Resume Writing: How Should Freshers With No Experience Draft Their Resume?

Writing a resume for the first time can be an overwhelming experience. It is thus important to understand what are the sections in which you can distribute your data.

What Should Each Section Entail?

Below is a breakdown of what each section should entail. A typical resume would broadly have the sections given further down.

Header

To get started, use a pre-made resume template from any popular online platform that you feel would match your needs. You can tweak it according to your preference or make a new format from scratch. An MS Word document is the ideal choice for this as it can be edited easily for as many changes as you want.

The header will include your first and last name along with your phone number, email id, home address, and LinkedIn profile URL or your personal website (if you have any). This could also include a link to your portfolio that showcases your work. The ideal length of the header should be 14-16 points and the rest of information below it should be 12-14 points. Ensure that you give out the latest information as this would be the window for the recruiter to reach you for the next step of the application process.

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Avoid putting your picture as there always are chances of it being subject to bias of the hiring manager.

Objective

This is the section where you state your purpose. It generally is the summary of one’s experience but freshers should use this section to talk about their interests and the kind of role they’re looking for (2-4 lines). it should include your relevant qualifications, achievements, and how you would contribute to the company.

Example | College graduate with Master’s in Marketing and former president of placement cell at ITM University. Dedicated worker looking to manage online brand and product campaigns to raise brand awareness.

To write the sentences better, look at the job description (JD) and pick out keywords to include in the objective as this would be the first thing a recruiter will look at.

In the above example, if the JD mentions SEO and website then you can tweak the introduction as following:

Dedicated worker looking to manage online brand and product campaigns to raise brand awareness using SEO writing, increasing website traffic for online reputation management.

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As you are a fresher with no experience yet, you can add your degree in the objective section. It is not advised otherwise to do so. Typically, work experience comes first but as you are a fresher, your qualifications should come first.

Education

This section can be put in a tabular or paragraph format. Ideally, your latest qualification will come first. In a chronology then mention the last school/ university you attended.

Start by writing your college university name, followed by the name of the course and its duration. You may also highlight your grade, CGPA, percentage if you are a fresher. Your academic performance is inconsequential to your selection but it surely helps to showcase your hard work and dedication.

You could also list your academic achievements like any scholarships or honours you’ve received, or if you scored a position in class or at the university level. Some other milestones that could also be highlighted here are -memberships of clubs or committees.

Work Experience

A good idea is to think back to the work you have done in college, school or outside of it that may relate to the job you are applying for. Here the work done at your parents’ or relatives' businesses would also work.

You can always jot down your experience of volunteering, fund raising, tuitions, freelancing, blogging, etc.

Start with the company name followed by the position held, underneath or next to it the commencement month and year to the end of the project/experience.

Example | If you were a YouTuber or started a page on Instagram for fitness, the content to your experience can look like:

• Worked with course mates to create content on health and fitness using Vimly
• Managed account and content track performance using Instagram Insights and Google Analytics

If you are applying for the job of a content writer, your experience of being part of the editorial team of your college would be relevant and worth mentioning. It could be stated as:-

Convenor Editorial Team, 2016

Competed with 12 state universities from India at Sang Fest and won gold medal

To get started, use a pre-made resume template from any popular online platform that you feel would match your needs.

Skills

There are two types of skills to be listed – hard skills and soft skills.

Hard skills are those which are attained by training, education, knowledge, or experience and are job specific. For instance, for a web designing job, Hard Skills that could be listed are – Wordpress, HTML, Hootsuite, etc.

Soft skills are the people skills that show how you determine with others in the workplace. These are not role-specific but general in nature across all industries. Some soft skills that you can include in your resume are conflict management, open-mindedness, and adaptability.

Be mindful that you are not adding skills that could be hurtful to the values of the company, or are political in nature.

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Language Proficiency

Knowing, understanding and being able to speak multiple languages can be useful in any situation at any job. To build relationships with clients, vendors and various other stakeholders, knowing a cocktail of different languages can be a jackpot, especially for sales function jobs.

Ensure to use adjectives like – beginner, intermediary, or expert – the level at which you currently are. If you’ve trained in a third language from a specific school, it is a good idea to mention its name and the dates of the attainment of certificate.

Interests & Hobbies

To gauge your personality and character, the skills and hobbies section comes to show how you are outside of work. You can add hobbies here such as blogging, gaming, art, any sports or instruments that you play, and the like.

How Should Your Resume Look?

You have a lot more data which you can structure on your resume than you imagine. As you are starting for the first time, keep these points in mind:-

Font | Font should be preferably Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri. These are standard fonts popularly used across business. Ensure to keep the same format throughout your resume.

Margins | Keep a 0.7 to 1 inch standard margin on all four sides so that your data looks aligned.

Alignment | You should ideally keep the information on your resume either left or centrally aligned.

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Colours | The text on your resume should be black in colour. Avoid using too many colours and even if you do choose to put some, make sure they are of the same family and do not look jarring to the eyes.

Spell Check | Recruiters will pass on your resume if they find errors. Use MS word, Grammarly, or other softwares online to ensure that you are not making any errors.

No Clutter | Make it simple. Keep your resume neat and have as little as possible on it because that would make it easier for the recruiter to find the relevant keywords.

White Space | Figure out the industry in which you are going to work and what is their approach. For instance, a resume for finance will look very different from one for graphic designing. The more conservative the industry, more so will be the resume. Good space is good in the resume if it’s centrally aligned so that the recruiter can hone in on the important parts of the resume, but make sure there are not too many breaks because that would hamper reading flow.

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Needless to say, ensure to tailor-make your resume for that specific job, company and role you’re applying for. Also ensure that you are sending in your resume with a cover letter and that both are proofread, checked for spelling errors and have impeccable formatting. If you put your mind to it, you will never run out of things to write on your resume.

Parisraja Bajpai is an Organisational Psychologist, with extensive hand-on experience in talent acquisition, talent management, employee counselling, employee engagement, training and development. She is currently heading HR department at Nexstgo. Views presented in this article are solely of the author and do not reflect those of the organisation/s they are associated with.