What is a Resume?
A resume is a formal document that is served to show a person’s career background as well as skills. In most of the cases, it’s created to help the candidate to land a new job. A traditional resume usually consists of a professional summary, work history, and education sections. It usually works like a job hunt marketing document.
A resume letter works well particularly when a resume is riddled with hard to explain job gaps and other problems (for example layoffs and demotions, change in career, and over-qualified workers).
Typically it is used in a targeted email campaign, a resume letter that attracts and notice because it reads more like the story than a document. A resume letter may also spill over into another business document category, such as job ad reply letter, when the formal resume doesn’t represent the candidate in his best light.
You can also send your resumes via postal mail or emails, but if your resume letter contains graphic design elements then postal mail is the safer choice. Sending design-dependent letters online may also cause unexpected results if the applicant tracking system(ATS) converts the resume letter into plain text format.
What to include in your resume?
At the minimum, your resume should include your contact information, education, and work experience. Additional sections for the career summary, volunteer work, skills, and the additional qualifications can also be added if they’re very relevant to the job for which you’re applying for.
The operative word here is “relevance.” Always remember that your resume is meant for quickly highlighting the essential reasons for which you’re a great fit for the job. It’s not just meant to detail every job duty that you’ve ever performed. Instead of just simply writing your day-to-day responsibilities from the past jobs, study job listing and try to come up with the answer for each requirement that is been listed. This is more likely to get the attention of an employer who may only look at your resume letter for a few seconds. It also optimizes your resume for the applicant tracking system(ATS) which has sorting algorithms that help companies identify the top candidates.
Below you’ll also find which resume sections you should include in your resume and how to tailor them to the job you want.
What not to include in your resume?
- Personal pronouns
- Statements about your health
- Long descriptions
- Acronyms
- Street addresses for schools and employers
- Spelling and grammatical errors
- Exaggerations or mistruths
- Anything negative about yourself or an employer
Do it old-style, for instance. Put in the effort to research the role and company and highlight aspects of how you would fit the role. Go traditional for a change and it will be refreshing for people screening your profile. Write a story of how you fit the role and why you would be the right match. Just like writing the perfect resume.
After a while, it would be like discovering the perfect cheesecake but all start to taste the same. Give your resume some oomph. Personalise it as if you are having a conversation with someone. Make it look like you are actually talking to them to convince them that they should consider you above everyone else.
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