What Are the Key Elements in a Resume?

When you’re applying for a job, you’ll likely need to send a resume as part of your application. Hiring managers will use the information in your resume to determine whether you have the relevant qualifications and work experience for the role.

Your resume may only be a couple of pages long but it’s essential that you follow these resume tips and get it right. You need to use the right words, the best sentence structure, and accurate information about your skills and experience.

Missing just one piece of the resume-writing puzzle could cause your application to get rejected by hiring managers. Recruiters get a large volume of applicants for every single vacancy that they put out, so they won’t hesitate to dismiss your resume if it doesn’t meet their strict criteria.

Key Elements to Include in Your Resume

Within just a few hours of concentration, you can curate the perfect resume that leaves a lasting impression on hiring managers. To help you land the perfect role in your dream career, here are the most important elements to consider when writing a good resume.

Layout

The layout of your resume should be professional and neat. It should follow a narrative that is easy for hiring managers to follow.

Include details about your qualifications and work experience near the top of the resume, as recruiters often search for this information first. Usually, listing your experience in chronological order is best so the employer can see your progression over the years.

Avoid using long paragraphs of unbroken text. Instead, split up your paragraphs using subheadings, lists, and bullet points.

You can use free resume templates to help you figure out the best layout. All you need to do is adapt the information within each section of the template and you’ll have the perfect resume for your job applications.

Fonts

Use professional fonts that are legible and neat, such as Arial and Times New Roman. The fonts should be consistent throughout the entire resume, as should the font size. Keep the heading font size larger than the size of subheadings and paragraph text to make them stand out.

Keywords

Hiring managers scan through every resume to search for keywords. Applicants who have used lots of relevant, industry-related terminology in their resumes are more likely to receive interviews.

Research the most common and important keywords and key phrases in the industry and make a conscious effort to include them in all of your paragraphs. This will display your knowledge and expertise to employers, increasing your chance of success.

You can use tools like Google Trends to find keywords or read the blogs and web pages of various companies in the industry.

Avoid using keywords for the sake of it! They should be placed in such a way that they sound natural and authentic. The content of your resume should still flow naturally from one point to the next, with the industry-related terminology strategically weaved into each paragraph.