Financial Blog

Whether you’re a fresh graduate seeking your first job or an experienced professional who’s planning on transferring to another company, crafting an impressive resume that will help you to the next recruitment process can be challenging.

You might be googling on “how to write a resume” or “how to make a CV” but, keep in mind that there is no such thing as a perfect resume or template that can be used regardless of the job or position that you’re aiming for.

Remember that your resume, together with other aspiring applicants, will go through the screening process of the recruiters. The goal is to weed out applicants who fail to meet the qualifications of the job.

To help you with your job hiring, we’ve created a guide on how to make a resume for your first job.

Start with the basics

Your resume must contain the essential details. It includes your full name, location, and contact information. Use the city or province instead of the full address for your location. Make sure that your contact number and email address can receive messages for these will be used to contact you.

State clear and concise objectives 

Ask yourself first what position you are applying for. Be specific about what you are aiming for. A good practice is to tailor your objectives depending on the position or company you are applying for. This way, you can better align your goals and communicate what value you can add and contribute to the company.

Highlight your educational background

If you’re a fresh grad, your school background is your main asset in getting the job you want. Aside from the usual information needed, this part is where you put your awards as well. These awards can be academic, sports, or leadership-related. Also, you must include your organizational positions to give an impression that you have strong social and leadership skills.

You can also add your training, certifications, and seminars attended that related to the job you’re applying for.

Put your Work Experience on top

For tenured professionals, this is where you back up the claims you made in your objective. This is your opportunity to show that you have exposure to the work you’re applying for, which will be your advantage. This will include the company’s name where you previously worked, its location, your job title, date(s) of employment, and your duties and responsibilities.

For fresh graduates, you can use this section to list down your relevant on-the-job training experience/s.

Summarize your skills

Skills are a great point to highlight the particular skills for your application. You can use a bulleted list, a column format, or even a paragraph form. Make sure that it is easy to read as this will be one of the sections that will be reviewed.

Read More: 9 Essential Skills for every job hunting fresh grads

Things to Remember

DO’s

• Spend time reading through your resume a couple of times before saving it and make corrections for errors if there are any
• Use standard font – easy to read and professional (eg. Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, and Tahoma).
• Be consistent in style choices
• Put a professional picture (2×2 size with collar / corporate attire)
• Insert industry jargon or keywords from the job description which can give you a higher chance of being considered
• Save two copies of your resume once you are finished reviewing it. Keep the Microsoft Word (.docx) file with you so you can edit it in the future and send the PDF file to the company

 DON’Ts

• Age, date of birth, race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, political affiliation, names and ages of your spouse and children, government id numbers
• References – “references available upon request.”
• Hobbies or Interests
• The Pronoun “I” or First Person Perspective
• Selfie or glamour picture
• Using different fonts, colors, and images – Your resume must have a consistent style to look professional. Use standard fonts that are easy to read (e.g., Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, etc.)

Read More: Job Hunting 101: What you should never put on a resume