Writing Your First Resume? Here Are 5 Tips To Make It Perfect!

Stressed about writing your first resume? Not to fear for here are 5 tried and tested tips that will make your resume outshine others!

Your first resume will most likely be the hardest resume you’ll write in your life. This is your entry point into the workforce. However, writing a resume without little or no work experience can be very tough.

There are several aspects to consider as a fresh employee embarking on a job search. These include things like how to highlight education over experience on your resume.

What makes a resume effective?

An effective resume needs to present all the important information about you as a professional in a concise and clear way. Format and content are both important.

In addition to understanding the importance of the resume structure, you must also have a clear understanding of what you are trying to communicate. It is crucial to keep your focus on what matters to the employer and do everything you can to tailor your resume to the role.

How to write an effective first resume?

Start with presenting your educational qualifications well since this is a crucial aspect for a fresh graduate with barely any experience. Enhance this section by adding relevant coursework, favourite fields of study and the details of your thesis/dissertation.

If you do have some work experience, though it might not relate to the position you’re applying for, it is a good idea to add it to your resume. In case you don’t have any work experience, it helps to include sections that illustrate your achievements and skills in a non-work setting.

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Focus on what the employer is looking for and highlight the skill sets that you possess and would best suit that position and organisation. Start by carefully reading the job description to identify what the hiring manager is specifically searching for in a potential candidate

Strategically format the content to embolden important information. Use bold, italics, and caps to draw a hiring manager’s attention to important information — but don’t go overboard.

The key here is to choose what to emphasise wisely. Your font type and size, margins, alignment, everything plays a role in making your first resume look professional.

Employers do look for fresh talent!

Include a summary which is a statement about skills, experience and education inserted in the beginning of your document. It spotlights the important parts like the experience and skills listed in the body of your resume.

This is a valuable section for college graduates without much job experience. It allows you to put together the worthy highlights of your resume in a short statement that demonstrates your value as an employee.

Apart from the aforementioned tips, it is always helpful to place emphasis on your soft skills, mention your GPA. Also, include business networking profile links, and use professional language.

It can be intimidating to look for jobs that prefer experience in the field. However, remember that all job candidates started their careers without experience. And sometimes, employers would like to hire fresh new talent that is eager to learn and grow as opposed to more experienced ones.

Knowing how to position yourself and sell what you can offer such as soft skills, internship experience and college courses, will make all the difference.

Picture credits: Still from Amazon Prime series Four More Shots, Please

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