If you haven’t updated your resume in a while or thinking about applying for jobs, it can be a little overwhelming to start. Thinking about what types of experiences you should add to the jobs you want? Well, look no further. With thousands of tips across the web, we have narrowed down to five ESSENTIAL tips you need to craft a winning resume to land the job of your choice.

1: Market Yourself

This tip is one of the most critical and recurring tips of all time. It essentially tells you to put your best stuff above the fold. This refers to what your hiring manager is going to see first, and that will serve as an incentive or hook to continue reading, you should make sure that your best and relevant accomplishments and experiences are highlighted on the top third of your resume.

Make sure not to list every work experience you’ve ever had since it could confuse the hiring manager. You should alter your top information according to the type of job you’re applying for as it makes you seem like the perfect person for the job. In this process, you are marketing yourself for being the best candidate. Use relevant keywords which were initially used in the job posting. For example, if you are applying for Web Development, the hiring manager might mention they require “coding’’, “networking basics” or “encryption’’. While considering these keywords, you add the same terms to your resume to appeal from a familiar view.

However, since you will be swapping different information in and out depending on jobs, it is advised to keep a separate list of all the jobs you’ve ever had ready to go. Include every job or position you’ve ever had in one master list. Then every time you are tailoring a resume, you just have to copy and paste the relevant information together for the different resumes.

2: Make or Break: Formatting

Setting your resume format is an essential task in the process. Compositions should be visually appealing and comfortable for the employer to read through it. The visual hierarchy should be maintained here as your format would be responsible for guiding your reader’s attention through your fonts, panels and alignment. For example, left-alignment is easier to read as our eyes naturally go to the left while reading a document. Use a basic but modern font and refrain from using childish or tacky fonts.

Keep your font size uniform for body and topics separately around 10 to 12 while leaving a healthy amount of negative space. Even while using different fonts, make sure they complement the other fonts used in the resume. You can use different fonts or typeface for your name, headers and companies you’ve worked at; these will bring attention to the crucial details and visually summarize your entire resume at one glance.

Furthermore, if you want to stand out from the sea of candidates, then you have to do it carefully. There’s no problem if you’re going to go for the basic touch; in fact, it is recommended to go basic if you’re applying to a traditional company. However, adding some tasteful design elements to your resume can help make it stand out. It can be a hit and miss if you’re not willing to put in the time.

3: Education and Experience

You are debating what goes first between your education and experience? Unless you’re a recent graduate it is advised to put your school after your work experience; probability is that your last couple of positions are more critical and relevant to the job you’re applying for than the job you got after college.

If you’re confused about how to set your order for education and experience, then a good rule of thumb is understanding what is more relevant to the job. If your recent experience is more specific to the position you’re applying, then go for reverse chronological order. However, if your college coursework is more relevant for the job, then list that to first to grab the hiring manager’s attention.

While you’re jotting down this, make sure to also include the relevant skills you have for a position, any technological certifications you may have received for completing courses like HTML and Adobe Creative Suite.

4: Be Interesting

It is vital to show some personality on your resume. For the most part, you should list hobbies about your professional interests; for example, if you’re a street artist aiming for a graphic designing company, then definitely include it. However, you must be aware of listing interests which could be identified as controversial.

Suppose you’ve helped your church to raise money or have been an active part of political rallies and campaigns. These ventures show good work ethic, but they can always be discriminated against by someone who doesn’t agree with the cause, so keep in mind what can be included and considered as good extra-curricular activities.

Including awards and accolades is an excellent way to create a robust and dynamic resume. Even if the achievement is company-specific or a personal one like whether you were the top salesman in the four quarters in a row or finished running a 10K_ these show that you’re a hard worker anywhere which is an excellent asset to any company.

5: Finishing Touches

Finishing touches refer to the little things you have to do to make your resume complete and functional.

• It should go without saying but proofread your resume as many times as it takes to be blindly sure that your resume is free of typos, spelling and grammar errors. You can engage the services of grammar and spell error checkers available online like Grammarly. Also, get your resume proofread by actual people too so that you know that they understand and make sense out of the document.     
• Save your resume in a pdf format because when you send it in the .doc form, it is easy to mess up the careful formatting and editing you’ve done. Plus, pdf acts a more substantial option than a .doc file which gives a better impression to the hiring manager.
• Last but not least, keep updating and refreshing your resume with any latest skills or responsibilities that you have taken on. When you keep updating your resume regularly, then you will be ready to seize any opportunity that presents itself.

It can be easy to forget small factors and points when you’re trying to write a great resume, but these five essential tricks will set you on the right track! If you are looking out for jobs during times like the visit Collabera Malaysia website to know more.