If you are looking to land your dream job, your resume must reflect the best version of you. Most recruiters will quickly glance at your resume and make a swift judgment about you.
Having the right resume structure and covering all the necessary topics in your resume will put you in a great place. Especially as freshers, you need to understand exactly how to build the perfect resume.
There is no right or wrong way to build your resume but there are standard practices you can follow. Most season recruiters look for very similar things while evaluating a prospective candidate. So, if you get the basics right, you should be in a good position to at least get to the next stage.
Here are 7 most important topics to cover in your resume:
1. Precise Summary
Recruiters don’t have much time. They will glance at your resume and make a judgment. Your goal here is to showcase that you are a hardworking and ambitious individual. If you can get an idea about their culture, make sure you come forward as someone who will fit with the company.
Please understand that you should always be 100% honest about what you put forward even if you are a fresher. That will show sincerity. Avoid putting the same 2-3 liners everyone sees on the internet.
One of the best ways to do that is to write a longer passage and then trim it down till it is a 2-3 liner. That way, whenever someone is reading your resume, they will instantly understand that you have spent time building a great first impression.
2. Visual representation of key expertise and experience
This is imperative if your job requires hard skills. So, if you are applying for any engineering, finance, accounts, etc. job, you have to showcase that you have the necessary expertise to do that job perfectly.
If you are confident about your skillset, it is up to you to make sure that they are portrayed for easy viewing. Put things into a graphical format, and list your skills as a percentile or in terms of how experienced you are in different segments.
Being able to show that you have a sufficient level of skillset and expertise for the core requirements will go a long way in making a solid case for you.
3. Highlight the latest and most relevant education
It’s a very common mistake among newcomers to include all the different kinds of certificates and education they have received. While it may seem like the more the merrier but in reality, it is almost the opposite.
You should only include your absolute latest stage of education, maybe one prior but nothing before that. If you have taken a lot of certifications both online and/or offline, make sure that only the relevant ones are shown here.
You want your recruiter to focus on the more important stuff. If you add a whole list of certificates and degrees, they might miss the one that would make the strongest case for you.
4. Showcase side projects
A lot of people are shy about showing their side projects especially if you are a fresher and these are done in university. If you are a fresher looking for your first job, showcasing the right side projects can be one of your best assets.
If you get a sensible recruiter, there is almost nothing as valuable as a real-life project. For example, if you are a designer, attach your portfolio link or a GitHub repository if you are a software developer. Even if these are simple projects, they show that you have experience in solving real-life problems.
Also, a lot of recruiters love candidates who take the initiative and try out new things. It shows that you are eager to learn.
5. Outline extracurricular activities
Your target with a resume is pretty simple, you have to stand out of the crowd enough so that you can get to an interview or assessment. When you are in a competitive field, every little thing helps and that’s why you should include your extracurricular activities.
Please keep in mind that, those should add to your case. For example, if you have debating experience, your speaking/communication skills might be good which can add value. Don’t add vague stuff.
Many companies focus heavily on their culture, so if you have experience in the organization in university club events or even group work, mention that. You need to make the case that you will be a valuable member of their team.
6. Don’t ignore soft skills & languages
This is especially important if you are applying for a job that requires hard skills. More often than not, people who are doing so will focus too much on hard skills. While that is very important, it’s not everything.
Having good soft skills and competency in different languages can add a lot of value to your resume. With how connected the world is now and big companies working with team members across the world, you need to have command over your soft skills to excel.
Attach any certifications you might have or any kind of events you have participated in which can make your case. If you have experience of working in a multi-cultural team, that can also be mentioned.
7. Appropriate recommendations
A lot of people won't pay enough attention to this part. Most people will just get a recommendation from anyone they can without properly analyzing whether that is adding value or not.
Ideally, the recommendation should come from who is well known in the industry you are applying to because then their words carry weightage. Also, make sure you have working experience with them. They can be your teacher, previous boss, colleagues, etc. but without that their words will lose validity.
There are numerous ways to make a resume. In the end, the resume should reflect you and your skillsets as closely as possible. If you follow the 7 things mentioned here, your resume should look fine and take you a step closer to landing your dream job.
TL;DR
1. Precise Summary
2. Visual representation of key expertise and experience
3. Highlight the latest and most relevant education
4. Showcase side projects
5. Outline extracurricular activities
6. Don’t ignore soft skills & languages
7. Appropriate recommendations