Anyone that follows the Bubble Blog will be well aware of the reels of Resume and interview advice we’ve come up with over the years. We’ve spoken a lot about what you should include on your resume– but not how you should set it out. It can be a bit of a grey area and people can be unsure of where to put what exactly.
It sounds like a small detail that won’t be that important, but employers/recruiters are busy people so they want to be able to get your information quickly and easily. Putting your resume in the right order can really help with this – believe it or not, this could end up helping to get the job.
It’s never good if you’ve annoyed your recruiter/employer before you’ve even met them. So we’ve come up with the layout you should put your resume in and popped a few tips in there as well.
1) Personal Details
First up, you want your contact details at the top of the page. If your employer/recruiter wants to contact you – they don’t want to be scanning your resume to get to your phone number. They want to pick up your resume and see your name straight away.
So make sure you’ve got your name, address, email, and telephone number on there. Also, pop your LinkedIn address on there if you can – especially if you want a job in digital! Haven’t got a LinkedIn profile? Not to worry – have a look at our blog on LinkedIn etiquette to help you get started.
2) Key Skills
Next up, you want to get your key skills down – it’s really important that this section is second because a lot of employers/recruiters don’t want to have to look through your whole resume to get a feel for you.
So make sure you write some short and punchy sentences that sum you up. You can include any key skills like your degree or your key personality traits. Try and think outside of the box with these – remember they’ll see a lot of resumes in a day so you want to stand out from the crowd – but don’t forget to include skills that are relevant to the role you’re applying for too!
3) Employment History
You then want to move onto the employment history section – this way you’ve given a short introduction of who you are first. If the employer is interested they’ll choose to read on – which is great, but you need to make sure you impress them in this section!
You want to match your skills with the job you’re applying for – so have a look through the job spec and match your experience with these skills. Try and pop the keywords in your resume– so if they’re looking for a self-starter – make sure you show how you have motivated yourself in your previous work experience. This way you’ll tick the boxes for the recruiter/employer and be more likely to bag the job!
4) Work Experience
The work experience section tends to apply to those of you that have done an internship or extra-curricular activities in the past. This section can be really helpful if you have less work experience – because you can showcase your skills through this. So if this experience is necessary make sure you put it after your work experience section.
5) Education
You want to pop your education section next – so your employer/recruiter can tell if you’ve got the right qualifications. Make sure it’s clearly set out with your qualifications and school/college/university on there. It’s as simple as that!