A Five-Step Guide to How to Structure your Resume…
Whether you’re thinking about putting your resume together for the first time or whether it’s time to resurrect it, it’s vital you structure it in the correct, professional way, so you get maximum impact.
Remember, you’ll only have about 10 to 12 seconds to give any potential employer the ‘wow factor,’ so you’ve got to get it right first time.
The first thing most people think of when writing their resume is about the skills and work experience they should include.
Of course, these are vital components of your resume, but if you don’t get the structure right, it might not even be read by any potential interviewers.
So, use white paper, a sensible font such as ‘Times’ or ‘Sans Serif’ which are crisp and scanner-friendly, and try and stay at 12pts as any smaller font is hard to read and don’t use more than one side of paper.
Format your margins and spacing with the general rule of one inch on all sides.
Try and chronologically lay-out your resume with clear headings, so it’s easy for a potential employer to dip in and out of, starting with…
First things first…
One of the essential things you can have on your resume is your contact details.
Without these, how do you honestly expect anyone to contact you?
These should start with your name – right in the front and at the center of the page; your Christian name and surname. Then your address, landline, and mobile numbers, email, and then any social media contacts, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Ensure these are all up-to-date and clear.
Mission Statement – Not Impossible
It’s always a good idea to start with an objective summary statement as an opener. This is to grab their attention, and if your resume isn’t full of work experience, mainly if you are a college leaver, then this statement will give people an idea of who you are and what you’re about.
Remember, most employers don’t read your resume in all its entirety, so this opening statement is essential for you to stand out from the crowd. It’s a quick outline of your employment goals for the company you are applying to and should be clear and concise.
Work Experience
This is the section where you write of any work experience and highlight your role, duration, and duties/responsibilities.
Make sure you list them in chronological order, with dates and names and addresses of employers.
If you don’t have a lot of work experience, don’t worry and don’t scrabble around to include your babysitting jobs at high school. Include any unpaid voluntary work and internships.
Education
This is where you list your school(s), colleges, and universities, starting with the last place you attended first.
You need to state the dates you attended and the highest qualifications first with qualifications’ grades achieved.
Include any technical qualifications as well as academics.
Skills and Awards
List any skills and Awards you may have obtained. Bear the job you are applying for, in mind, so you look as though you are the best candidate applying for the role.
These might include languages, operating machinery, book-keeping, computer programming – try and include hard and soft skills, as this makes you appear as an all-rounder.
The company you are applying to will have a specific skill set they require the candidate to have, so ensure you read the job advertisement clearly and do your research on the company so you can tweak your resume to what they may desire. You can also browse through resume templates for guidance.
Get your resume’s structure right, and you’ll nail it!