As we grow older, our résumés and CVs become an important part of our professional lives. It contains our life’s works and experiences in amongst the few pages. Preparing a résumé for the first time can be a daunting task if you’re still a student who’s never been employed before. Remember that your résumé or CV is an important way to convey a message to potential employers.
A research shows that employers spend only about 8.8 seconds going through CVs. Employers have to go through so many CVs for entry level jobs that most say they just spend 6 seconds on one CV, reports The Independent.
Here are a few important things to remember when you’re preparing a résumé for the first time.
Remember
Of course, you don’t have a lot of work experiences or it might be that you’ve never worked before and you don’t know what to put in your résumé. However, you can always play to your strengths. Extracurricular activities come in very handy. If you’ve been in the school or college debate team, put that in your résumé. The same applies to sports, drama and quiz competitions.
Your résumé can also be the perfect place to showcase your interests and what you’ve done to pursue it. Like, maybe classes on leadership or personality development, or a writing workshop. But be precise as most employers don’t have the time to go through the résumé in detail. You can also include your soft skills such as your ability to give a good presentation, work in a team, or your leadership skills.
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Spelling mistakes
If you’re preparing your first résumé, you must remember something very important; No spelling mistakes, please. A spelling blunder will be costly for you. Check and re-check.
Bad grammar
To avoid making grammar mistakes, ask someone with a good grasp of the language to take a look at your résumé. Keep it simple. Also, do not use slang or informal language.
Fancy font styles
Keeping your résumé simple is really the best thing you can do. Do not try the fancy font styles because that will make your résumé look unprofessional. The universally acceptable font style is Times New Roman with 12 being the approved font size.
