This article provides a step by step and easy to follow guide on creating a resume from scratch.
In general, resumes have several sections that outline your qualifications and former background in a way that employers can observe your competencies match to the job requirements.
Start by Creating a Resume Draft
If you start your resume from scratch, it would be wise to create a first draft of a resume.
The first draft doesn’t have to be formatted as a resume, but more of a data base of which you later can copy edited paragraphs and past onto the final resume version.
Here are suggested sections for this draft:
1. Job target
Make a list of the requirements per the jobs you are aiming for – Skills, qualifications and job description. You will need this information for targeting your resume to the job you’re applying for.
2. Experience
Make a List of your previous jobs. Starting for the latest jobs, include jobs dates (year to year, no need of months), awards, promotions, duties, responsibilities and projects. Use action verbs to describe your accomplishments. Use keywords to detail your professional expertise.
Refer to: Action Verbs for Resumes , Keywords for Resumes.
3. Education/qualification
List your educational degrees, institutions (colleges and universities), date of graduation. You may also consider including professional courses and training sessions related to the jobs in target if you find it necessary.
4. Achievements
List your career achievements. Try to highlight 4-10 achievements that may fit well with your next position.
Take ideas from the article: What is your Greatest Achievement?
5. Resume Objective Statement
Take notes of paragraphs that you may consider when stating the objectives.
Refer to: Sample Resume Objectives: Statements’ Examples
6. Career Summary
Prepare a summary of your career and your major competencies. Take notes of career summaries written in resume examples. This paragraph should summarize relevant job experience and skill sets and those major abilities that you feel are important for the next job.
Refer to: Resume Career Summary: Examples of Career Summary
7. Your contact details
Include your full name, address, phone and cell phone numbers and a private email address made for your job search.
Do not provide the email address that you have in your current job.
How to Create your Resume Outline
The resume must be easy to read and follow. Take some examples of resume formats and save for future use.
Here is an example of a resume outline:
Contact details
Name
Address: Street, City, State, Zip
Phone (Home and Cell, 2 numbers to list)
Email Address (it is recommended to use your name as an email address, for example yourname @ gmail.com)
Career summary (optional)
List you major professional skills and expertise with # of years of experience.
Objective (optional)
Focus your statement to the position you’re aiming for – What you are seeking.
Hint about your advantages and the benefits you’d bring to the position and the company.
Education
List educational degrees and institutions you’ve graduated.
List related professional courses and Certifications received
Training you’ve participated relevant to the position under target
Experience
List your experience background in reversed order from the recent to oldest
List job title, company name, location, & employment dates (years)
Use action verbs as an active, expressive way to describe your job duties and achievements.
Major achievement
List major achievements per job and also include professional skills developed or promotions/appraisals you’ve received.
Key Skills
Related Competencies that you feel important to the position you are seeking
Computer skills and/or technological skills – software program or hardware
Languages
References
Consider including 3 names and contact details of references. refer to: Job Reference Example/Format
3 Tips on Creating a Resume
Three imprtnat tips:
- Format each section in your resume in the same way. Use familiar fonts – arial or times new roman. Write your resume in MS word document – recommended MS word2003.
- Within each position: Write about accomplishments using action verbs rather than listing job duties. Accomplishments are eye catchy and impressive.
- Use of keywords: Recruiters store resumes in their database. For finding certain expertise, they scan resumes using software. The software search keywords within resumes. Therefore, make use of keywords to describe your skills.