How to Write a Five-Star Resume
Unfortunately, there’s no “one size fits all” template when it comes to resume writing. Maybe you’ve worked so many odd jobs that you don’t know how to piece them together on paper. Maybe you’ve never even had a job, so building a resume feels like you’re just shooting in the dark! Either way, you certainly hold several keys to success—the trick is putting them down on paper.
That’s why I pieced together this blog post, which will walk you step-by-step through the process of how to write your resume— no matter what stage you’re at in your career.
Text Formatting
Contact Information
Objectives
Structuring Your Unique Experiences
References
Finalizing the Details
Text Formatting
First things first: your entire resume should be written in one font. Ideally, you should use something that’s easily readable (i.e. Calibri, Arial, Times New Roman, etc). For some of us, it’s easy to get carried away creatively here. I too used to want to be stylish and cutesy with my resume! Listen: don’t do this. The reader of your resume should be drawn in by first glance in response to its content, not the way it looks!
On the other hand, font sizes will vary throughout your resume. The body of your resume should be written in a font size anywhere between ten and twelve points. On the other hand, the headings throughout your resume (i.e. “Objective,” “Skills,” “Education,” etc) should be one to two points larger in font size than that of your resume’s body. You could also bold your headings if you’d like—that way, the reader can more easily differentiate from section to section of your resume.
Contact Information
At the top, include your first and last name, e-mail, the phone number you can be most easily reached with, the city and state you live in, and a link to your LinkedIn profile (if applicable). The only exception to the formatting portion of this blog is your name! Make it bigger (twenty-five to thirty point font size) and bolder than the rest of your resume. (See the image above for a reference.)
LinkedIn profiles can be beneficial when it comes to networking and keeping in touch with colleagues, but it’s certainly not a requirement for a successful resume. If you want to build a profile on LinkedIn but have no idea where to start, check out this post!
Objectives
There’s controversy in the resume-writing world over whether or not you should include an objective on your resume. Personally, I think you should always state your objective. While this is a section that might have to be tailored from job to job you apply for, I think it’s worth it to give employers a good idea of who you are and what you want from the get-go. The choice is ultimately yours!
If you’re including an objective on your resume, underneath the heading “Objective,” include two to three sentences stating who you are and what you’re expecting from this job. Some good examples of resume objectives are:
“Searching for a full-time plumbing apprenticeship with a company that’s willing to share their knowledge of a trade that’s foreign to me, as well as to gain an overall understanding of the plumbing industry.”
“Recent college graduate looking to use my writing abilities to their fullest advantage. Expert at story-telling with precise use of English grammar.”
Structuring Your Unique Experiences
Here is where resume writing can get tricky. All of us have different goals with our resumes, hence why there’s truly no “one size fits all” way to go about writing one. For your convenience, this portion of this blog has been split into three different categories:
If you have no work or school experience...
If you’ve worked a lot of jobs...
If you’ve completed college and have zero work experience in the field that you’re searching for a job in…
For the duration of this post, it’s important to bear in mind the difference between soft skills and hard skills. Soft skills are skills that come naturally from your behavior and personality. Soft skills include things like punctuality and having an eye for detail.
On the other hand, hard skills are technical skills that develop overtime. Examples of hard skills include being an expert at Adobe Photoshop or having experience working with your hands.
If you have no work or school experience...
Writing a resume with no work or school experience might feel impossible, but it certainly is not! You have valuable skills and experiences that will propel you forward in the professional world.
First of all, you should 100% include an objective! That part of your resume should not be omitted.
After your objective, your next heading should be “Soft Skills.” Underneath that heading, include about five to seven soft skills that you feel would be most beneficial to the job you’re applying for.
Underneath your list of soft skills, your next heading should be “Hard Skills.” Again, include five to seven skills in your list underneath.
If you’ve worked a lot of jobs...
Let’s say you’ve worked a lot of jobs and you’re ready to give something new a shot. At this point, you might not understand how any of your work experience is relevant on paper. Don’t worry—you just have to properly format this part of your resume!
If you have a degree, your first heading underneath your objective should be “Education.” In this section, list the degree(s) you have and the college(s) you graduated from. (Include your GPA if it’s something that you think would shine!) If you don’t have a degree, do not put an education section in your resume.
Your next heading underneath your objective (or “Education” if applicable) should be “Core Competencies.” Here, list a mixture of your soft and hard skills (minimum of three but a maximum of five). If you already have a specific job in mind, list some of your skills that coincide with the job description!
Your following heading should be “Work Experience.” List your work experience in reverse chronological order (from most recent to least recent). However, if you have previous work experience in the field that you’re searching for a job for in, your next heading should be “Related Work Experience,” and the following heading should be “Unrelated Work Experience.” Still, underneath each of these headings, list your work experiences in reverse chronological order.
If you’ve completed college and have zero work experience in the field that you’re searching for a job in…
This is a real struggle facing college graduates today. That being said, your resume has to shine amongst other candidates, despite your lack of experience in the field.
Your first heading underneath your objective should be “Education.” In this section, list the degree(s) you have and the college(s) you graduated from. (Include your GPA if it’s something that you’re proud of!) Underneath this heading, also include three to five skills that you obtained in the classroom. This is the best way to illustrate to employers that you have a lot of experience in the field, despite not having worked in the field officially quite yet. Perform a quick Google search (i.e. “skills obtained with an English degree,” “resume skills business degree”) and you’ll find a lot of things you can list here.
Following “Education,” your next heading should be “Core Competencies.” Here, list three to five of your soft and/or hard skills. Include skills of yours that overlap with what the job you’re applying to requires.
If you worked through college, underneath “Core Competencies,” your next heading should be “Work Experience.” List your work experience in reverse chronological order (from most recent to least recent). If you took part in an internship, you could always separate your work experience in to two separate headings: “Related Work Experience” and “Unrelated Work Experience.”
**This is a side note, but don’t let a job description that requires “x” years of experience keep you from applying! It never hurts to apply—and a good resume could very well help you get your foot in the door!**
References
Listing references is always optional unless otherwise stated by the employer. If you don’t want the person you’re listing as a reference to know that you’re job hunting, it’s best to either not include that employer or put, at the end of your resume, “References available upon request.” (It is when your potential employer contacts you that you can explain your situation with your current employer.)
If you’re looking to include some references, you should list a minimum of three but a maximum of five. Be sure that the people you’re listing know that you’re including them as a reference on your resume. List the person’s name, their position, and the company for which you worked with them for. Include their phone number and/or e-mail.
Finalizing the Details
Your resume should be a minimum of one page long, but a maximum of two pages. If you’re having a hard time reaching that one page minimum, try bumping up the font sizes of your headings and body text (respectively, to a maximum of fourteen points and twelve points). You could also add in a few more soft or hard skills. In contrast, if you have too much information on your resume, get rid of some of your less relevant work experience or skills.
Keep in mind that your resume is a living document! For the rest of your professional life, you will be making edits to your resume here and there. While that sounds tiresome, it’s really a blessing in disguise. That document is the key that has the potential to unlock so many new opportunities— fortunately, it grows with you!