What is a resume?

​A resume is a concise document that showcases an individual's skills, experiences, achievements and qualifications in their career to date. The core purpose of a resume is to apply for jobs. This document should be treated with care when you are writing it, in order to ensure that you standout from the competition when applying for new roles.
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Your resume is your way of getting noticed by potential employers. As such it is key that you put together a well-structured document which contains the information about your career and education to date, which will often be the first impression a prospective employer gets of you. For example it is estimated around 50% of resumes over two pages long are discarded, and that recruiters will often only spend 5-10 seconds scanning your resume meaning it is key to include key phrases and skills related to the job you want.
 
How to write a resume
 
For many, a resume is not a document that you will regularly update or create. As such the following tips will help you write a resume that helps you get noticed by prospective employers:

• Contact details - if your resume is well written and contains the necessary skills, and appeals to the hiring manager or recruiter, it is key they can contact you. You need your full name, email address and telephone number that you can be reached on most easily. It is also a good idea to include a link to your LinkedIn profile, as this provides an opportunity to verify your work history. Ensure that you have a professional email address on your resume, rather than something you may have created in your teens which is not appropriate.
• Personal statement/profile - this is a short punchy statement which highlights your key skills and achievements, which are relevant to the field you work in. Picking out key achievements that make you stand out as an exceptional candidate and can be backed up with figures (for example, if you’ve increased sales then include what percentage this was, or if you have improved traffic to a website then by what percent). This can be broken down into who you are, what you offer and what you want to achieve.
• Work experience - this is where you include your history of employment, and this should be in reverse chronological order, in order for recruiters and hiring managers to discern what you’ve done most recently and where that fits in with the role you’ve applied for. Depending on where you are in your career, this section should sit ahead of your education. Those around the graduate level of experience should put their education first, unless they have experience relevant to the role. Each role needs job title, employer and dates of employment with a summary of the role, and then highlight key points in terms of achievements and skills utilised.
• Education - here you can list all your formal education starting with the most recent and the result. The greater the amount of work experience you have, to the type of role you are applying for, then the less you need to focus on your education history - unless this is a particular requirement of the role that you are applying for. Ensure you list the institution, dates of attendance and qualification and grade received.
• Hobbies and interests - if you have any interesting hobbies which will add to your overall document, then it is worth including these. Anything which adds value to the job you have is worth including, however generic hobbies and interests such as reading are less important. Include hobbies and interests if there is room, however, do not lose space for relevant work and educational experience.
• References - these do not need to be included on your resume, if you have
• references in mind, and you have discussed this with them, these can be included if there is room. However, it is not worth taking away from your work and education experience, often people will include ‘References available on request’ again this is an optional inclusion.

 
Things to consider when writing a resume
 
As well as the content of your resume in terms of work and education, there are a number of points to consider when writing your resume, in order to ensure that you are not being held back from getting in front of prospective employers. When writing a resume the following are key to get right:

• Photo - unless you’re applying for a role as an actor/actress or model then a photo is an unnecessary addition to your resume. Discrimination is still something unfortunately present within the workplace, and as such when presenting a first impression a photo can create bias. Whilst it is common in many other job markets to include a photo, it is not the case for the UK
• Personal information - age, religion, marital status and any other pieces of personal information which can lead to a recruiter or hiring manager making a decision based on a piece of information that is not relevant to your ability to the job.
• Length - best practice tends to be that a resume should be two sides of A4, however depending on what your profession is, and how much experience you have accumulated then this can be shorter or longer as need determines.
• Formatting - formatting is key, it is important to use a clear font such as Arial or Calibri, for a professional look, and easy to read. Sizing should be between 10 and 12 point font and headings if used should be between 14 and 18 point. Page margins should be between 1.27cm and 2.5cm in order to avoid your resume appearing hard to read.
• Spelling and grammar - your resume is a vital document in terms of your job search, as such it is key to ensure that your resume has no spelling or grammar mistakes, as this would suggest a lack of attention to detail. Ensure you thoroughly proofread your documents before they go to a prospective employer.
• Targeting - rather than sending a generic resume for every role that you apply for, it is worth taking the time to research the company and the role you are applying for each time, and aim to tailor and target your resume to highlight the points in your career which are relevant to each specific role.
• Honesty - it is bad practice to lie or exaggerate on your resume, as this can be classed as fraud. Make sure that all dates, job titles and grades in education are correct. One way to ensure that you have additional legitimacy is to have a well optimised LinkedIn profile which will verify and support the details on your resume.

 
A resume is a document that many people will write extremely infrequently, as such a professional resume writing company can help provide you with a market leading resume which will get you noticed by prospective employers. Contact us today and begin the next stage of your career.