How to Add More Weight to Your Entry Level Resume

Having graduated recently, you know that you don’t have any work experience that can grab the employer’s attention. What can you do to get their attention? What are the specialized skills and qualities that can get you noticed? Can you convert your academic experience to look like your job related work to convince the employer about your potential for working in the position? Look for answers to all these questions before you draft a perfect entry level resume.

Being an entry level applicant, you must focus on your key skills. It is the only section in your CV that can get you noticed. Your application is your first impression on the prospective employer and you can’t let it go waste. When writing an entry level resume for a job, always do thorough research about the company and the work profile associated with the position. With proper research you will know what qualities the employer will be searching in you when he goes through your resume.

How to Make Your Entry Level Resume Strong

Let’s discuss some basic tips for writing an entry level resume. These tips will be helpful to you while applying for a position.

1. Right Length:

A short and apt application will always get more number of employers. Don’t include anything that is irrelevant to the applied job profile. Ideally, a resume should be of single page length, but, if it is not possible to include all the job-related information in this small space, two pages is the maximum.

2. Mention Key Skills:

You don’t possess any professional work experience. Hence, you must focus on listing your key skills in your CV. The skills presented should be relevant to the position. You can use bulleted points to list your key skills to make this section more readable and easy to understand. If you are using the functional format, then you can provide the short description of each of your job skill. Tell the employer where you learned the particular skill and how it helped you in the past or how it will help you in your prospective work in the future.

3. Customize Your Application:

You know that employers are constantly looking for the job relevant skills in the candidates when they review each application. They may be looking for any particular skill necessary for working in the position. You can refer the job advertisement to know the skills that are expected by the employer. Include this information in your application to get employer’s attention.

4. Choose the Format:

Do you know that there are various formats for writing a resume? You cannot just take a pen and paper and start jotting down your details. Depending on the position you are applying for, you need to choose an appropriate format. Some formats are best for experienced candidates while some are good for entry level applicants.

Entry level applicants find functional or skills-based format best. With no work experience, this format will be focusing on your key skills and accomplishments. This section is listed immediately after the career summary section.

5. Avoid Common Errors:

You must check your application at least thrice for grammar and typographic errors before sending it to the employer. Such mistakes will create a bad impression on the employer. You can also get your application checked from any of your friend or relative.

6. Open with a Strong Objective Statement:

Objective statement is an opening 2-3 line paragraph providing information about applicant’s specialized skills, key accomplishments, etc. Employer will be interested to know your future aspirations and what you would offer the company while achieving your career goals. Make it impressive to hold the interest of the employer in reading your details further.

7. Avoid Unclear and Vague Information:

If you list vague or false information in your CV, it will make a negative impact on the employer. They may even bar your application from the recruitment process.

All these tips will surely add weight to your application. Focus on listing your major job specific skills for making better impact on the prospective employer.

Contact Information:

• Name
• Address
• Contact Number
• E-Mail ID

Career Objective:

[Your career goal here. Add your major accomplishments, key skills and related experience]

Career Summary:

[Provide brief introduction of your professional background. You can list the details in bulleted points]

Key Skills:

[Existing skills relevant to the job can be listed in this part. List the details in bulleted points for better appearance]

Educational Qualifications:

[List all the degrees in this section]

• Highest Degree, Year of passing

College/ University, Address

• Next Degree, Year

College/ University, Address

Academic Experiences:

[Your experiences during college work can be listed here. If you have volunteered for any event, you can list this here. If you have undergone internship in any industry, you can add that here]

Project Details:

[Provide the details of the project you undertook during your final year. Provide brief introduction about the project]

• Project Name
• Platform
• Description
• Associated Hardware
• Type of database

Accomplishments:

[All your academic achievements can be listed in this part. If there are less than three accomplishments, you can include this section along with the certifications section, else, list it separately]

Personal Profile:

[Personal details will include complete profile of the candidate]

• Full Name
• Permanent Address
• Date of Birth
• Nationality
• Gender
• Marital Status
• Official E-Mail ID

References:

• Name of reference
• Job Title
• Company Name
• Contact Number
• Official Mail ID

A resume can not only get you a desired job but, if poorly written, can also take an opportunity away from you. It is up to you to decide how you utilize it. The main purpose of any CV is to get you the interview call. During the interview you can convince the employer to hire you, but it is initially important to get there. A perfectly written CV will make the way a lot easier for you.

Got more entry level resume tips? Share them in the comments.

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