How to create an outstanding resume – Part 1

This post has been republished via RSS; it originally appeared at: New blog articles in Microsoft Community Hub.

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Have you been applying for different roles in tech, but gotten lots of rejections? You made changes to your resume, but you still get rejections? Sad to hear this! Not to worry though, we're here to help you with some great tips that can help you stand out if you apply them when submitting your next application.

 

This blog is based off tips shared in this Microsoft Learn path. You should check it out.

 

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The truth is most times, thousands of jobseekers like you apply for a specific role. For you to get noticed, you need to ensure that you submit an outstanding application. Without a great resume, your application might go unnoticed. In this blog, we will walk you through the different things you need to do to create a catching resume.

 

Ready? Let’s go! Create a new word document or get a sheet of paper let’s begin.

 

Start your resume with your name and personal email address at the top boldly written. Please never include personal identifiable information like your phone number, house address, date of birth, state of origin or even year of birth in your resume except requested by the employer. Also, you do not need to include your photo in your resume as this would take up space.

 

Next, you need to include sections that cover your educational background, skill set, experiences, affiliations or projects you have worked on. Now let’s talk about these different sections.

  1. Education: It is important to include this in your resume especially for students or recent graduates. When coming up with this part, list out your area of study, graduation date, the program of study and academic institution as well as a concise list of related coursework. Let’s talk a little about these. 
    • Your area of study: Here you are required to write the title of the degree you are aiming to obtain or already obtained at the top. Ensure to format it in bold or italic or capitalize it so it is distinct from the rest of the text. 
    • Graduation date: Type in your graduation date in the same line as your degree. If you are yet to graduate, specify your expected graduation date instead of your completion dat. For example, you should write, “Expected: June 2023”. 
    • Program of Study: Next, specify your program of study and include the academic institution where the program is located. If you have attended multiple institutions and attained multiple degrees, you do not need to include all of them. Just include the ones that best fit the role you are applying for. 
    • Coursework: Here you are required to create a concise list of courses that are related to the role you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a Software Engineering role with a Computer Science degree, you should include Data Structure and Algorithms or programming languages you were taught. 
      If you’re not a Computer Science student or degree holder and you’re applying for a Software Engineering role, be sure to read through the job description and tailor your course list to match the knowledge set required. The next section would be a great place to sell yourself. 
      If you’re applying for a non-technical role, you might want to include non-technical courses, or any other course related to the role. Whichever case, the skills section should be your focus.
  2. Skills: This section should be short and should only contain skills related to the role. The goal is for you to showcase your technical skills if you’re applying for a technical role, or non-technical skills if you’re applying for a non-technical role. 
    Carefully review the job description and match your skills with the required skills listed in the job posting. If the job description requires you to have years of experience, be sure to also include that. If it requires you to have intermediate or beginner knowledge, include those in your resume.  
    You can combine multiple skills into subgroups but ensure that they are related to each other. For example, all programming languages should be grouped together. You should group software and frameworks you have worked with into a single subgroup and not together with programming languages. To save some vertical space, you can decide to use a table to list the respective skills. 

We want you all to succeed and secure your dream role this year. In the next blog, we would share more information you need to include in your resume and at the end, share what the result of your resume would be if you followed all the suggestions outlined here. 

 

 

We would also share links to some resume templates that you can utilize. We have also provided some additional resources for you, containing links to articles that would go a long way in helping you in your tech journey.

 

Additional Resources

Register and Attend Microsoft Student Summit 2023 in March to Start and Accelerate Your Career in Tech

Opportunities for Students

Getting your first job in tech

Stay Focused in your tech Career!

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