When job searching, you’ll inevitably encounter the question of how to make a resume. This can be a daunting thought, especially if you’re not sure where to start or how to explain your skills and experience. Fortunately, there are plenty of resources available for you to create a resume that highlights your key skills and experience and catches the attention of potential employers. Follow these simple steps to make an effective resume that gets you an interview.

Define Your Job Goals

Before you create your resume, you’ll want to first discuss your job goals with your career coach or hiring manager. It may be helpful to write down exactly what you want to achieve with your resume and why. This will help you focus on the information you want to include on your resume and what needs to be left out.  You can also use your job goals to guide your resume creation process.

For example, if you want to apply for a job as a marketing manager, your goal might be to highlight your marketing skills and experience on your resume. If you instead want to apply for an engineering-focused position, your resume goals might be to highlight your analytical skills and experience. The key is to create a resume that reflects your goals and skills and experience.

Use Targeted Skills And Experience

Your resume will never be complete without some skills and experience. The trick is to use these only where relevant, and to make sure they’re accurate and detailed. Remember, the first impression employers get when they look at your resume is based on your skills and experience. If they’re inaccurate, employers will likely think negatively of you as a potential hire. 

When you build a resume, think about which skills you want to highlight and experience you want to include. You’ll likely find the job goal you have and your skills and experience to be a great guide.  For example, if you’re looking for a position as an accountant, you might target accounting skills and experience on your resume and accounting software experience on your resume.

This may help you stand out from other candidates who are also looking for positions as accountants. If you’re also looking for a position in marketing, you might also include marketing skills on your resume and include marketing software experience.

Create A Functional Resume

Your resume is the first thing hiring managers see when applying for a position. Therefore, it’s crucial that it accurately reflects your skills and experience. While your resume should be formatted in a way that highlights your skills and experience, it should never be overly lengthy. You can easily go overboard with a resume, or even make it seem disorganized. Another important aspect of resumes is formatting. Your resume should be formatted in a way that makes it easy to scan and read. There are a few formatting guidelines to follow when creating your resume.

The hardest part of creating a resume may be coming up with the skills and experience you want to include. Luckily, online resume builders can help. There are plenty of online resume builders available, including some free and paid ones.