Career

5 Pro-tips to Choose the Perfect Resume Format

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">A correct resume format can dramatically improve the quality of your resume&period; A resume format is essential in getting your expertise <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;best-job-apps-websites-get-hired&sol;">across to the recruiter<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Most professionals do not know that correct formatting can efficiently showcase their accomplishments in a resume&period; The deciding factor for a job-winning <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;hiration&period;com&sol;blog&sol;resume-format&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">resume format<&sol;a> majorly depends on the number of years of experience you have or your career progression&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Type of resume formats<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">To craft a stellar resume&comma; there are 2 types of formats that one can choose from&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Reverse chronological format<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">One of the most used and traditional forms of resume formats&comma; it allows you to list all your work profiles along with an outline of your key accomplishments&period; Listing your work profiles with respect to the date&comma; this format sufficiently highlights a continuous work history&period; However&comma; this may act as a drawback to professionals with career gaps&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Functional resume<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Where the reverse chronological order fails to deliver for some professionals&comma; this format can make it up&period; Rather than focusing on the chronology of employment history&comma; this format allows you to emphasize more on the functional side of your skills&period; Further&comma; even if there are gaps in your professional career&comma; or you are an entry-level professional&comma; this format enables you to showcase your relevance to the targeted profile&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Additionally&comma; depending on the profile you are targeting&comma; you can combine the above two formats to create a rather unique job-specific resume&period; This format is called a <strong>combination resume format<&sol;strong>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The easiest way to create a resume is to use <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;resume-example&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">resume builders<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Choosing a format based on your work experience<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The quest to choose a best-suited format majorly depends on your experience&period; For example&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Students&sol;Entry level professionals<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Considering the lack of professional experience&comma; such professionals have to rely on the extra-curricular and additional projects section&period; In such cases&comma; you should use a reverse-chronological format&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Career gaps&sol;frequent job switchers<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If you do not have a continuous career profile&comma; you should use the skill-based &lpar;functional&rpar; format&period; This allows you to highlight your skills that are important for the targeted profile&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Senior professionals<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Usually&comma; the resume for senior professionals exceeds two pages&period; In such cases&comma; you should use a hybrid format&period; This format allows you to list all your work profiles&comma; and selectively mention your key competencies&period; It means you can choose which points are in line with the targeted profile&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Common sections in a resume format<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Professionals are often confused about the sections they need to include in a resume&period; Making the backbone of a resume&comma; here are a few fundamental resume sections&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&NewLine;<li>Personal and Contact Information<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Summary&sol;Objective Section<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Skills&sol;Areas of expertise<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Professional&sol;Work Experience<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Education section<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Apart from the fundamental sections&comma; you should equally pay attention to additional sections such as volunteering&comma; training&comma; publications&comma; certifications&comma; projects&comma; etc&period; The idea is to tailor your resume as per the job requirements&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Mastering the format<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The key task at hand is not choosing an appropriate resume format&comma; it is the end-goal to master the formatting&period; Overlooking any section can land you in trouble&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&NewLine;<li>Correctly provide your contact information with a professional email address and present location&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Make sure you are not writing your summary&sol;objective from a first-person perspective&period; And&comma; try to begin each sentence with &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;adept at”&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;proficient in”&comma; etc&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Mention your skills under broad headings instead of emphasizing on your proficiency level&period; For example&comma; report generation&comma; team management&comma; etc&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Do include all the components of a professional experience section along with your key achievements&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>In the education field&comma; mention all your degrees along with the date of enrolment and graduation&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Avoid including declarations and references in your resume&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<h2>Why resume formatting matters<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Employers do not get <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;hrdive&period;com&sol;news&sol;eye-tracking-study-shows-recruiters-look-at-resumes-for-7-seconds&sol;541582&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">enough time<&sol;a> to spend it on thoroughly screening each resume&period; Hence&comma; the readability factor of your resume is very important in your resume screening&period; Here is how can create a resume that can be read at a glance&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&NewLine;<li><strong>Font<&sol;strong>&colon; Fonts size and design are very important in increasing the readability of your resume&period; You should always use a professional font instead of experimenting with it&period; Some professional fonts are Arial&comma; Verdana&comma; Calibri&comma; etc&period; Further&comma; the size of the font is also essential in the screening process&period; The ideal font size should be between 10-12&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li><strong>Sections<&sol;strong>&colon; You should correctly place each section in your resume&period; For example&comma; a summary is the first thing that a recruiter notices but if you place it in the middle&sol;end of your resume&period; It will not get noticed&period; Appropriately place your summary at the top of your resume and follow the same with other sections&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li><strong>Paragraphs<&sol;strong>&colon; Except for the professional summary&comma; nothing should be written in a paragraph form&period; The idea is to create one-liner bullet points that emphasize on your contributions and accomplishments&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Conclusion<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Resume formats set the foundation for your resume&comma; so you need to keep in mind the essentials that go along with curating each section&period; Further&comma; make sure that you do not exceed more than one line for writing statements in your resume&period; Also&comma; as points in a resume are not complete sentences&comma; avoid full-stops&period; The littlest things can affect your application&comma; hence proofread your resume before submitting it to the recruiter&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant and professional Blogger. He has 16+ years experience in SEO, SMO, SEM, Online reputation management, Affiliated Marketing and Content Marketing.

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