How to write an impressive resume

Avoid having a photo on your resume, use clear fonts and make it brief. [iStockphoto]

A resume is an official document that displays academic qualifications. Also called a curriculum vitae.

One may wonder about the origin of resumes considering that the job market demands academic competency and skills.

In 1482, Leonardo da Vinci wanted to build bridges, boats and sculptures in Millan. He wrote a letter to Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, stating his qualifications and experience. Resumes gained popularity in the mid-1930s. By the 1980s, resumes became fancy and new formats were invented.

Writing a resume is a skill that must be learned. These are some of the steps one must take to achieve the ultimate goal of advancing your career path:

Header with contact information

Include your name, phone number, email and address just in case you are invited for an interview.

Try to avoid errors because it’s impossible to access a wrong address hence you might lose out on a lifetime opportunity.

Summary of profile

Your cv objectives are close to mandatory information that gives a detailed analysis of your past achievements in your line of profession. For instance, it’s important to list out every job position held, tasks accomplished and any solutions you offered. Any activity is recorded from the most recent.

Academic qualification

It’s the basic minimum a hiring officer would want to begin with. A candidate may be very gifted at the work but lacks papers to certify his knowledge. At this point, only certificates from recognized institutions advance a job seeker to the next level in the interview process.

Skills acquired

Any hiring manager needs a resourceful candidate to deliver. It is saddening to hire a liability thinking that only the academic papers reflect capability and competency to execute and complete a task.

As a candidate, avoid having a photo on your resume, use clear fonts and make it briefly relevant as your resume is among hundreds of others

Packaging

A neat document tells a lot about the candidate. Printouts of the resume should be neatly done with no spread ink or folding corners.