A CV (Curriculum Vitae) or what some people called it a resume is a summary and overview of someone's professional life or career. A good resume usually includes several things like education(s) and qualifications, work experiences, skills, and key attributes. A resume is important for a recruiter in order to be able to get a quick picture of your skills, work experiences, and expertise. Furthermore, it also could determine whether you fit the job or not.
What information should I include to make a good resume?
A good and professional resume should include several relevant information that is needed by the recruiter. Thus, what should be included in your resume will vary depending on the position you are applying for in the company. However, here is the basic and general information that you should include on your resume;
1. Personal information details
The first thing first, is your personal details, such as your name, email address, and phone number. Why is it important? Because imagine that the recruiter is impressed by your work experiences and skills and wants to invite you to an interview, but you forgot to put your contact number, and they cannot reach you. As a result, you lose the opportunity.
Mentioning your location and address is important as well, as an employer may prefer an employee who lives close to the office or work location. If you have a professional LinkedIn page or a personal website, it can be your added value and you can put a link to it in the personal information box.
2. A chronological work experiences
Your work experiences list is important in a professional resume. It will give a picture of your skills and experience in the position you are applying for. You can make it in chronological order, beginning with your most recent job to the previous ones.
To make your resume stronger and stand out amongst other applicants, you can give a brief explanation of your work, responsibilities, and skills for each employment. Tip: Try to list the abilities and responsibilities that are most relevant to the position you are applying for!
3. Education
Education is necessary for a good resume. You can start with your highest level of study and then continue to the lower one. Name the school or institution where you studied, as well as the start and graduation dates of your studies. Adding your majority and GPA will be an added value to your resume.
Well, those are the general information that you should put in your resume. However, if you really want to stand out from the crowd of applicants, you should put in a bit more effort by adding several things as follows:
An on-point personal profile
Modern resumes usually include a short introductory paragraph called a personal statement or profile, which is used to promote yourself or attract the recruiter in a few sentences. In this paragraph, you can write in short about your qualities and skills.
Skills and expertise
Competencies and skills are playing an important role in seeking a job. Recruiters are most likely to employ applicant who already has the competencies and skills to get the job done. Adding all of your skills to your resume will give a bigger chance for you to be invited to an interview.
Courses and training
Some companies provide their employees with some training or courses to help them develop their skills. Adding all the training or courses that you have attended before will make you stand out amongst other applicants, as your future employers could see your skills through the courses. Just don’t forget to attach your training or course certificates!
Extracurricular activities
Additionally, you can develop specific abilities and skills outside of the workplace by doing voluntary work, for example, becoming a volunteer as a coach, trainer, or accountant for a group or non-profit organization. These are referred as extracurricular activities if you engaged in them while you were studying. Do not forget to include them in your resume together with the skills you gained from it and your responsibilities during your voluntary work.
What is a chronological resume and how to put its order?
The Chronological resume is the type of resume that is used by most job seekers. But what is a chronological resume? It is a resume that put the time-dependent components such as education and work experience in a reverse-chronological structure. Your most recent employment should be the first to mention (on top) and followed by your older job. This also applies to any other experiences you include on your resume that occurred within a specific time frame, such as study programs, courses, internships, and other activities.
The order of the chronological resume usually consists of these things: personal and contact information, followed by a short personal profile about yourself, education, employment experience, languages, skills, qualities, and interests.
Make your own stand-out resume and application letter
The easiest way to make a resume is using a word processing tool like Microsoft Word. To make it even easier, you can search or download the template on the internet and add all your information to it, then finish it by converting it to PDF format. Alternatively, you can use our CV maker, where you simply enter your information and your resume will be accessible for download in only 15 minutes. Of course, these ways are applied to an application letter as well!
Additional pro tips to create your perfect resume
Have you ever wondered why some people are always get invited to an interview? Now you have nothing to worry about! Within our CV maker page, you will find many tips that you can implement to make a perfect resume that makes it stand out amongst other applicants. In addition to this, here are some general tips for you:
- Only mention relevant information that will add value to the job you are applying for. This will attract the recruiter more.
- Do not mention hobbies or interests that are totally not related to the position you are applying for.
- If your resume is consisting of more than one page, on the first page, write the most important information, including a short description of yourself.
- Attract the recruiter by using bullet points and numbered lists. It will make them easier to read your resume, rather than mentioning it all in one paragraph.
- It is better to always use a chronological resume.
- Keep it short but strong.
Get More Interview Invitations
The professional CV maker feature within our website will always help your resume to stand out amongst other resumes. Whether you want to make it by yourself or have it made by our professionals, your resume will always stand out from the crowd.
Create your own professional resume
- Create your professional resume within 5 minutes in our CV maker and get plenty of tips and techniques that you can implement that will make creating a professional resume as easy as pie.
- Your resumes are saved in your own secure account hub. This enables you to edit and download it anytime and wherever you choose.
- Learn how to write effective application letters that complement your unique resume.