There are “strategic steps on writing a resume”. Nowadays many companies will require a resume from you before giving you a job. So you must know how to write a resume or compose an enticing resume that will suit a good position for you in that company.
Therefore an effective resume tells more about your qualifications. Experience and background as well.
However, many companies might offer a brief exam or interview to test your knowledge but to complete this task and be selected you need to present your resume.
Therefore, as you are preparing for the interview, also prepare for a good resume to tag along with. If you don’t know how to go about it then take your time and study this post.
This post will be a guide for you to crack the puzzle on how to construct a good resume for any job you want.
Resume and You
Yes, I term it resume and you because you can construct the resume to the best of your test and then for the job as well.
Most people who seek a job always find it difficult to make a good write-up for their resume. The resume speaks more about you and what you really have to offer to that job.
A resume should be able to explain you very well and tell more of your experience thereby showing how qualified you are.
Getting a job also depends on that and so what if you have a good grade but a poor resume, it can actually make your employer think so strange about it.
Do you know that a good resume can be a ticket for a job interview? It can also get you a space on and a chance.
Today, there are many graduates out there that are seeking a job in one company or the other, the resume seems to be the key.
A good resume tells the firm or company that you really have something to offer and maybe something that the other employee might not have.
Therefore let’s look at the strategic steps on how to write an effective resume for that job or company you really want.
However, before we set for that we have to look at what a resume is and the different types of resumes available.
Basic Contents of a Resume (Strategic Steps on Writing a Resume)
- Name
- Phone number
- Email address
- House address, state, or city
- Schools attended
- Headlines
- Summary
- Skills
- Work experience
What is a Resume?
A resume is a brief summary of a person’s academic history, experience and skills acquired. A resume can be just a page or two pages of typed work, it should not be handwritten and tendered for submission.
Most job entries need a resume of an employee before they can consider having an interview and giving a job.
Different kinds of a Resume
Now let’s check on different resumes…
Functional resume: This kind of resume is based mostly on the person’s skills and achievements he already has and also can be able to offer to the company. So organize your resumes to how important the company will be needing them.
Combinational resume: this section of the resume combines the person’s skills and experience to give a perfect meaning to the job.
Chronological resume: this resume talks more about the person’s recent work experience. The employee can list his/her achievements from the lowest to the highest form. It is the most used resume by many employees.
Right State of Mind for the Resume
This is a factor that I must tell you before I could move further in this post because it is relevant. As a job seeker, I know all you have in mind is this statement “I want to find a job and I must get one”.
Although, this is not a bad thing to say there are some other things that come first before you start considering the I want to find a job issue.
Therefore, to totally engage in this, your mind and must work together, you just have to position them.
The zeal and positive mood to get that job will prompt you to deliver more information telling the company what you can offer.
Also, I want you to assume yourself as a worker already before applying for that job because it will help boost your confidence.
However, a mind built of low self-esteem, lack of trust, low confidence, and procrastination can really bring you down.
Company Overview
If you are wondering why I had to talk about the company, organization, or industry you want to apply for, then this is my reason.
Every company has its own story and inside it is its achievements and setbacks. Are you thinking about it right now?
Yes, however finding more details about that company will not be easy but you just have to try it out then apply.
Extra research can build your knowledge of what the company needs and then know if you can act more on that to secure the job.
Therefore, once a company sees that you have something good to offer and it happens that it is what they are looking for. You will be smiling home.
So try and get their information online, websites and perhaps watch little videos on them or ask relevant people about them. This is where you can come in fully.
Facts to Know about Your Resume
Below are some of the key facts I want you to know about a resume, therefore your resume should contain most of them. (Strategic Steps on Writing a Resume)
So you should include:
- There should be a correct name included in the resume.
- Contact details should be included as well.
- Your achievements in your former job.
- Make sure to write your skills.
- Also include the institution you attended spacing the entry and finished dates.
- Use a good format to write them specifying the actual thing you want.
- Use the important keywords for the job.
- Highlight your achievements using bulleted style.
- You should include your state and town.
- Make sure to include referees as well.
- Your experience and years should also be included.
Strategic Steps on Writing a Resume (Strategic Steps on Writing a Resume)
Below are the simple steps to help you when writing a resume…
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CHOOSE THE ONE THAT SUITS THE JOB AMONG THE 3 KINDS OF RESUMES WE HAVE
Firstly, I wrote more about the kinds of resumes above, and if you have read it then you will know what I am talking about.
Therefore, you just have to pick out the best resume that will be suitable for the job you want to apply for.
However, you should bear in mind that your resume will speak for you even when you are not there, so make it more quality and informative.
Finally, you should consider these options: contact, introduction, work experience, skills, educational qualification, personal profile, and accomplishments.
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DROP A CORRECT CONTACT DETAILS
Therefore, from the name, you will know that the contact details are very important and relevant as well.
In addition to that, it will be very wrong for you to drop the wrong contact details because you can be called at any time.
Some people might be so fearful and drop other details, maybe their parent’s details and relatives as well. This can be an issue if the company calls out and then your details might not be there so that they can reach you so easily.
Some companies write to you through E-mail and some through phone calls, so drop good and relevant info.
Finally, the contact details should have NAME, PHONE NUMBER, EMAIL ADDRESS, LINKEDIN PROFILE.
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FONTS AND MARGINS
A good resume will contain or should contain a good font and best-suited words placed in a paragraph. You can also make your resume to be one or two-page work.
So it is advisable to choose a good font and size. A good resume can be typed in new times roman fonts. The size of your font is also important, do not pick a smaller font that will make your work look childish, choose a standard font that the employer will like once they see it.
Other fonts available are Georgia, bookman old style, new times roman, century gothic, etc. You should also consider using and placing your margin very well.
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CONSTRUCT A GOOD RESUME INTRODUCTION
This is among the top level of what the resume should contain and you just have to drop something that will captivate your employer.
The resume introduction should center more on what you have to offer bearing in mind the skills and experience.
So let’s look to get more info below on the introduction parts of a resume and their details too.
- Qualification summary: the qualification summary is a brief explanation having core points of your career achievements. This can be in bullet forms.
- Career objective: this is also a brief 2 to 3 sentence that will talk about the skills and experience you gathered.
- Professional profile: this is just the combination of the above (qualification & career) resume.
- Resume Summary: this is the summary of your achievements in other organizations. Make it easy and simple.
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CREATE A SPACE FOR EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT
This is also good for the company because they get to know about your educational qualification and perhaps the level you stop in education.
This as well shows the knowledge of the employee, professional experience, and how educational level.
Therefore, if you have a good educational qualification then this is the time to state the far you have gone.
This section should contain: names of the secondary school and the o’ level achieved, name of university or institution, year of school entry and graduation, certificate achieved, results achieved in university as well.
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RIGHT PLACEMENT OF HARD AND SOFT SKILLS
Definitely, skills will come in into the resume paperwork, but the problem is how to correctly place it and also to know the right skill to use.
There are soft and hard skills but I will give you a brief explanation to show the disparities between them.
You can’t type in your skills in every section of the resume worksheet, it is good to know when to use such skills.
Therefore, hard kills involve a strong and merit-able quality. They are more in-depth skills that show the quality and how far you have gone for that thing.
A list of hard skills is a skill in operating the computer, software development, statistics analysis, web architecture, data engineering, database management, java development, SEO, bookkeeping, technical report, etc.
However, soft skills are more of personal-minded abilities. They deal with the person’s personality traits.
List of soft skills: patience, commitment, teamwork, diplomacy, focus, self-motivation, integrity, initiative, discipline, responsibility, decision making, trust, organization, etc.
All employers would like to see these skills appearing in your resume and so you have to include them appropriately.
In addition to that, your resume should have more combinations of the two skills.
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SCHOOL AWARDS AND HONORS
Reaching up to this stage shows that the resume is almost over and now you can include a few things like the awards etc.
Therefore, the certification section is important and you have to include it as well in your resume. This section helps to enrich your work and make it more unique.
So don’t make it too long and ambiguous, all you need to do is to list a little bit and with more specifications.
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FINAL POINT: PROOFREAD AFTER WRITING
After writing the resume then you have to proofread to check if there is any mistake somewhere then you can correct it.
Then save the document, you are now ready to submit your resume to the company of your choice.
Speaking on the mistake, let’s take a look at the simple, mistake that you may see after writing the resume.
Check for this after writing the resume…
- EDIT
- PROOFREAD
- NAMES
- CHECK DATES
- LETTERS
- LINKS
Simple Faults You may see after Writing your Resume (Strategic Steps on Writing a Resume)
- Small font: this can be a common mistake and the font may be different from the one that appears in another paragraph. However, you must maintain a good font all through.
- Images: please do not put any images into your resume because it will look childish.
- Spelling: fast typing can cause mistakes to occur, this is a common error and it can happen any time so please try and check for spellings after writing.
- Listing: know the appropriate things to list down in your resume. Do not list down responsibilities rather you can list achievements you already have.
- Bold and small letters: know how to write bold and small letters into your piece of work. Do not interchange them anyhow in the work.
- Ambiguous words: please your words should be clear and simple, avoid the use of ambiguous words.
- Page numbers: this is another mistake people make because they always put a page number in their resume. You do not have to include a page number inside your resume.
- Color words: your resume should always appear in black and white color alone, even when you bold and capitalize some words. Do not use different colors when typing your resume.
- Reference and tables: please the reference should not appear in the resume. I know textbooks carry references t the end of the whole writes up but a resume should not have a reference so take note. Also, it will be nice not to include tablets as well into the resume. So in summary do not put a reference and table in the resume.
- Active Email: This is also necessary because most jobs or companies send messages across to their workers or employees through the mail. So you have to write an active email so that they can reach you easily.
- Right, contact: you should include the correct contact details and personal details of yourself.