How to Have a Good Resume? 101 Guide

On average, recruiters in charge of personnel selection take only 6 seconds to check a resume. That is all the time you have to show them you have an interesting profile for the position. Of course, the best weapon to be noticed is having a good resume. 

Yes, today it’s very easy to find resume templates that you can download online. While many of these can have graphics, tables and flashy formatting, they go against everything a good resume for ATS must have. 

Today, the simpler the resume, the better the results. Here you might be wondering: Ok, how to have a good resume? In this article, we will show you the most important details a good resume must have so you can get a job interview. 

Steps to make a good resume 

We have to start with the structure! In general, most of resumes have a series of sections: a section of personal information, another for the professional profile, one for the professional experience and so on. Let’s see the most important sections to put on a resume.

1. A section for personal information

You will see different formatting online, but the first section you must put in your resume is the one for personal details. This is very simple. Let’s see some of the details you must include. 

Full name 

It is advisable to use your full name to avoid confusion with homonymous people. Keep in mind that you will be competing with dozens or even hundreds of candidates. The last thing you want is somebody else getting the position by mistake. 

Email address 

The email you use must be as professional as possible. This is a detail many people seem to forget. Avoid using nicknames, hypocorisms and similar words in your email address. If possible, use only your name and your surname. If you already have an email address, but doesn’t meet these requirements, It’s better to create a new one. 

Address 

Your address is a special piece of information. It is important to show your location, but you shouldn’t be very specific with it. Remember that this is sensible information, so be careful if you decide to add it. The details you should include are your country (if necessary), city and street name. 

Phone number 

Your personal phone number is an essential detail to contact you quickly. You cannot skip adding it. 

Link to your LinkedIn profile 

Nowadays, if you are looking for a job, you must have a LinkedIn profile. If you already have one, include it in this section. Just type your user name and link your LinkedIn profile’s URL. 

2. A section for your professional profile 

What is the professional profile? Think of this as a small summary paragraph of about 3 or 4 lines to describe yourself professionally. Here, you give the recruiter a small preview of all you will show in the following sections of work experience and education. 

Since it is one of the very first sections recruiters will read, this have to be an extract of the most important information. So, to write it correctly, you have to answer two questions: Who are you? And what can you offer to the organization? 

You can start by briefly describing your personality and some of your professional skills. Add also a little of your professional experience and the important results you have achieved in previous positions. 

You have to do all that in a summarized way since you will give further details in the next sections. The main purpose of this section is to catch the attention of the recruiter. Therefore, avoid using clichés phrases, as well as adjectives and sentences commonly used by candidates. That will only make you disappear into the background. 

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3. A section for work experience

This section will be a detailed listing of your professional path through the years. Here, you must be specific and go in details about the information you summarized in the professional profile section. Each element in the listing must be comprised of a title and a small description. 

In the title, add the company you worked for and the position you had and the period of time in which you work there. Under the title, add a paragraph detailing the functions you performed in said position. Just provide a summary of your responsibilities, your daily tasks and your main achievements. 

How to make a resume without experience? 

Maybe you don’t have professional experience yet and it makes you nervous. Don’t worry! If that is your case, it’s perfectly valid to list your unpaid experience. What do we mean by this? Volunteering, internship and further unpaid work. 

If you don’t have professional experience, your priority shouldn’t be pursuing a big salary, but rather gaining as much experience as possible from the professional field itself. Don’t forget that experience is a highly valued resource for any company. That’s why is so important getting into junior positions inside the professional area you are interested in. 

The way you should list your unpaid experience is the same as in the professional experience. Remember to list only the experience that is relevant to the position you are applying to.

4. A section for your education

In most cases, this is a complementary section, but it will gain relevance if you don’t have a wide professional experience. This section is very simple, you just have to specify the educational institution in which you studied, your degree and the period of studies. 

If you need this section to be more relevant, you can add some other relevant details such as awards, scholarships, and other academic achievements. Make sure to be specific with names and dates. Also, if you think is necessary you can also add your dissertation title as long as it relates to the position you are applying to. 

Great! These are the main sections you have to add to have a good resume. Make sure to include all of them in a structured way so it’s easy to read. That will increase your chances for being selected for a job interview. 

At Talent2Win, we strive to align your company’s business objectives with the best Talent Acquisition strategies available. If you want to learn more about the services we offer, do not hesitate to contact us.