What is a Resume? A Comprehensive Guide for Job Seekers

When thinking about writing a resume you might have a lot of questions as to what is a resume? what to include in a resume? What are resume types and why are resumes important? 

A resume is a very important document for job seekers because it shows your unique skills and qualifications that are relevant for the required job role. 

However, there more to a good resume as it highlights you for job interviews, highlights your personal image and shows your career growth. In this blog we will go through various sections of a resume as to what are its formats, layouts, structure, design and do’s and don’ts of resume making.


What is a Resume

 A resume is a must have for job seekers. It defines you in the eyes of the employer and so acts as a formal document for job applicants to show their qualifications including education, work experience, skills and relevant information. 


However, a resume is quite different from a CV(Curriculum vitae). A CV shows your complete education, skills, job roles, awards, publications and volunteer work. 

The main role of a resume is to display all relevant skills in a clear and easy to understand format. A resume needs to be tailored for every job position to remain relevant and should not exceed more than 1 page. 

The goal of a resume is to effectively display your potential to the hiring employer as to why you're qualified for the job role. 

Resume writing Preparation

When writing a resume, you need to be well prepared and understand its main objective. A good resume should be 

  • Concise and to the point

  • Provide relevant skills and information 

  • List all achievements from previous job roles

  • Lists all technical, soft and hard skills 

  • Explains previous job details 

  • Explains previous education details 

  • Lists out all certification, honors and awards 


So you don’t need to worry about resume writing, keep focus on writing with relevance according to the targeted job role. Once you are done writing, take some rest and return back to the document. 

Resume format and layout

A resume needs to be written in a good format which includes all relevant information in one place. Moreover, you need to be careful when choosing your ideal format and layout before writing your final resume. 

Reverse chronological resume 

This is among one of the most popular resume formats and it has the benefit of being excellent for all job positions. Moreover, this format focuses on your career and starts with your last working position and is most ideal for job candidates who have quite a lot of work experience. 

Therefore, if you are feeling extra confident of your special work skills and relevant work experience then go for it.

Functional or Skill based resume 

If you want to change your career field or have large gaps in your work history, then this resume is best suited for you. This resume format primarily focuses on your unique skill set and plays a key role in focusing employers away from unusual work gaps. Moreover, it groups your skills in categories and presents them in easy and clear format for better understanding. 

Hybrid resume format 

The hybrid resume provides a unique combination of functional and reverse chronological resume. It lists out job candidates' work history and skills with detailed sections. Moreover, this format is used by those who need to display expertise in various work fields and showcase relevant skills as the right person for the required job position. 

Resume Layout 

You need to give special attention to your resume layout as otherwise your resume won’t remain relevant to your job application. Moreover, for keeping your resume layout most ideal you need to 

  • Keep resume short and precise 

  • Resume shout not be more than 2 pages unless you want to add valuable work or skills 

  • Pick font like Overpass, Roboto and Ubuntu  that stands out but not over do it

  • Keep written text size between 11 to 12 points with every section 

  • Use 14 to 16 points for titles to become visible from other text 

  • Ensure you maintain sufficient white space area between various sections

  • Save resume in PDF format to maintain consistent format 


Resume Structure 

So having a solid understanding of what is a resume is great but you also need to focus on resume structure. So let's look into the various parts of a resume structure 

Personal Contact details 

This is one of the most important sections of a resume. It does not matter how experienced or skilled you are, if you wrote your phone number wrong you won’t be getting any call from the hiring manger. 


You need to understand that you must include your name, contact, mailing address and email at the top of your resume. Moreover, your name should be written in larger bold font than the rest of the resume document. 

 

You should also use an email address that keeps your profile professional as you don’t want to look odd in the eyes of the employer. Moreover, consider creating formal email accounting if the one you are using sounds odd. 

In the resume section you can also include your LinkedIn profile or work portfolio to ensure that your resume remains strong. Furthermore, ensure that your contact information is accurate and updated.

Introduction Section of Resume

This is one of the most important sections of a resume as its very important and relevant for the hiring manager as you need to come into highlight. It is a written statement of who you are, comprising 2 to 3 sentences as to why your are the best candidate for the desired job role. 

An attention grabbing intro can attract the hiring persons interest and increase your chances of securing the job that you are seeking. However, if you decide to skip the section you can do so but a critical statement on your resume can be a vital part that gets you to the interview.

Resume Work Experience Section 


This is one of the critical sections of a resume. It is among the things that hiring person will see as they look at your various job roles and companies work history. Furthermore, you need to ensure that the work history section is easy to locate. The main part of this section includes company, employment dates, company location and job position. 


However, if your work experience is presented in the best way, it may not satisfy the employer so make sure to not only include work role information but provide some work metric’s to showcase your impact towards the company role. 

Resume Education Section 

You need to provide solid education details on your resume, even if you have limited experience or are a fresh graduate. If you don’t have the required work experience, but have solid education that you need to highlight all education accomplishments that you have attained. 

On the other hand, if you attained some work experience, keep your education details to the basic level by just listing school, university and attendance and attained degree details. 


Resume Skills Section 

You need to have a solid understanding of your different skills either soft or hard skills and what are the main key differences between them. 

Hard Skills

These skills are those that can be measured, taught or learned and don’t matter which industry you belong to. Examples of such skills could be engineering, languages, heavy machinery operation or computer operation abilities. 

Soft Skills 

These skills are those that are difficult to measure but ensure that you are excellent for the job. Examples of such skills could be positive attitude, team player, or success driven. 

As now that you understand the various type of job skills, its up to you to consider which to include in your resume while listing them relevantly and clearly so that your hiring person would take note of them and consider you for the job. 

Extra Resume Section 

Now that you have a better understanding of what to add to your resume, there are some additional sections that can make you stand out and are recommended to be added to the resume. 

Awards, Honors and Certifications 

This resume section is quite important and can really play a part to show your unique attributes, so it is recommended to add it to your resume. If your hiring manager is seeking some unique certification, you need to add it to your resume otherwise you might be considered not fit for the job role. 

However, if you think that some special award, honors , publication or certification can help you become more relevant for your job role, you need to add it to your resume. 

Conclusion 

So now you have a solid understanding of  what is a resume, its types and what are the most important resume sections which greatly helps you in tailoring your resume and adding relevant skills to make you stand out from the rest of the crowd.  

In any other case, if you feel like some certification, award or honor would be relevant in your resume, feel free to include it.
Location: United States

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