First impression when applying for a job is the appearance of your resume, it comes before someone even reads the resume itself so it is important for it to look clean, professional, and interesting
Recruiters and hiring managers see tons of resumes when they are hiring for a position and you do not want yours to be simply glanced over because it blends in with dozens of others. Some have even offered their own advice on how to improve
Follow these steps for a resume that truly stands out and check out some CV templates to start crafting something great
Creating a CV that sets you apart
Treat these tactics as a rulebook and be sure to abide by each one when you are creating and sending out your CV:
Customize for the position
- A CV is not ‘one size fits all’, some of your experience will be more relevant than others depending on the job
- Think about the job that you’re applying for, go over the job listing and carefully read through the position description, responsibilities, and qualifications (view vista create templates)
- Pay attention to the language they use and use some of the same words in your CV (e.g. collaborative, detail-oriented, project manager, supervise, etc.)
Keep it concise and relevant
- Do not list every job and volunteer experience you have, a general rule of thumb is to keep it at one page
- If a few of your positions have tons of overlapping duties and skills, include something else instead, maybe something that you originally did not think of, but that shows you as someone with multi-faceted talents
- Instead of saying something like ‘proficient in photoshop, after effects, indesign illustrator’, condense it down to ‘proficient in adobe creative suite’
- Trust the CV template from creative resume maker online, if you find yourself needing a lot more space than the template allows, chances are you are making things too lengthy
Include the essential details
- Do not forget to have the most updated version of your phone number, email, and any other contact information otherwise hiring managers will not be able to reach you easily and may give up altogether. Make sure it is easy to find
- For each position, include the dates you worked there (you can do seasons such as Fall 2018 – Summer 2020 or months September 2018 – July 2020), include a reference that can be contacted to verify information about you (someone you worked with, for the most part, the higher their position at the company the better so include the Communications Director instead of the Communications Assistant–speak with them ahead of time to ask if you can include them), include the location if relevant (if you have worked in many different places whether it be states or countries, it can be helpful to show the areas you have worked)
- Most CV templates will have fields for this information to remind you what is important to include
Choose the right formatting
- Send it as a .pdf (as opposed to a word doc — .docx) otherwise, it could show up wonky on the receiver’s end (messed up margins, sizing, fonts, etc.)
- If there is a lot of necessary information to include, break things up into separate columns.
- Always use headers to delineate strengths from volunteer work from education from work experience
- It can also be useful to consider the industry you are in, for instance, if you are applying to a more creative/artistic job, consider CV templates that have a unique and creative feel
Time to get started!
- Not sure where to begin? Check out these CV templates for inspiration
- Don’t be afraid to ask for input from other professionals
- Use a confident voice and really sell yourself as the best fit for the job!