Posted by on Apr 5, 2013 in Education & College | 0 questions

As newly-minted graduates, writing your first actual resume could be daunting. You would not know how and where to start, or how to highlight your assets effectively. A good resume, however, will be your link from university to the real word of employment.

Follow these ten steps of a put-together resume that will knock the socks off of any employer:

  1. Start with your personal details. Employers will want to know your name, address, and contact details (phone number, mobile number, and email address). Other personal information like your marital status, religion, age, political affiliation should not be included.
  2. Include your career objective or a qualifications summary as preferred. Though not necessary, putting in your objective can clearly define the position you desire. An optional Summary of Qualification will give your potential employers a glance of your accomplishments and qualifications.
  3. Promote yourself. Enumerate your most relevant experiences first to highlight your past accomplishments and experiences related to the job you are applying for. This will show potential employers how suitable you are for the position. This could be put down as “Relevant Experience”, “Career Experience”, or “Related Learning Experience”.
  4. Describe your accomplishments and responsibilities with appropriate action words. One sure way of highlighting your skills and experiences is by using the right verbs. This is also an opportunity to showcase your ability to communicate effectively and organize your ideas. All these will make for a strong resume and will give potential employers a favorable first impression of you.
  5. Include all significant education and scholarly accomplishments. It is very important to underline your scholarly achievements, because as a fresh graduate, student has been your most recent role. They are the only thing that employers can use to gauge your potential since you have not had any prior work experience.
  6. Let the employer know that you are just what they need. Promote yourself by using language and information that focus on how you can be an asset to your employer. Research the company’s background and goals and align your resume to them. Read the job description and align your skills and qualifications to it. Include specials skills, hobbies, and interests, such as foreign language, music, and advanced computer skills. These may come in handy in the future.
  7. Keep it short and concise. Remember, your resume should be a summary of what you can offer the company, not a detailed report of your life. It will give prospective employers a quick yet persuasive glimpse of your career potential. Give only relevant information and try to fit all of it in one page. Make sure to paginate, should it reach more than a page, and include your name on top of the succeeding pages in case they detach.
  8. Make it visually appealing. After putting in the content, review the overall appearance of your resume. Format it to make it easy to read. Make sure the font size is readable. Use text formatting, like underline, bold, italics, and all cap, as necessary. Be consistent in your use of margins, text fonts and sizes, as well as spacing. Keep an inch of margin on all sides for a professional look
  9. Proofread and revise as needed. Before you print, look over your resume and revise as necessary. Make sure that verb tenses are consistent, information is accurate, and all misspelled words are corrected. Presenting an error-free resume will surely increase your chances of getting hired.
  10. Hand in a neat and concise resume that will do you credit. After all the brainstorming for content and then the detailed inspection for errors, you have finally reached the last step: printing and packaging. Print your resume on a laser bond paper, or any high quality coupon bond. Enclose it in a #10 envelope, a 9” x 12” envelope, or a folder. Do not staple it or fold. Use a paper clip to attach succeeding pages.

Now that you have been properly briefed in resume writing, you are only a few steps away from getting into the work force.

Steve Davids is a freelancer making his living in the field of academia. For him, to write an essay for school is as easy as to make a sandwich. He reads a lot and stays up late almost every day. He is a night owl, and he loves to travel. He is passionate about CIS countries, and he hopes to move there one day.