Outline to Make a Resume - Resume Outline Example

In our free outline to make a resume you will learn how to produce a winning resume that gets results. This article is aimed at students / recent graduates - click here for an outline of a resume for other people.

This free resume outline example has been tried and tested by many thousands of people - so it has been proven to work!

Below we will build on this basic resume outline by telling you the sort of things that can go in each section of your resume. You might also want to consider a functional or targeted resume, although this format of resume isn't really liked by employers or recruiters.

Want to significant improvement your CV / resume? A resume / CV service will be able to considerably improve it. Their CV / resume writers know how to write a CV / resume that can land you more job interviews with employers than one you wrote yourself.

Resume Outline Example

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In the following sections of this free outline to make a resume article we will tell you in a bit more detail what to put in each section of your resume. The number of sections you will need in your resume will depend on your own particular experience and on what job you are interested.

Name / Contact Details

The first thing that you should include on your resume at the top of the first page is your name and contact details. Your contact details should include your full address, telephone numbers (cell phone and home) and email address.

Profile

In your profile on your resume you can outline and summarize the skills and experience that you have gained from your education and any work experience (internships or other work experience). Only include things that would be relevant to a potential employer. The profile should only be about 5 or 6 lines of text - an employer won't want to read anymore than this. Make sure that you stick to the facts and never lie on your resume. You can certainly inject a bit of your personality into the profile. If you are a tenacious hard worker with a good eye for details then say this in your resume (if these characteristics are important for the sort of role you are applying for). You have to be careful that you don't build yourself up too much though - don't describe yourself as if you were a major business leader, when you are only applying for a junior position. Overselling yourself on your resume could cost you dearly!

Outline Your Major Achievements in Your Resume

Achievements can help to sell you to an employer. You should outline about 3 to 6 major achievements in your resume. These achievements must be relevant to what an employer is looking for. They can relate to what you have achieved at college / university, in sports teams, clubs / societies, internships and other work experience. Achievements could be about captaining a team, organizing an event or saving money or improving processes in the workplace.

Try and include facts and figures to quantify your achievements, as this makes your resume more interesting and helps to show your achievement in a better light. Make sure that you clearly state what the achievement relates to, is it for a particular club, society, employer, etc. Employers hate it when they can't work out what an achievement on your resume relates to, and may then dismiss it.

Education / Qualifications

It is normally best to outline your education and qualifications on your resume after your major achievements, if you recently left education, unless of course, you have really relevant work experience (in which case you may want to list your work experience before your education / qualifications).

You should generally list your most recent qualification first and then work your way back in reverse chronological order (starting with your most recent qualification). If you have lots of qualifications then you may leave out the less relevant qualifications, but don't do this if this would leave large gaps in your resume.

Outline Your Work Experience in Your Resume

It is normal to list work experience in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position and then working your way backwards. However if your most recent job isn't that relevant to what you want to do next then you may want to include any relevant internships / work experience first, perhaps having a separate section for the most relevant experience (perhaps call this Internships or Relevant Work Experience) and then have another section (perhaps called Other Work Experience) listing your other roles.

Concentrate on the roles that are most relevant to what you want to do and don't waste too much space on roles that are not that relevant. Focus on your main responsibilities, achievements and skills that you have learned in each role. Be sure to mention if you were promoted and perhaps include this as a separate role on your resume. If you were a team leader / supervisor or manager be sure to mention this on your resume, listing financial or budgetary responsibilities. For companies that aren't household names it might be worth outlining a brief description of the company.

Language Skills (optional)

If you have any specific language skills that may be relevant then you may want to have a language skills section on your resume.

IT Skills (optional)

If IT skills are relevant to the roles you are applying for then you should list your IT skills on your resume.

Personal Details (optional)

It's not normally necessary to include personal details on a resume, you should definitely leave out date of birth and marital status.

Hobbies / Interests (optional)

If you have recently left college / university then it may be relevant to outline details of your interests and hobbies, if you can demonstrate the skills / experience that you have got out of them. For example captaining a college / university team or organizing events for a club or society.

References (optional)

References aren't generally required at this stage - but check with your college / university whether employers in the profession that you have chosen would expect to see references listed on your resume. Leaving references out will also give you more space on your resume for other things.

Win More Interviews With a Professional Resume / CV

An experienced resume / CV writer from a CV writing service will sell your experience to employers, transforming your CV / resume, highlighting everything that you have to offer your next prospective employers, so that they will want to interview you rather than the all the other applicants.

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