Resume Templates

What is a Resume?

A resume is a summary of your career roles, experiences, skills, education, and achievements. It’s how you can show off your best self to potential employers.

Nine times out of ten, a job ad will ask you to apply with a resume and a cover letter.

A quality resume will double your chances of getting an interview. Want to learn how? Check out our complete guide: How to Make a Resume.

How Do You Write Your First Resume?

Time to get your first job?

Writing a resume might make you nervous. After all, most resumes you see online are about 80% full of previous jobs. So, what on earth can you write about if you’ve never had a job?

Well, here’s some good news. No one expects you to have worked before, if you’re applying for an entry-level job or internship.

That means you can focus on what you have done so far: your grades at school, your best projects, any volunteering you’ve done, and even your hobbies & interests.

Check out this step-by-step guide: How to Make a Resume With No Previous Jobs.

What Should you Include on Your Resume?

Take a deep dive on these sections with our article: What to Put on a Resume.

How to Format a Resume?

There are 3 typical resume formats:

• Reverse-Chronological Resume

• Functional Resume

• Combination Resume

Go with the Reverse Chronological resume nearly every time. That’s the format most resumes you’ve seen follow. It shows your experience written down in reverse-chronological order. In other words, it shows your most recent job first and your oldest one last.

Unless you’re looking to create a career change resume, stick with this format. And learn even more about resume formats here.

How Long Should Your Resume Be?

Ah, the resume question everyone asks!

“How long should my resume be?”

The short answer? Just a page. If you have a lot of career experience — we’re talking more than 10 years here — then it sometimes makes sense to have a second page. But you probably really only should do that if it’s relevant to the job you’re going for.

For a longer answer, check out our guide: How Long Should a resume Be.

By the way, all of our templates are a page long. So you’re already set up to keep to that one-page limit!

How Do You Write a Resume Summary?

Like the start of a good book or film, your summary is a ‘hook’ that gets the reader interested in your resume. It sets the scene for the rest of your resume.

Your summary should be about 2-4 sentences and it should explain your background and why it makes you a good match for the job.

Here’s a proven formula to make your resume summary stand out:

“Professional [job title] with X+ years of work experience in [job responsibility]. In the past Y years, I have [your top 1-2 achievements]. Seeking a position of [job title] at [company name]”

Our guide, How to Create a Resume Summary that Excels, will help you do this.

Have little or no job experience? Then read How to Create a Resume Objective instead.

How to Show Your Experience on a Resume?

Showing your experience on a resume is hard to master.

Every job you include, should mention:

• Position title

• Company name/description/location

• Achievements or responsibilities

• Dates employed

To really make your experience stand out, remember this motto: show don’t tell. So, instead of creating an entry that tells, like:

“Carried out sales operations”

You show your achievements, like this:

“Hit and exceeded monthly sales KPIs for five months in a row.”

This shows the employer you mean business. Here’s a more detailed article about How to List Achievements.

How to List Your Skills on a Resume?

Simply create a skills section on your Novorésumé resume template.

As you list your top skills, go for a mix of hard and soft skills.

And if you’re unsure what skills to include, check out these Essential Skills for Any Resume.

How to Write a Cover Letter for Each Job?

It’s a key part of the application process.

Here are our top 3 tips to do this right:

• Customise your cover letter for every hiring manager or recruiter. The more personalised it is, the more likely it is for the recruiter to connect with you.

• Give some brief background about your work and main achievements so far. Add the things you’re really proud of doing at work.

• And why not match your cover letter to your resume template? To do this, you can use one of our cover letter templates here.

Want to learn more? Find out How to Write a Convincing Cover Letter.

What is the Best Resume Template?

Honestly, it depends. Recruiters and employers have their own preferences. Do your research on the company and what their values are.

Think about the context. If you’re applying to a bank, you’d want a more professional Resume. Whereas a start-up will likely value innovation more, so maybe a creative resume template is the best bet there.

Still unsure? Every job is different. You can use a simple resume template to play it safe.