One of the biggest areas that busy working women struggle in is staying up-to-date with changes in the workforce and having a ready-to-share successful resume at the tips of your fingertips. So many times, I have friends and family ask me to help them with their resume or get prepared for an interview. They know that I see thousands of resumes and want to know the best tips and tricks for standing out in a crowd and representing themselves in the most successful way. Most of my friends haven’t written or created a resume since they got out of college and are looking at getting back into a new career, so there is a lot to work with there!
After sharing the same successful tips over and over, I decided to put it in to an easy to use, step by step guide that will transform your resume into a stunning representation of you…all in the less than 2 hours.
Resume design and development doesn’t have to be hard. If you are a working professional or simply looking at getting back into the workforce, The R.E.F.I.N.E.D Resume eBook is for you. In the eBook, in less than two hours, you will learn how to:
- Write a consistent resume that gives a clear picture of the experiences that you have and how you will use that experience to help benefit future employers
- Analyze a job description to help you find out exactly what they are looking for and use it to your advantage.
- Avoid some of the biggest resume mistakes seen in the past several years as a hiring professional
- Choose a format that is professional, up-to-date and allows for your personality and experience to shine.
- Write specific, concise bullet points to see your experiences- even if they are not related to the position description.
- Instantly add dimension to your resume and make it look professional and improve its readability
- As an added bonus, you will also receive a high converting. professional resume template that you can adjust and make your own.
At Work It Women, we believe that building work life balance starts in your career. A professional and polished resume will always successfully represent you wherever you go…so let’s get started with a sneak peak for the first chapter…R.E.F.I.N.E.D Resume Design.
R.E.F.I.N.E.D Resume Design
by Work It Women
The key to successful formatting is thinking of the big picture of your resume- what you see before you start reading it- as your first impression. That first look that the employer has as they pull up the file on their computer or place it in front of them on their desk. It’s like when you walk into a room for the first time. Your format is your first impression. So make it count.
This is exactly why you should never, ever use a premade template for your resume- especially the ones from MS Word! When I first started interviewing candidates and took my first glance at someone’s resume on my desk, I would immediately know if they used a Word template. Immediately. Using a premade template is like walking into the room in someone else’s outfit, you just don’t do it. You have to make some EFFORT.
Just like me, employers have all seen the Word templates. I’m also pretty wary of other templates you can buy online from independent retailers or graphic designers. They’re still selling these templates, which means you won’t be the only one to have it. Even if the chances of someone else with that template applying for the same job as you are small, if you do use a template, make sure that you follow these actionable steps to make it your own.
Why? Because, like I said before, the overall format of your resume is YOUR first impression, no one else’s. You want your resume to represent you, which means you should be creating the format. That’s the most surefire way for your personality to shine through- in a format no one else will have.
When you are creating your format, here are a few key guidelines to follow:
Your name should be the biggest thing on the page
How else can YOU take center stage? You want their eyes to immediately land on your name and remember it. One way to show your personality and make your name more memorable is to download some unique (and professional) fonts on your computer, and use one of them only for your name. This way, your name stands out because of the size and the font.
If you’re in a creative, design and branding focused industry, you could also use color for your name or create a personal logo. Just make sure you keep it professional and don’t include any pictures of yourself!
Divide each section
We’ll talk more about describing your experiences in the next chapter, but know that each section should be clearly divided. Your sections are like the street signs of your resume- they need to be notable and clear to guide the reader’s eyes through the document.
Your format should make the experience of reading your resume as easy and clear as possible, while still being memorable. These are the four categories I recommend: Education, Related Experience, Additional Experience, and Skills.
Full pages only
Your resume should be one full page OR two full pages, not one and a half. Most likely, your resume will only be one full page.
The only reason to use a second full page is if you have a ton of experiences related to the position- don’t force your resume to be 2 pages if it just isn’t. It’s more traditional and professional to go with one.
No pictures, unreadable fonts, or wild colors
Make sure each and every font you choose is easy to read. It can be unique from what’s included on typical word processor software, but it can’t make the experience of reading your resume more difficult.
No pictures of you, including your head shot or anything else. There are a few reasons for this: it’s not professional or customary (unless you’re in theater, which is a whole different type of resume) and, unfortunately, they could discriminate against you without actually meeting you.
As I mentioned earlier, if you’re in a creative industry you can incorporate color in your resume. That does NOT, however, mean they can be wild and hard to read colors or giant rainbows all over the page.
Your overall format is a crucial aspect of your resume- it’s like your first impression. You should create it, because it’s your personality that needs to shine through. While you’re creating your resume, make sure the reader’s experience is as easy as possible- you should focus on making your resume clean and simple, while being professional and unique.
So now you have an idea about how to set up your resume, imagine the possibilities of what’s to come in the next six chapters! By clicking on any of links, you can get a 25% off coupon to make your purchase even easier!
Don’t let a boring and generic resume hold you back from your dream life. You need only 2 hours to transform you resume and open up a world of opportunities.
Check out: Been Rejected? 5 Ways to Bounce Back after a Failed Job Interview
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