5 Crucial Elements of a Good Resume

First impressions matter, and your resume is often the first impression that a potential employer gets of you. A well-written curriculum vitae will set you ahead of competition, providing you with an incredible chance to land your next big career move.

Therefore, it is essential to ensure it pinpoints all the unique selling points (USPs) to make you stand out from the crowd. While there is no universally accepted format, every good CV should include the following elements:

1. Heading

The heading is the first element of your resume. Most people tend to mention the word "resume" or "curriculum vitae" as their heading, but that shouldn't be the case because it is obvious.

Instead, mention your full name in bold and capital so that the person reading it can easily identify you. Feel free to also cite your location, i.e., country and city.

Additionally, don't forget to specify your official email address and add a professional photo if the employer has requested one.

2. Personal Statement

A personal statement is a one-paragraph summary meant to capture the potential employer's attention and entice them to find out more about you. You need to be careful when writing a personal statement to avoid cramming too much information into it.

The best way to do it is to take your main skill and relate it to the specific job you are after to show an employer how you can meet their needs.

3. Employment History

You shouldn't skip the employment history section, whether you are writing the resume yourself or using a CVmaker to accomplish the mission. List your work experience in reverse chronological order. Provide the employer with specific dates, locations, and names of employers that you were working with.

You should also include your job titles and summarize your main achievements while serving in different capacities. Use positive words such as expanded, progressed, managed, created, drove, devised, etc.

4. Academic Qualifications

This is where you provide information about your education. Be sure to state years of study and all qualifications gained, starting with the most recent.

It is not compulsory to write your exam results. Instead, just state the exams you did and the specific school you attended.

You also don’t have to list everything from preparatory school to university. Feel free to start with high school then university qualifications.

5. Certifications/Awards

Do you have any certifications, or have you won any awards? If so, then this is where you provide all those details with proper sequence.

Share conclusive details about your added skills and when you achieved them. In this case, added skills can be an internship you undertook, a technical course you studied, or a project you executed.

You should also list all published articles with proper references and details. Feel free to mention your language skills and computer proficiency as well.

6. Hobbies/Interests

Including your hobbies and interests in your CV is optional, and most people only use it as a way of filling up space on the document.

But the idea of listing your hobbies and interests is to give the potential employer a more rounded picture of yourself and perhaps, something personal to discuss during the interview.