Searching for a new job is one of the hardest things you'll have to do in your career and it's no easier this year. The Great Resignation, intense competition from other job seekers and remote work are making it one of the most exciting and challenging job markets we've seen in years.
That's why we decided to create our 2023 Resume Writing Guide with job search tips, resume examples and all the information you need to create the perfect resume or CV.
The right job is one of three things that contribute most to your happiness in life.
Which is why you need to do it right.
Besides you, your resume is your most important tool in a job search.
It is your first impression with employers.
It is the difference between an interview for your dream job or the recycle bin.
A great resume makes searching for a job easy, while an ineffective resume will leave you with nothing to show from hundreds of applications. Applying to a job without a good resume guide is a waste of time and can add months (or even years) to your job search, leaving you frustrated and demotivated. The following is a guide to creating a stand-out resume that gets you hired.
Recommended links:
Let's start with the basics.
A resume is your professional highlight reel - presented in an easily understood and standardized format.
Your resume needs to solve a problem for employers (which is why they’re hiring). It is your most important tool to landing an interview, and ultimately a job.
There are three standard resume layout types.
Which type of resume layout is best depends on the situation. For each job application, choose the layout that best represents you in the context of the job you're applying for.
Long gone are the days when recruiters and employers sit in uninterrupted silence and carefully read multi-page resumes from cover to cover. Nowadays, interruptions and distractions are the norm, and recruiters' time is increasingly crunched.
90% of large corporations use Applicant Tracking Software that to manage their recruiting process, which means you need to get through an automatic screen before your resume is even seen by an employer. If you make it past that step, studies have shown that recruiters spend 6 seconds on average reviewing a resume.
Studies show that recruiters spend on average 6 seconds looking at a resume.
They need to quickly pull out key facts, and make a split second decision that could decide your future. We think there are two key resume guidelines you need to keep in mind when building your resume.
Does your resume pass the 7-second test? Recruiters only spend 7.4 seconds reviewing your resume before moving it to the 'YES' or 'NO' pile.
If you pass the test, you still need to hold their attention to make it to the next steps.
Your resume needs to be sharply focused, compelling, and entirely relevant.
What is an applicant tracking system?
An applicant tracking system (ATS), is software that organizations use to manage their recruitment process. Vendors include Taleo, The Resumator, Smart Recruiters, and many more.
Most applicant tracking software uses a process called resume parsing, which extracts your resume data into a format readable by the software. Resume parsing pulls your contact information, work history, and skills from the resume.
When a recruiter is searching within their applicant tracking system for a candidate, those that best fit the keywords of the job description will show up first in the search results based on the parsed resume data.
This is why thinking about these guidelines is important in optimizing your resume for each application. We actually offered some tips on how to beat the ATS in a previous blog post.
If you're unsure about your career objective or haven't quite settled on a goal, you'll find that writing a powerful and effective resume is extremely difficult.
Remember, your resume must present just the right mix of meaningful information relevant to your goal.
Without a goal, you don't know what information to include, what skills or successes to highlight, and what details to omit. You're forced to include everything, and the end result is usually a resume that does not capture interest because it's not focused.
Have a clear goal before writing your resume. Employers want to know what you want to do; it's not their job to figure that out. Take the time to define a goal (or multiple goals) before writing your resume.
See our guide on How to get a better Job for more exercises and resources for deciding what you want from your career.
Once have a clear goal for your resume, move on to the next step.
In the context of your resume, "who you are" usually refers to a job title.
Are you a Software Engineer?
Corporate Finance Executive?
Customer Service Representative?
Be sure to include this critical information right up front, as a headline or in the first sentence of your introduction. Your goal is to immediately communicate to employers the essential information that creates the context for everything else they will read in your resume.
For example, if you define yourself as a "Sales Professional," employers will be looking for key qualifications such as sales results, communication skills, relationship-building abilities, territory management experience, and so forth.
If you define yourself as an "Accountant," they'll be looking for something entirely different accounting and finance experience, knowledge of accounting software, attention to detail, and strong analytical skills.
By defining yourself up front, you establish expectations and help readers better appreciate and absorb the information that follows.
Study the job description and decipher what problems the employer wants solved. Employers don’t care about you. They care about solving their problems. This is the only reason why they are posting a job. Get into their heads, and try to understand their pain.
Why are they posting this job? Who is the ideal candidate for the job? Which skills does the ideal applicant have?
Write down a brief description of the ideal applicant in the third person, all the way down to what they’re wearing. This will help you decide how to represent yourself when creating your resume.
Having defined your "ideal self," consider what information you can place "front and center" on your resume to support your claim. What credentials, qualifications, experiences, knowledge, and accomplishments do you possess that will prove you are, in fact, an effective Marketing Management Professional?
Your goal is to create a "snapshot," a capsule portrait that conveys the most essential information to your readers. In essence, you want to quickly portray that you are an ideal candidate for the types of jobs you are pursuing.
In your job search, you will need to create a distinct resume for each job application. This enables you to do the following:
To make this easy, start by building a Master Resume to work from. This will be an ever-evolving resume that contains all your work history, accomplishments, and skills that you can tailor for each application.
Let's start building a Master Resume.
The following section will outline the key components of a resume, and provide examples, tips and best practices for writing these components.
Standard fields
Optional Fields
Resume Example:
Your resume should first include the most important information - Your name! Your name should be the largest text on the page. The header also includes basic contact details and links to other relevant online profiles.
For a European CV, the header will also include a professional profile picture. Do not include a picture for a traditional North American application. For a web based North American resume, a picture is acceptable.
An objective statement is no longer acceptable on your resume summary or resume introduction. Employers know your objective is to get the job. Instead, you have two options.
The introduction goes after the header information, and should serve the following purposes:
Bad example: Experienced professional seeking employment in the financial services sector.
Good example: Experienced financial planner who has consistently generated above market returns for clients. Thrives in a team-oriented and high pressure environment.
Bad example: Passionate marketing manager and creative problem solver who loves to work with great people.
Good example: Results-driven marketing professional with over 10 years experience working with blue-chip clients including Nestle, Google, and Intel.
Remember, the introduction is not a necessary element. If you're going to use it, do so wisely. No introduction is better than a poor one.
The most valuable section of your resume is the work experience section. It is usually the most important factor in getting a job. Highly relevant experience in a field is the first thing employers look for. Even for entry level jobs employers want to see relevant experience.
Most commonly, work experience is displayed in reverse chronological order, with your most recent job first. If you do have a highly relevant position, there is no rule against re-ordering your work history to put the most relevant job first.
Each work history entry should include:
The most crucial aspect of your career history is to write accomplishments, not history. Your job title and regular duties don't matter - what matters is your most impressive achievements in those positions. Ensure your accomplishments are compelling. Accomplishments are best written in bullet-point format, underneath each job title held.
Bad example: Promoted to senior account manager with full responsibility for the company’s #1 client.
Good example: Promoted to senior account manager to manage #1 client, growing the business from $3 million to $6 million in 2 years.
Bad example: Completed all projects under time and under budget.
Good example: Averaged 7% under budget while completing 100% of projects on schedule, 65% ahead of schedule.
Bad example: Managed a portfolio for blue-chip clients that generated high returns.
Good example: Responsible for $5 million in assets for high net worth clients that generated a return of over 12% in 2013.
Bad example: Kept customers happy.
Good example: Increased referral rates by 15% and maintained a customer satisfaction rate of over 95%.
The following section is a series of questions designed to help you quantify your performance in a position to write better accomplishment statements. Spend an hour answering these questions in relation to each job you've held. This will give you "ammunition" to work with when writing your resume.
Questions to quantify performance
Questions to reveal success factors:
Questions to create strong introductory statements
Action words to use:
These are helpful verbs to use when writing your accomplishment statements. Always start your accomplishments with a verb.
Sources: Career Bliss, The Muse
The majority of your resume writing time should be spent writing compelling accomplishment statements.
Pro tips for writing accomplishments
The education section contains some or all of the following:
Keys for the education section:
You should have a listing of your skills on your resume, that includes your level of competency of each skill. Skills are extremely important to match with the job description - it’s what employers are looking to hire.
Extras are additional facts and information that don't fit into one of the previous categories but might be important to include, such as:
As you are gathering the material for your resume, organize it into these rough groups; but keep in mind that you don't have to follow a strict formula! You can create new sections, add in unusual information, or come up with creative ways to present your qualifications. The purpose of the resume is to tell your story and describe your capabilities in the way that is most beneficial to you and meaningful to employers.
Which resume design should you use? It depends. Use your judgement to decide which resume design best suits the job you're applying for. For a creative job, a more creative resume is recommended. For an accounting job? Use a more classic design.
Once you've written the right content, pick a design that best shows off your unique capabilities and fits the position you're seeking.
Having multiple version of your resume is essential for a successful job search. Here are the versions you should have:
How long should my resume be?
The standard North American Resume is 1-2 pages in length. A more detailed academic CV can be much longer. However, don't try to cram your resume into a shorter version just because of conventions. A well-laid out, efficient resume will perform better than a crammed 1 page resume.
Do I need a picture on my resume?
In North America, no. In fact, having a picture on your resume could limit your chances of landing an interview. For a web based resume, a picture is fine. However if you're applying in a traditional way, create a version of your resume that does not include a picture.
Do I need an objective on my resume?
No! Your objective is to get the job. Employers know that! Replace the objective with a summary of your skills and experience.
Should I include references?
No. As a general rule, including references (or "references available upon request" is redundant. Keep your limited space for selling yourself.
What format should I submit my application in?
PDF is your best option for submitting a resume to an employer or an ATS. You won't risk losing formatting from a Word Document, and it gives you the most control.
Should I customize my resume for each application?
Yes. Studies show that tailoring your resume for a specific position is much more effective than sending a generic application. It takes extra time, but is worth the effort.
Do you have resume guides for specific applications. For example a resume guide for teachers, it, architects, students, nursing, freshers, internships, designers, engineering, tour guide or no experience?
*No. However, we do have an amazing resume samples directory with resume examples for every occupation and career path. Check it out here
Step by step, section by section, you've built your resume. Congratulations! Now it's time to get that dream job. We've got just the guide for you.
Looking for an easy way to create a multiple targeted resumes and track the results? We'd love for you to give VisualCV a try.
Written By
Madison Norton
VP Marketing & Resume Expert
Madison is the VP Marketing and General Manager at VisualCV. He's a seasoned marketing leader, resume writing and career marketing expert and now helping people grow their own career marketing strategies to build a career they love.
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