With thousands of new graduates adding to the work force every year, it is certain that companies will receive tons of resumes from people who want to work for their institution. And to compete with other candidates, you should have that outstanding curriculum vitae (CV) that will make you stand out in the selection process.

A resume’s objective is for the company to have an overview of your overall package. Your goal is to market your skills, achievements, academic background and work experiences and align them to that job you’re applying for.

It is like a 30-second commercial where you should catch the attention of your audience and present a short and concise message.

To start with the first step, you should carefully plan the information you would provide in your resume. Focus only on the salient points because after all, the recruitment officer will not waste their time reading a 10-page CV.

Below are things you need to remember in creating the winning resume and to get you started in your job hunting adventure.

1. Basic Information Content- At the top of your CV, your name, address and contact information should be in font sizes 12-16 using clear font styles that are easy to understand like Arial, Calibri and Times New Roman.
2. Objective- This is the part where you state your purpose in applying for the job and what you can offer to the company. Keep it abridged with 20-35 words maximum. This is the synopsis of the whole resume that sums up your credentials.
3. Academic background- In this portion, you place your educational backdrop indicating the school and year you graduated and the degree you finished in college, high school and elementary. Also, you can specify awards and recognition you’ve received in school that are relevant to the job.
4. Skills- The section where you write all your skills which are suitable for the job you are aiming for. If you’ve undergone trainings or tests that can show your proficiency level, include it alongside the corresponding grade or score.
5. Relevant Internship Training/Work Experiences- This is where you place relevant information regarding your internship or previous work experience. Indicate vital job responsibilities to further explain your job function.
6. Affiliation- This is the part of your resume where you include organizations you are associated with that are related to the job application. You can also indicate organizations that you volunteer for because employers are curious to know about your interests outside your work.
7. Character References- This is one of the critical sections of your resume because you can only include three persons that you believe can speak about your skills and interests professionally. You can’t include your family members. As much as possible, you can choose to include your former professor in college, your internship coordinator and your previous colleague at work.

Make sure that you notify them that they have been chosen to be one of your character references. Employers might call them to ask about a background about your work ethics and performance so you better choose wisely.

Now that you’ve determined the essential parts of a basic resume, you can now start with your draft and have a mentor or friend check it from time to time.

The basic rule of thumb in creating your resume is: too much irrelevant information will not help you out in your job hunting attempt. Same goes to insufficient information, make sure you supply your CV will all the relevant and vital job data that will promote your professional credentials.

An ideal basic resume is consisted of two pages using a clear font style like Arial, Calibri or Times New Roman and with a font size that ranges from 11-12 for a clearer view of the text and content. Remember to be always be mindful and truthful with everything you put in your CV.

Now, we provide you with a checklist to know if you are good to go to get that dream job.

1. Presented all vital information needed
2. All employer’s measures accomplished
3. No typographical errors
4. Looks neat and clean

After achieving all goals, you are now set for your job application adventure and you are now ready to join the labor force.