How to build an effective resume

To build a strong CV, you must first determine your objectives. You should tailor your CV to a specific job. A well-written CV will get you an interview quickly, however, a poorly written CV may result in a rejection. There are a few things you can do to make the most of your CV and convince prospective employers why you are the only person for the job.

This guide will give you our top tips and the best CV examples, demonstrating how to construct a fantastic CV that gets noticed.

Standard CV Content:

A CV can include a wide range of information, such as:

1. Personal Information: Contact details, such as name, address, phone number, and email.
2. Professional Summary or Objective: A brief statement that highlights the individual's career goals, key skills, and areas of expertise.
3. Education: Information about the individual's academic background, including degrees earned, institutions attended, majors or fields of study, graduation dates, and honors.
4. Work Experience: A detailed list of the individual's employment history, including job titles, company names, employment dates, responsibilities, accomplishments, and notable projects.
5. Skills: Both technical and soft skills relevant to the individual's profession, such as programming languages, software proficiency, communication skills, leadership abilities, etc.
6. Achievements and Awards: Any professional accolades, awards, honors, or recognition received.
7. Publications and Presentations: A list of research papers, articles, books, presentations, or other written works authored by the individual.
8. Professional Memberships: Any affiliations with professional organizations or associations relevant to the individual's field.
9. Conferences and Workshops: Information about conferences, workshops, seminars, and training sessions attended or presented at.
10. Volunteer Work and Extracurricular Activities: Relevant volunteer experiences, community involvement, and extracurricular activities that demonstrate skills and qualities valued by potential employers or institutions.
11. References: Contact information for individuals who can provide recommendations or vouch for the individual's qualifications and character.

A CV is tailored to provide a comprehensive picture of an individual's background and qualifications, making it particularly useful for academic positions, research opportunities, and roles that require a detailed assessment of an applicant's expertise. It's important to keep the CV well-organized, accurate, and up-to-date, and to customize it for each specific application to highlight the most relevant information for the desired position or opportunity.

How to make an impressive Resume:

Creating an impressive resume involves effectively showcasing your skills, experience, and accomplishments in a clear and concise manner. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you craft an impressive resume

1. Choose the Right Format: Select a resume format that aligns with your experience and the job you're applying for. The most common formats are chronological, functional, and combination/hybrid.

2. Contact Information: Include your full name, phone number, professional email address (avoid using unprofessional emails), and LinkedIn profile.

3. Write a Compelling Summary or Objective: Craft a concise summary or objective statement that highlights your career goals, key skills, and what you can bring to the employer.

4. Highlight Your Relevant Work Experience: Focus on your most recent and relevant work experiences. For each position, include:

• Job title
• Company name and location
• Employment dates (month and year)
• Bullet points detailing your responsibilities and accomplishments
• Use action verbs to start each bullet point
• Quantify your achievements with numbers, percentages, or metrics where possible

5. Showcase Your Achievements: Highlight accomplishments that demonstrate your impact in previous roles. Show how you added value, solved problems, or contributed to the organization's success.

6. Emphasize Your Skills: List relevant skills, both technical and soft, that are important for the job. Group them under appropriate headings like "Technical Skills" or "Key Competencies."

7. Include Education Details: Mention your educational background, including degrees, majors, institutions, graduation dates, and any honors or awards received.

8. Tailor the Resume: Customize your resume for each application. Study the job description and company culture to emphasize the skills and experiences most relevant to the position.

Tailoring your CV involves customizing it for each specific job application to highlight the most relevant skills, experiences, and qualifications that match the requirements of the position. Here are some steps along with examples to help you tailor your CV effectively:

• Analyze the Job Description: Thoroughly read the job description to understand the key responsibilities and qualifications the employer is seeking.
• Identify Relevant Keywords: Highlight keywords and phrases in the job description that relate to skills, experience, and qualifications.
• Customize Your Professional Summary: Adapt your summary or objective statement to align with the specific role. Emphasize skills and experiences that match the job description.
• Highlight Relevant Work Experience: Focus on experiences that directly relate to the job. Use bullet points to describe your responsibilities and accomplishments.
• Showcase Specific Achievements: Highlight achievements that demonstrate your impact and align with the job requirements.

Example: Job Description: "Required to improve customer satisfaction scores."

Original Bullet Point: "Provided excellent customer service."

Tailored Bullet Point: "Implemented a new customer feedback system resulting in a 20% increase in customer satisfaction scores."

• Include Relevant Education and Training: If applicable, highlight coursework, certifications, or training that aligns with the job requirements.

9. Use a Clean and Readable Design:

• Choose a professional font (e.g., Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman) and stick to a consistent font size (10-12 pt).
• Use bullet points for easy reading.
• Maintain sufficient white space for a clean and uncluttered appearance.
• Keep the formatting consistent throughout the document.

10. Be Honest and Accurate: Ensure that all the information you provide is truthful and accurate. Avoid exaggeration or misrepresentation of your qualifications.

11. Be Concise: Limit your resume to one or two pages, focusing on the most important and relevant information.

12. Proofread Thoroughly: Check your resume for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Mistakes can reflect poorly on your attention to detail.

13. Use Action Verbs: Start bullet points with strong action verbs (e.g., managed, implemented, led, developed) to make your accomplishments sound impactful.

Here's a List of Action Verbs to Get You Started: Achieved

Developed, Managed, Implemented, Led, Created, Resolved, Increased, Decreased, Analyzed, Designed, Generated, Improved, and so on.

Examples of Using Action Verbs in Bullet Points:

a. Communication Skills:

• Before: "Responsible for answering customer inquiries."
• After: "Engaged with customers to provide prompt and accurate responses, enhancing overall satisfaction levels."

b. Leadership and Management:

• Before: "Supervised a team of employees."
• After: "Led and managed a cross-functional team of 12 employees, fostering collaboration and achieving a 15% increase in team productivity."

c. Problem Solving:

• Before: "Dealt with customer complaints."
• After: "Resolved customer issues by analyzing root causes, implementing solutions, and achieving a 25% reduction in escalated complaints."

d. Technical Skills:

• Before: "Assisted with software development."
• After: "Contributed to software development projects, coding and testing new features that resulted in improved application performance."

e. Achievements and Results:

• Before: "Helped increase sales."
• After: "Drove a 30% increase in sales by developing and executing targeted marketing campaigns and refining the sales process."

f. Analytical Skills:

• Before: "Assisted with data analysis."
• After: "Conducted in-depth data analysis, identifying trends and opportunities that informed strategic decision-making."

g. Teamwork:

• Before: "Participated in team meetings."
• After: "Collaborated actively in cross-functional team meetings, sharing insights and contributing to consensus-driven solutions."

Remember, the key is to choose action verbs that align with the skills and qualities the employer is looking for in a candidate, and to provide specific examples of your contributions and accomplishments. Using action verbs helps create a dynamic and engaging resume that effectively communicates your capabilities and achievements to potential employers.

14. Include Relevant Keywords: Incorporate keywords from the job description to increase the chances of your resume getting noticed by applicant tracking systems (ATS).

15. Include Additional Sections (Optional): Depending on the nature of the job and your experiences, you might add sections for certifications, professional memberships, languages, projects, volunteer work, or other relevant information.

16. Avoid Unnecessary Information: Exclude irrelevant personal details like age, marital status, and photographs.

Certain types of information should be avoided on your resume to maintain professionalism, focus on relevant qualifications, and comply with equal opportunity and privacy guidelines. Here are some examples of what to avoid including on your resume:

a. Personal Information:

• Avoid: Birthdate, age, marital status.
• Why: These details can lead to potential biases and should not impact your candidacy.

b. Irrelevant Work Experience:

• Avoid: Including job experiences that are not relevant to the position you're applying for.
• Why: Employers are interested in your most relevant experiences, not every job you've ever held.

c. Unprofessional Email Addresses:

• Avoid: Using unprofessional email addresses, such as "[email protected]"
• Why: A professional email address portrays a serious and competent image.

d. Generic Objectives:

• Avoid: Using a generic or vague objective statement that doesn't align with the specific job.
• Why: Customized objectives show your genuine interest in the role.

e. High School Information:

• Avoid: Including high school details if you have a college degree or significant work experience.
• Why: Focus on higher education and relevant experience.

f. Long Paragraphs:

• Avoid: Using long paragraphs that make your resume difficult to skim.
• Why: Clear, concise bullet points are easier to read and highlight key information.

17. Save and Share Appropriately: Save your resume as a PDF to preserve formatting across different devices. When sending electronically, use a professional file name (e.g., "Firstname_Lastname_Resume.pdf").

Remember, an impressive resume effectively communicates your value to potential employers, making it crucial to focus on your accomplishments and the skills that make you a strong candidate for the job.

Author-

Arfan Ahmed Shourov

Career coach & recruitment specialist