The very first step to take in applying for a job position is to build a resume. No one would hire a person without the person in question presenting a resume of a sort in advance. It’s through this that a potential employee or staff can be assessed. You should have understood this. But what you might not know about is that the resume you build must be powerful enough to at least get you an interview. There are some aspects that you need to discover so that the resume you are about to build is capable of grabbing attention without looking preposterous or assuming because a manager would spot a bluff miles away. Once they do, there is no chance you will be able to secure a seat in the next interview schedule.

When it comes to building a resume, it’s extremely important to make it as straightforward as you can. However, making it overly forward will only make the person on the receiving end think you are some sort of a rude person or at least impolite. Therefore, insert enough chit-chat or polite gesture on your cover letter but not too much so as to make it, well, saturated with “please”, “apologize”, or something like that.

What about the cover letter?

The cover letter sets the mood so if it fails to make a strong, positive impression on the person reading it, it’s a dead end. The manager might still continue reading the rest of the application letter but with a bad aftertaste following a not so on-point opening. Once you nail the cover letter matter, you can continue building your resume. Now, in this section, list everything from your educational background to professional experiences in ascending order, from the earliest to the most recent. As it’s “professional”, list only things that paid you and the payment comes from an institution or an organization; so things like “helping a brother fix his computer” wouldn’t count even if it did pay you some money.

Now if you have been involved with tons of jobs in the past and they had all been paying jobs, list only five to six most recent. That should be enough to paint a picture for the manager to see what you are capable of. Listing them all would oversaturate the resume and be distracting.

Simplicity should be your guiding theme in this case. Don’t insert emojis. You perhaps think it will make yourself look friendly and fun but in doing so, you just turn yourself into an unprofessional individual. Remember, an application letter is a formal letter nonetheless. Deliver the resume on the plain list. Talk about your life (if you must) in short and describe only the best points in your life experience. Don’t forget to also include skills, soft and hard. Even when you wish to include artistic elements to show just how much creative you are as a person, do so in moderation.

You can have fun with your artistic side in portfolios but for this segment, keeping it plain would be your safest bet. Confusing? Well, there is always resume build service out there to turn to. An online resume build tool should be able to create a resume for you without you having to deal with the hassles yourself.