The year is 2022. You’re looking to make a change – landing your first job, a new job, or your dream job.
In any case, you’ll need a good resume in order to be successful. You can create a free resume without paying with the help of these online templates. We’ll also consider some additional tips to make your resume shine.
There is a LOT of advice out there about how to format and design your own resume. But the simplest method comes down to this – use an online resume builder like this one from Resume Giants.
How do online resume builders work? You’ll be asked a series of questions and fill in each field. The information you will need includes:
You can also choose from optional sections, such as projects, achievements, certifications and courses, honors and awards, publications, references, or customize your own section title.
After you type in your information, the program does the rest! It populates your unique information in a resume template of your choosing. The results are professional in appearance. Best of all, this service is free!
Did you know that your resume should not be one size fits all? You should not simply print or upload the exact same document for every application.
Instead, you should do research on the company and its culture. Many businesses and startups have blogs, newsletters, press releases, or other informative sources from which you can learn about new projects and initiatives.
You may also be able to get a feel for the company culture from these sources or from a vision statement, mission statement, or statement of values posted on the company’s website.
Not to be overlooked is the job description itself. This will be the most detailed source of information on exactly what your responsibilities will be should you be hired. You’ll also want to consider potential keywords in the job listing, as discussed in the next section.
Did you know that a computer program will read and rank your resume before a human hiring manager ever does? Today, companies may receive hundreds or thousands of applications for a job that they post online. Since the hiring manager does not have time to read every resume in its entirety, he relies on a computer program called an applicant tracking system or ATS.
The job of the ATS is to scan the resumes, looking for matches to pre-programmed keywords. Resumes that have many keyword matches are scored highly and reviewed by the hiring manager. Those that do are not passed on to the next phase of hiring.
That said, you want to make sure your resume contains plenty of keywords. What criteria do you employ to determine which keywords to use? Look at the job listing. There, you’ll find skills, qualifications, educational requirements, and personal qualities that the employer is looking for.
You’ll also find descriptions of duties, tasks, and techniques that employees should know. Use these keywords in your resume. They might go in your abilities list, objective statement, job descriptions, or education section.
Try to use the exact words that are used in the job description. For example, if the description asks for someone who is “well-organized” and you list “organization” as a skill, the ATS may not recognize this is a keyword match because the wording is different.
There are a number of resume sections that were used in the past but today, make your resume look outdated. These include summary statements, resume statements and lists of references. If an employer wants references, he will ask for them.
You should also avoid photos, company-specific jargon (industry-specific terms are okay), personal social media accounts, unnecessary personal information (gender, marital status, whether you have children, etc.), and “cute” or unprofessional email addresses. Never put these on your resume.
If you’re applying to a remote job, you can skip your home address as well. This will also prevent you from being excluded from jobs you might have to move to accept. When applying locally, though, it is still good to include your mailing address.
You can craft an incredible resume in 2022 by using an online resume builder, customizing your resume for each job you apply to, using resume keywords, and omitting unnecessary resume sections.