how to make resume on word

At some point or another - meaning, before online resume builders made our lives easier - most of us have had to make a resume in Give-and-take.

At present, making a resume in Word can exist tiresome. Non being entirely optimized for the task, it can give yous a hard fourth dimension formatting and styling your resume to your needs - and this is just ane of its disadvantages.

That being said, the use of Word is unlikely to drop only because it's impractical. This ways that knowing how to make a resume in Word is still a skilful skill to have. And if yous're sitting and thinking: "well, this doesn't make matters any easier" - we hear you.

That's exactly why this article is here - to teach yous how to make a resume in Discussion, in just a few easy steps.

Should You Brand a Resume in Discussion?
How to Brand a Resume in Word in 7 Piece of cake Steps
How to Format your Resume - three Pro Formatting Tips

But earlier we dive into the nitty-gritty details of how to make a resume in Word, let's go through the downsides of using information technology to build your resume, and what other easier alternatives you might have in more detail.

Should You Make a Resume in Word?

Microsoft Give-and-take might once accept been a superlative resume-building option, but that fourth dimension is long gone. Although it has ready-made templates, Word in itself was never meant to be a resume architect - this reflects on the stop production, which often looks sometime-fashioned and dull.

Not to mention that it offers very little space for inventiveness. Try to brand a small change in the layout and see the format crumble in front of your optics.

On the other manus, if you simply use the Word template without customizing it, yours might just go another resume in the oversupply that won't fifty-fifty laissez passer the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) - the software nearly companies use to filter through countless resumes they receive daily.

Long story brusk, here are MS Word's main cons as a resume architect:

Long story short, here are MS Word'southward master cons as a resume builder:

It can be clunky and outdated - chances are, any Word template you choose to apply for your resume will look erstwhile-fashioned. Technology has changed what is expected of your resume, but every bit it has changed task-search over the last decade.
It is not ATS-optimized - the software that most recruiters use non to waste product time looking at the resumes? Well, most Word templates are non optimized for it. This ways that you tin can be the fittest candidate for the job and not fifty-fifty go invited to an interview.
It's time-consuming - making changes to the layout of a Discussion resume template is a nightmare.

Everyone knows what happens when yous move an epitome in Word:

moving image word

Source: twistedsifter.com

It's exactly for these reasons, as well every bit the added efficiency, originality, and time preservation, that online resume builders are the obvious choice for creating your resume.

Novorésumé'southward online resume builder is fast, easy to utilize, and perfect if y'all desire to country that interview. You can kickoff building your resume immediately just past clicking on the link, or you lot can pick one of our costless resume templates , according to your needs.

Footstep #i: Option a Word Resume Template

The first footstep in making a resume in Word is accessing its complimentary resume templates. How yous access the templates may modify depending on the Microsoft Give-and-take version you're using, merely what y'all ultimately need to practise is the following:

Open Word.

Select ane of the Resume templates Give-and-take suggests, or simply search for "resume" and you'll find a bunch more than.

Cull the resume template that best fits your qualifications and professional person profile.

Click "Create."

Yous're good to go: the template should appear every bit a Word document ready to exist filled with your personal information and all other relevant sections.

Pace #2: Create a Resume Header

From this point on, things should be pretty piece of cake to pick upwards.

Showtime filling upwardly your resume from the top, which is where the resume header is located. Traditionally, the header should include the following information:

First and last name
Phone Number
Email
Location (Street Address, City, State)

Y'all may notice the lack of optional information in this resume template, such as your professional person job championship, your LinkedIn URL, or social media links.

If y'all experience like that info will significantly improve your resume, look for a Word template that includes them, or manually add together them to the template you lot've already chosen. We'll go over some formatting techniques to improve your resume template later on on in the article.

Step #three. Include a Resume Summary or Objective

Adjacent, you need to describe your professional experience or professional goals (in case you lack the experience) through the resume summary or objective.

Write a resume summary or resume objective - depending on which i best fits your resume - and endeavor to express yourself in a mode that will keep the recruiter'south attention for more the traditional 7 seconds.

Quick recap: a resume summary is a 2-3 judgement overview of your career and is used in 90% of the cases. A resume objective is more commonly used among those with footling professional experience or those who are irresolute careers and describes your professional goals.

Step #iv: Create a Compelling Work Experience Department

This is where things go serious.

The work experience section is the most important part of your resume for obvious reasons and commonly plays a decisive role in the recruiters' decisions. So merely filling upwardly the gaps in the experience section of the Word template won't be plenty. You should try to make this section every bit compelling every bit possible - following some of the tips provided below.

But first, the basics. As with any standard format, the experience department should include the post-obit components:

Job title and position
Visitor name and location
Dates of employment
Achievements and responsibilities

Again, how the resume looks in Discussion will depend on the template that you lot have called.

Obviously, the template lets y'all add as many professional person entries as yous wish - but that doesn't mean y'all should go overboard. Listing your experience in contrary-chronological order, pregnant: start from the latest and move back in time, based on the amount of professional experience y'all possess.

There are, of class, a couple of pro tips that y'all should follow even every bit you use the Give-and-take templates to make your feel section more compelling.

Pro Tip #ane - List achievements over responsibilities

Discover the example higher up.

Instead of responsibilities, we accept opted to list achievements. Listing achievements over responsibilities whenever possible is one of the all-time ways to stand out in the eyes of recruiters. That'southward because responsibilities are similar for one type of job, while achievements show exactly what you tin contribute to the position.

Pro Tip #2 - Tailor your resume to the job you are applying for.

Another good do is tailoring your resume to the task you are applying for. This can help you become through the ATS and land your resume right on the recruiters' tables.

If you desire to know exactly what data to include in your resume, how and when to list achievements over responsibilities, and how to tailor your resume to your job, head over to our complete guide on how to write a resume .

Step #5: Add Your Educational Background

Things should go quite like shooting fish in a barrel subsequently you become your professional person feel section out of the way.

The teaching department of your resume should include the following:

Academy name and location
Years attended
Program name / Caste obtained

Optionally, you can include your GPA, Small degrees, or any special accolade or bookish achievement. Our advice is to include them only if you are a recent graduate or entry-level professional with not much else to include in your resume, or if your education history is truly outstanding.

Step #6: Make Sure to Include Your Skills

At this betoken, you can consider near of the work done!

Now that y'all have reached the skills section, things get even easier. Make a bullet or numbered list of your hard and soft skills and you lot're skilful to go.

Difficult skills are normally measured through experience levels - y'all tin can place your experience level (usually categorized into Beginner/Intermediate/Avant-garde or Adept) into brackets, so you don't accept upwardly also much space within the resume.

Pro Tip #three - Tailor the skills and qualifications on your resume to the job

Have a look at the essential skills required on the task ad and see if you can comprise them into your list of skills.

Footstep #7: Include Optional Resume Sections

Congrats - yous can finally stretch your legs and fifty-fifty allow yourself a little pat on the back.

The additional sections are non mandatory in a resume, so if you've reached your resume space limit, you tin can just call it a day and save your resume.

They are, however, a peachy way to evidence off additional assets such as languages, hobbies and interests, and even volunteering experience on your resume!

Remember to also make up one's mind your language knowledge levels. Those are Native, Fluent, Expert, Intermediate, and Basic.

In the off chance that yous even so have some space left - because resumes should be 1-ii pages at near and that Word templates are not equally skillful at saving space as online resume builders - you tin include the post-obit optional sections:

Certifications and Awards
Publications
Projects

Follow the same practice as with the skills section, and you're good to go!

How to Format Your Discussion Resume

With all the essentials covered, let'southward go over some formatting tips such as fonts, line spacing, and headings so that your Give-and-take resume looks as compatible and clean-cut as possible.

All-time Resume Fonts in Word

We cannot repeat this enough - the resume font you utilize, matters. It matters just as much as first appearances matter and nosotros all know they do, a lot.

The font that you decide to apply will impact your resume readability whether you like information technology or not, and then you lot should use a font that will assist you lot stand up out, but not in a bad style. What's a bad way? Comic Sans and other similarly-looking comic fonts.

The usual Times New Roman, point-12, formula, on the other hand, will just blend yous with the crowd.

Instead, consider using one of the following recruiter-friendly fonts which volition complement your resume both on-screen and in printed form, according to Business concern News Daily:

Calibri
Cambria
Garamond
Didot
Georgia
Helvetica
Arial
Book Antiqua
Trebuchet MS

Optimal Line Spacing for a Give-and-take Resume

The good thing near the Word resume template is that it usually has fonts and line spacing covered for you, yet information technology'due south withal skillful to know that the best line spacing for resumes is one or ane.fifteen between text and double lines later headings.

Experience free, however, to play around with line spacing when it comes to adjusting your resume layout.

Headings in a Word Resume

Over again, Discussion templates do a good job of making the headings stand out. Equally a dominion of thumb - and equally is noticeable in the to a higher place examples - headings should exist bigger than the rest of the text. So, if you're using a 12 pt text, consider adjusting the headings between 14-16 pt.

Y'all tin also underline or assuming each resume section heading, or even use a different font, but as we e'er advise: don't become overboard and endeavour to maintain the style of the Word resume template that yous accept chosen.

And by now, you should have a complete resume in Word that looks like this:

word resume example

Key Takeaways

Well, here you have it - your nicely tailored resume in Word, prepare to country y'all that job interview.

Although not the easiest task, we are convinced this article has given you all the necessary information on how to brand a resume in Discussion and the confidence to practise so hands.

Hither'southward what's good to retrieve:

Order your resume sections properly, normally in reverse-chronological club.
Brand certain that your department headings stand out from the rest of the text, by normally using a larger font size.
Check if your chosen font, line spacing, and margins are aligned, readable, and professional-looking.
Opt for an online resume builder such as the one Novorésumé provides for a more mod, time-saving, and Hr-friendly resume.