Let’s be real: job searching sucks.
It can be depressing to find yourself in a position where you need to get a new job. Even with positive job numbers, it can feel impossible to know what to do to land your dream job, or any job at all.
If you find yourself in this position, the answer may lie in your resume.
But what should a resume look like? How can you update your resume to stand out?
Don’t worry. We’ve assembled some resume tips that will raise your chances of getting that interview and showing employers what you’re capable of.
What Should a Resume Look Like?
The overall look and feel of your resume depends on the field you’re going into and the job you’re applying for.
If you’re applying for a creative job – like a graphic design position – then your resume should be more colorful and include graphics.
If the job you’re applying to is less creative or more corporate, then the design of your resume should be sleek and professional. Some color could be appropriate, but you should stick to a singular, basic color. A splash of color could make your resume stand out in a pile, but it should still appear professional. When in doubt though, stick with classic black and white.
One other important thing to remember is the length. In almost all cases, your resume should be one page long.
Hiring managers don’t want to spend a long time reading each resume. The time spent creating a two-page resume could end up being wasted.
What Experience Should You Include?
Again, this all depends on the job you’re applying for (hint: this will be a running theme). The two most important things to remember though: your most relevant experience and your most recent experience.
For relevant experience, you should include previous positions in a similar field. If, for example, you applying for a job in communications, then you should include anything that had similar traits. Positions like journalist, social media specialist, or public relations officer all deal with communications and would be appropriate.
You should also look to include past roles with a title or with duties that are similar to the job that you are applying for.
For example, if you want to become an administrative assistant, past assistant positions may look good on your resume. Jobs where you answered phones, put in records, and organized schedules would also work because these are all skills you would need for the job you want.
Basically, you want to show potential employers that you already know how to do the job, or at the very least have a good idea.
You should also consider including your current job, or your most recent job – as long as you have not been unemployed for too long. Even if all your relevant experience is from years ago, still show that you have continued to work.
Your resume should show potential employers that others trust you enough to employ you. If the most recent job on your resume is from years ago, then employers may wonder if you haven’t been working, and why that might be.
The last thing to remember with experience is organization. The ideal resume will list your jobs from most recent to least recent. That means either your current job or your last job should be at the top of your experience section.
Describing Education and Experience
When listing what you did or learned from past jobs and schools, there are a few things to remember.
First, you should use strong vocabulary to describe what you did. Examples include using “coordinated with” instead of “talked to,” and using “developed” instead of “came up with.”
Creating a resume is also like setting a goal: you have to be specific. Saying “I coordinated with other organizations to plan and put on a successful gala for the humane society” sounds so much better than saying “I worked with others to do an event.”
Your resume is your opportunity to show off, so use the best words possible to show what you can do.
Next, it should be reemphasized that you should find relevance in your past experience. This is especially true if you don’t have much experience that clearly relates to the job you want. Even if some of your past positions seem irrelevant, there could still be skills that can translate.
A bartending position and a secretarial position may not have a ton in common, but both need people skills and organizational skills. If you’re trying to go from one of those positions to the other, then those skills are what should be emphasized in your resume.
This also means excluding irrelevant information. The ideal resume is one page long, so there’s no reason to include unrelated job duties that will just take up valuable real estate.
Extras You Should Add
While education and experience should take up the bulk of your resume, there are other things you should consider adding. College courses, awards, certificates, and skills can all be worthy additions to your resume.
It just comes back to how they fit with the job.
Some things will make sense for almost any job, like an Eagle Scout award from Boy Scouts or a Gold Award from Girl Scouts.
However, being voted as having the prettiest smile in high school likely won’t help you land many jobs. If there’s one thing to take away from this, it’s that you should avoid including anything on your resume that won’t help you get the job.
If you’re confused about what meets this criterion, or you just want confirmation that you have the perfect resume, then don’t be afraid to get help. You can read now about services focused just on helping you create the ideal resume and land your dream job.
Now Go Create The Perfect Resume
While some people may ask, “what should a resume look like,” you now know the key elements.
The ideal resume has an appropriate design, relevant experience, strong descriptions, and only includes those skills and achievements that make sense with the job you’re applying to.
Follow these steps and you can work on getting confident for your interview!