatted resume examples in our database. You can even filter them by your job title.

Not enough time?

Let your resume write itself. All you’ll have left to do is edit the draft.

We'll walk you through nine essential steps to help you create a standout resume.

Different resume formats cater to different types of job seekers, depending on the experience level and career goals. The  three most commonly used  resume formats are chronological, functional, and combination (hybrid).

Your resume should include your contact/personal information right at the top, in a so-called resume header. A resume header is  more than just your name and contact details . Depending on your career path, there's a lot more that can (and should) be included in this section. To find out what to include, what to skip, and how to format it keep on reading.

A professional summary (also called resume profile or resume summary) is a short paragraph that summarizes your relevant skills, experiences, and achievements. Think of it as a teaser for the rest of your resume.

This is the most important section of your resume. You need to include key information like : names of companies, locations, job titles, positions held, dates of employment, responsibilities you've had. Then: - list the jobs in reverse-chronological order - write in bullet points - include your quantifiable achievements - avoid buzzwords - use action verbs and keywords from the job description

The education summary section, though important, varies in significance based on your career stage . As an experienced professional, prioritize work history and skills, placing education after. Keep it concise, including university, degree, and graduation year.

Skills fall into two categories: hard and soft. 1. Hard skills are teachable and measurable, acquired through training, and include computer proficiency, language abilities, project management, etc. 2. Soft skills , linked to personality traits, can enhance both work and personal life, encompassing communication, leadership, and time management, among others.

These can include: achievements and awards, certifications and licences, language skills, publications, references, hobbies, social media, volunteering, or custom sections.

A good cover letter should answer the following questions: 1. Who are you?  2. Why are you interested in working for their company? 3. Why are you the best fit for the job opening? 4. How can you enrich their company?

In the following chapters, we look at each step in more detail and give you helpful tips and examples.

Once you know what the company and job require and you’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses, you should be ready to pick the right resume format.  

Make this choice depending on the stage of your career: 

• Are you a seasoned professional ? Then you should pick a resume format that emphasizes your experience.
• Are you a fresh graduate? Then your resume should highlight any transferable skills you’ve acquired during your studies.
• Are you changing careers? Then a combination of the two will produce the best results.

Pick the best option for your career from the three dominant resume formats that are in use today:

• Chronological resume format. Probably the best choice for experienced professionals. Lists the candidate’s jobs and accomplishments in chronological order. Main resume section : Work Experience.
• Functional resume format. Great for fresh graduates, IT professionals, or other skill-based professions. Emphasizes skills instead of experience. Main resume section: Skills.
• Combined resume format . A combination of the previous two.

Let's take a look at what these resume formats look like in practice:

Chronological resume format

Functional resume format, combined resume format.

The resume format you choose will determine how you organize the information on your resume. It will also attract attention to some things and away from others. 

Take time to understand your strengths and weaknesses and choose accordingly.

You want the recruiter to read the strongest and most relevant parts of your resume at the start. For more, check out a guide on how to choose the right resume format .

Your contact/personal information should always be at the top of your resume in a so-called resume header .

Compared to the other resume sections, filling in the contact information section may seem super easy. That's until you start asking more questions.

Should you put your address on the resume? How to include social media , and should you? And what about the date of birth? 

Well, let’s see: 

• Name. Absolutely necessary. Put your first name first and surname last. Middle name is optional.
• Title. Optional. If you’re applying for a position in a traditional or specialized field, it's good to add your Ph.D., MBA, or other titles to it.
• Email address. Absolutely necessary, even when you’re sending your application by email. Your email address should look professional (e.g. [email protected] , NOT [email protected] ). Always use your personal email address, not the email address with the domain of your current employer. 
• Home address. Somewhat problematic. Your neighborhood can say a lot about you in some cases, disclosing living in a certain area can lead to discrimination. On the other hand, if you’re located in the same city as the company, it may help you to get the job, as it saves the company that they'd have to spend on a relocation package (of course, only if the job isn't remote).
• Phone number. Necessary. Many employers will call you by phone to arrange an interview, instead of doing it by email.
• LinkedIn. Recommended. And if you don’t have a LinkedIn profile yet, consider creating one. Make sure your profile is complete and up-to-date.
• Social media. Optional. Include it only if it’s related to your job. GitHub, Behance, and even your Facebook or Instagram profile will do (if you regularly post content that has to do with your profession). Here are a few tips on how to include your social media . 
• Blog/website. Optional. Similar to social media. If you have a blog , website, or digital portfolio related to your chosen profession, don’t be afraid to show it off.
• Photo. Problematic. It depends on the country. In most English-speaking countries, they don’t add a photo. See this guide to know if you should put a picture on your resume .

Your professional summary should be a list of about 4-5 bullet points or a short paragraph that summarizes your relevant skills, experiences, and achievements.

You can think of it as a teaser for the rest of your resume. Make sure it’s interesting enough to hook the hiring manager right in.

But how do you write a good professional summary?

• Write your professional summary last. It’s surprisingly easy to do if you’ve already finished other sections of your resume.
• The first bullet point should describe your professional title. Don’t forget to add the number of years of experience. Write it in bold if the number is especially impressive.
• Pick the most impressive parts of your resume and rewrite them into snappy bullet points. Tease your potential employer into reading further.
• Pack your professional summary with relevant keywords. Think of ATS. This will help you get through automated pre-screenings.
• Quantify every achievement if possible. This will make you look even more professional. 
• Tie every bullet point to the requirements introduced in the job offer.

If you do everything right, you should end up with something like this:

The work experience section is what most people picture when they think “resume” .

The trick is to focus on your past achievements , not your responsibilities. 

Hiring managers are likely to know what your responsibilities were supposed to be. In most cases, your job title says it all.

If you want to stand out, you should tell them how you excelled in your previous job instead. 

And there’s hardly a more effective way to do that than by mentioning your achievements.

But how do you list your work experience on a resume?

• Put your work experience section in the right spot. If you can boast a lot of professional experience, put your work experience section right under your resume summary. If you don’t have enough experience yet, put it just below your education section. Finally, if you prefer to highlight your skills instead of experience, put your skills section first.
• Give it a proper heading. Keep it simple and stick to “Work Experience” or “Employment History” as other headings might not be understood by applicant tracking systems (ATS) .
• List your jobs in reverse-chronological order. Start with your most recent experience and work your way back from there. Based on your level of experience, decide how far back should your resume go .
• Don’t include the job description. Instead of listing what you were supposed to do, try to tell your potential employers what positive results you had.
• Write in past tense. This will help you focus on your past achievements instead of responsibilities. It also sounds better.
• Show your problem-solving skills. In the end, hiring managers want to know how effective you’re going to be in solving real problems. There’s no better way to show your problem-solving ability than to briefly describe how you solved difficult problems in the past. Follow the PAR scheme: What was the (P)roblem? What (A)ction did you take? What was the (R)esult?
• Quantify results. Hiring managers love measurable results. Because of that, a single number often speaks more than a thousand words. Don’t say that you “increased the company’s revenue significantly.” Instead, don’t be afraid to brag about “increasing the company’s revenue by 20%.”
• Use bullet points. Bullet points help you structure each subsection. Try to limit yourself to about 5 bullets per job.
• Avoid buzzwords. People used some phrases in their resumes so much, these words have become meaningless. Everybody seems to be an out-of-the-box creative thinker with a knack for innovation nowadays. But in reality, only very few people really are those things. See what other 10 buzzwords you should stop using on your resume
• Use action verbs . Unlike buzzwords, action verbs carry the weight you need to persuade an employer to hire you. Just to mention a few, these are words like “developed” , “increased” , “facilitated” and others. For more action verbs, check out our resume cheat sheet .
• Keywords. Reread the job description and carefully pick the most important keywords. These are the words that best describe the position you’re applying for, and that will attract the attention of the ATS system. 

In the end, your work experience section should look a bit like this:

The education summary section is where you list your degrees and relevant academic accomplishments.

Based on your degree and where you're in your career, it can be either the least or the most important part of your resume.

Are you an experienced professional?

Once you become more experienced, the education section takes a back seat to your work history and hard skills.

In other words, your education section should come after your work experience section, not the other way around. It also shouldn't be too long. For instance, your grades are no longer relevant.  

It’s enough if you include the name of your university, the name of your degree, and the year you graduated.

Here’s an example:

Are you a fresh graduate?

Then your degree is still one of the strongest cards you have to play.

In practical terms, it means that you should place your education section at the top of your resume — right between your professional summary and work experience section.

It should also be a bit longer. 

These are the things you should add to your education section if you’re a student or a fresh graduate:

• Academic awards. AP scholar, Duke of Edinburgh award, National Merit Award, President’s Award, school subject-based awards, dean’s list, etc.
• Scholarships. Athletic scholarships, scholarships for women, creative scholarships, etc.
• Academic conferences and symposia. Don’t forget to mention the scope and name of the paper you presented at a conference.
• Relevant student societies. Debating or programming clubs. If you were on a student committee of any kind, mention that too.
• GPA. Only include your GPA if it was higher than 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. If your overall GPA was lower, mention your overall GPA. Alternatively, mention your summa cum laude or magna cum laude .
• Academic publications. Producing an academic work worth publishing is impressive no matter the context.

In the end, your education section can look like this:

Before you start writing, you should know there are two types of skills : hard skills and soft skills.

1. Hard skills can be learned, taught, and most importantly — measured. Acquiring them requires deliberate effort, training, and time.

Hard skills can be, for instance: computer skills, language skills, manual skills, mathematics, project management, etc.

2. Soft skills are tied to your personality traits. These skills can come as part of your upbringing, or you can acquire some later in life through self-improvement. These skills can bring value to any job, as well as your private life.

Examples of soft skills include: communication, leadership, time management , creativity, decision-making, etc.

But how to make your skills stand out?

• Focus on what’s most relevant. Do you have any of the skills mentioned in the advertisement for your desired job? Good. Make sure to include them in your resume’s skills section.
• Organize your skills into subcategories. Divide your skills section into several subsections like computer skills, soft skills, languages, and others.
• Don’t underestimate soft skills. 67 percent of HR managers said they’d hire a candidate with strong soft skills even if their technical abilities were lacking. On the contrary, only 9 percent would hire someone with strong technical credentials but weak soft skills.
• There are skills you shouldn’t include. Never include any skills you don’t have, skills that have nothing to do with the job, skills everybody should have, or skills that have become obsolete.

Apart from the standard resume sections we just mentioned above, are also optional sections. 

A good rule of thumb is to add an optional section only if it's relevant to the job you're applying for. If done properly, these sections can help you:

• Fill the gap when lacking experience
• Highlight additional skills and expertise 
• Let an employer know more about who you are

Pro tip: Optional resume sections can be especially important to companies that prioritize hiring candidates who fit their workplace culture. 

Here are some of the most common optional sections: 

Technical skills

This section can be a nice addition when applying for (surprise!) technical jobs. 

Some examples of technical skills are: programming languages, software proficiency, project management, and data analysis.

Technical skills are usually measurable, so if you decide to include them in your resume, use a graph or a scale to illustrate how strong they are. Adding visual elements to your resume not only looks nice but also shows your ability to be precise and analytical.

Achievements and awards

Scholarships, competitions, work-related awards, or even promotions to leadership positions in your job — all of these can be considered important professional achievements. 

Either distribute them across other parts of your resume or put them in a dedicated section. The latter allows you to truly highlighted them. 

And if you choose to include them in a separate resume section, don't forget to mention the dates and the name of the company/institution at which you've accomplished the achievement. 

Professional references

In today's competitive job market, strong professional references can be a game-changer. Consider including a ' Professional References ' section in your resume to provide potential employers with easy access to these valuable resources.

How to format references on resume? Here's what you should list for each reference:

• Their full name
• Their current job title and organization
• Their contact details (email and phone number will do)
• Your relationship with them (e.g., Former Supervisor)

Ensure you have their permission and inform them when actively job searching.

Once you decide who you want your references to be, it's time to ask them if they agree. Here's how to ask someone to be a reference via email .

Certifications and licenses

Listing the certificates and courses that you've successfully completed on your resume is never a mistake.

However, keep in mind that they should be related to the role that you're applying for. 

If you'd like to add a certificate to your CV but you're unsure about where to find the best course for you, check out this carefully curated list of the best online courses that will help you to get a job. 

Publications

In this section, you can mention all the relevant conferences, presentations, and written publications. 

This section is most useful if you're working in academia, marketing, or journalism. 

However, include it in your resume also if you're applying for a position that requires you to be an expert on the topic that you've written about.

Volunteering

This section lists your volunteer work . It should be treated similarly to a work experience section. The reason is that whether your work was paid or not, it still translates to real-life experience. 

This is true especially if you find yourself at the beginning of your career. In that case, feel free to place the volunteering section towards the start of your resume. 

On the other hand, if you're a seasoned professional, locate this section more toward the end of your document. 

This is the part of your resume that's the most personal. Here, let a little loose and let your personality shine through. List you hobbies and interests, even the quirky or unique ones.

Hobbies serve as a great way for a hiring manager to see you more as a person and less as just a name written on a paper. They can also break the ice during the interview stage.

Christy's word of advice

Really, it sounds so simple, but one of the best ways to stand out with your resume is to apply for jobs you’re a close fit for. So many people apply ‘just in case they’ll consider me if even I only meet some of the requirements’, then feel deflated when they’re rejected. The company has spent time figuring out exactly what they need and are paying their staff or a recruiter to find that. Look closely at the minimum/essential requirements, apply for jobs you’re a great fit for, and you’ll have much better luck!

Christy Morgan, Resident HR Expert

Step 8: Wrap it up with a cover letter  

Phew! Almost done with how to write a resume. Just a little bit of editing and proofreading, picking the right resume template , and you should be able to click send, right? 

Well, not quite. At least we wouldn’t recommend you sending it —  yet. 

The truth is that resumes are often put aside when not accompanied by a cover letter. It would be a shame if this happened to you, especially after all the time you’ve spent creating it. 

A good cover letter is a way to stand apart from the competition. It’s where you can show your hiring manager you mean business. 

And, if you're fresh out of college or changing career this step-by-step guide on  how to write a cover letter with no experience  will show you what to focus on instead. 

Here are 4 questions to guide you while writing your cover letter: 

• Who are you (professionally)? 
• Why are you interested in working for their company?
• Why are you the best fit for the job opening?
• How can you enrich their company?

When all it’s said and done, your cover letter should look something like this:

Cover letter example

This cover letter sample was provided by a real person who got hired with Kickresume’s help.

Want more inspo? Browse another 1,250+ cover letter examples by your profession.

And if you really want a memorable cover letter, we’ve got you covered. In fact, we’re certain it will be the only cover letter guide you’ll ever need . 

• The older the job, the fewer the details. In other words, don’t have 13 bullet points on a job from 5 years ago.
• Use off-peak hours for maximum attention , especially if you’re reaching out to an employer directly. Hiring managers are busy people and you want them to receive your resume when they have enough time to carefully read through it.
• Check your resume for typos. If English isn't your first language, employers might be inclined to overlook any grammatical mistakes that you make in your resume. Typos, on the other hand, are unforgivable. Your computer’s spell-check feature can help you fix that.
• Customize your resume for each job application. Every employer is different. And any hiring manager can tell if you’ve just sent them the same generic resume as to everyone else. So make sure you tailor your resume to each individual employer to increase your chances of getting hired.
• Get the introductory email right. It doesn’t matter that you have the best resume ever if nobody gets to read it. Attach it to an email that catches the employer’s attention from the get-go. Pay particular attention to the subject line that will make them read the full email, including the attachments.

FAQ: How to write a resume

One to two pages is the ideal. If you're at the junior stage of your career, one page is more than enough. Similarly, make sure that your resume isn't longer than three pages (and this may be stretching it already), even if you're a CEO.

Generally speaking, content is superior to form when it comes to resumes. However, a nice design is the first thing that catches the recruiter's attention — and that's precisely what you want. Moreover, if you're looking for a job in marketing, art, or design, the design of your resume naturally becomes your selling point, too.

Typos, being too general and not specific enough, not including relevant information, not using action verbs, and writing about duties instead of accomplishments.

The best format for sending a resume is PDF, as it keeps the visuals of the resume unchanged once the document is opened by the recruiter.

1.  Include standard resume sections.  Contact information, resume summary, work experience, education, skills. 2.  Include optional resume sections.  Awards, references, certifications, publications, projects, etc. 3.  Choose a resume format.  The three standard are: chronological, functional, combination.  4.  Use bullet points.  Use bullet points to make your resume easier to scan and highlight important information quickly.  6.  Think about the  margins .  Strike a good balance between not leaving too much white space and making your resume seem cluttered.  7.  Keep it to  one-two pages .  Unless you have extensive work experience, you should generally aim to keep your resume to one page.  8.  Consistency is key.  In all aspects of your resume, including the spacing, font, margins, etc. 9.  Use a professional resume   template  or layout which helps to structure the information effectively and makes it easy to read. 

Good job, you made it! If you still need more information on how to write a resume. You can go further in-depth in our section-by-section resume guide .

This article was recently updated. The original article was written by Noel Rojo in 2019.

Kaja Jurcisinova is a junior copywriter at Kickresume. Kaja completed her undergraduate degree in Art History at the University of St Andrews in 2018 and graduated with a Master’s in Arts and Culture from the University of Groningen in 2021. She was an intern at multiple cultural institutions across Europe, including the Dutch Museum Association in Amsterdam, the Matter of Art Biennale in Prague, and the European Cultural Centre in Venice. At the moment, she resides in Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland.

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Donald Trump found guilty of all 34 charges in hush money trial

By CNN's Kara Scannell, Lauren Del Valle and Jeremy Herb in the courthouse

Our live coverage has ended. Follow  the latest news on Donald Trump's guilty verdict or read through the updates below. 

Stormy Daniels' attorney says she was "really emotional" after verdict

From CNN's Kaanita Iyer

Stormy Daniels' attorney Clark Brewster said his client was "really emotional" following former President Donald Trump's guilty verdict in the hush money case.

He told CNN's Kaitlan Collins that Daniels faced the "realization of the finality" and had "a lot of emotions flowing."

Brewster also responded to Trump attorney Todd Blanche saying he'd raise Daniels' testimony in appeal, arguing that "it was straightforward" and "they had an opportunity to cross examine her."

Stormy Daniels' friend said "it's a joyous day" after Trump's guilty verdict

From CNN's Piper Hudspeth Blackburn

Alana Evans, friend of Stormy Daniels and an adult film star told CNN’s Abby Phillip that she — and Daniels — absolutely feels vindicated by Trump’s guilty verdict, calling it a “joyous day.” 

"We were deemed credible, and it's heartwarming in that way because so many people judge us for who we are — our backgrounds — it's something that's thrown in our faces again and again ... it isn't a reflection of who we are as people," Evans said. Evans added that she's "really happy simply because it meant that at the end of the day, it really is a adult film star who is stepping forward and being the person to put that man to the truth."

Here's what happens now that Trump has been convicted in his hush money criminal case

From CNN's Devan Cole

A New York jury  convicting Donald Trump  on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records brought the former president’s weekslong trial to a close but ushered in a new phase of the historic case.

Now in the unique position of being the first former US president convicted of a felony, Trump faces the possibility of a prison sentence or probation for his crimes stemming from a hush money payment scheme he helped facilitate ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump – who is known for mounting lengthy appeals of court rulings against him – has said he will appeal the conviction, which can be done after he is sentenced.

Here’s what to know about the case following Trump’s conviction:

When will Trump be sentenced?

Judge Juan Merchan has set Trump’s sentencing for 10 a.m. ET on July 11. For now, the former president will remain out of prison as he awaits his sentencing. Prosecutors did not ask for Trump to post any bond.

Can Trump appeal his conviction?

Shortly after Trump was convicted, his attorney Todd Blanche asked Merchan for an acquittal of the charges notwithstanding the guilty verdict. The judge rejected the pro forma request.

Can Trump still be elected president?

Nothing in the US Constitution bars a convicted criminal from running for the nation’s highest office, University of California, Los Angeles law professor Richard L. Hasen has consistently said.

“The Constitution contains only limited qualifications for running for office (being at least 35 years old, a natural born citizen, and at least 14 years a resident of the U.S.),” Hasen continued.

Will the conviction cost Trump his right to vote?

Trump is a Florida resident. When it comes to the Manhattan guilty verdict just rendered,  Trump’s right to vote in Florida  in November’s election will depend on whether he is sentenced to a term in prison and if he has finished serving that prison sentence by the time of the election.

Florida’s felon voting prohibitions apply to people with out-of-state convictions. However, if a Floridian’s conviction is out of state, Florida defers to that state’s laws for how felon can regain their voting rights.

Read more on the aftermath of Trump's guilty verdict.

Correction: This post has been updated to reflect when Trump is allowed to file an appeal.

In pictures: Trump convicted in hush money case

For the first time in history, a former US president has been convicted of a felony.

A jury on Thursday found Donald Trump guilty  on 34 charges of falsifying business records. Prosecutors alleged that the former president engaged in a cover-up scheme to hide reimbursement payments made to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who had paid hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels to stop her from going public about a past affair with Trump before the 2016 presidential election. Trump has denied the affair.

See more photos from the trial .

Trump is facing 3 other criminal cases while running again for president

From CNN’s Devan Cole, Amy O'Kruk and Curt Merrill 

The hush money criminal case against former President Donald Trump was only one of  four criminal cases  he is juggling while running again for president.

The former president still faces criminal indictments in Georgia, Washington, DC, and Florida. Trump has pleaded not guilty to every charge in these cases. 

Here's a recap of each case: 

• Hush money:  Trump was first indicted in March 2023 by the Manhattan district attorney on state charges related to a hush-money payment to an adult film star in 2016. Prosecutors alleged Trump was part of an illegal conspiracy to  undermine  the integrity of the 2016 election. Further, they alleged he was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including the $130,000 payment. He was found guilty of all 34 counts on Thursday.
• Classified documents:  Trump was indicted in June 2023 by a federal grand jury in Miami for taking classified national defense documents from the White House after he left office and resisting the government’s attempts to retrieve the materials. The National Archives said in early 2022 that at least 15 boxes of White House records were recovered from the estate, including  some that were classified . The charges were brought by special counsel Jack Smith. However,  Judge Aileen Cannon  has  indefinitely postponed the trial , citing significant issues around classified evidence that would need to be worked out before the federal criminal case goes to a jury.
• Federal election interference:  Smith separately charged the former president last August with four crimes over his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results. The indictment alleges Trump and a co-conspirator "attempted to exploit the violence and chaos at the Capitol by calling lawmakers to convince them ... to delay the certification" of the election. That case is currently on hold  as the Supreme Court  weighs Trump’s claims of presidential immunity in the matter.
• Fulton County:  State prosecutors in Georgia brought a similar election subversion case against Trump and others. An Atlanta-based grand jury on August 14, 2023, indicted Trump and 18 others on state charges stemming from their alleged efforts to overturn the former president’s 2020 electoral defeat. A trial date has not yet been set in that case.

Track the criminal cases  against Trump.

The post was updated with details from Thursday's verdict.

Melania Trump is in New York City, source says

From CNN's Kristen Holmes

Former first lady Melania Trump and her son, Barron Trump, are currently in New York, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The two were already in New York when the verdict was read earlier Thursday, although it was not immediately clear when they arrived in the city.

Melania Trump did not attend a fundraiser dinner with Trump at a private residence Thursday night in New York City.

She was not seen at court during the trial.

Schumer says “no one is above the law” after Trump verdict

From CNN's Morgan Rimmer

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer posted a brief statement about the verdict in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial on social media. 

"No one is above the law. The verdict speaks for itself," the New York Democrat said. 

Trump attorney Todd Blanche outlines appeal arguments

Donald Trump's attorney Todd Blanche told CNN's Kaitlan Collins Thursday that the former president's legal team plans to argue in its appeal of the verdict that the jury was biased against Trump and the timing of the trial was unfair.

"Every single person on the jury knew Donald Trump as president, as candidate, from 'The Apprentice' so I don't accept that this was a fair place to try President Trump," Blanche said.

He added: "There was so much publicity around the witnesses and around – leading up to the trial that our system of justice isn't supposed to be a system where every person who walks into the courtroom knows about the case."

"The law says a person is entitled to a fair trial in front of a jury of their peers and we just think that because of everything around the lead up this trial, it made it very difficult for the jury to evaluate the evidence kind of independent of what they knew coming in," Blanche said.

Blanche previewed that Trump's legal team will now "vigorously fight" with motions due in a few weeks. And "if that is not successful," the attorney said they will appeal following the sentencing in July.

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