How do you make a good resume?

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Usually, a recruiter looks at your resume first before reading your cover letter. So the purpose of your resume is to quickly show who you are and what you can do. A good resume can help you stand out among other candidates and make you more likely to get the job.

What information do you put on your resume?

So, what kind of information do you actually put on your resume, that silver platter of yourself? Your resume should have at least the following content:

Contact Information:
In order for us to contact you, it is important to include your contact information on your resume. This should include at least your first and last name, your address, your place of residence, your date of birth, your (mobile) phone number and your e-mail address.

Education:
List here all the education, courses and training you have taken. Start with your current or most recent education, training or course. This will appear at the top. Then follow your previous education, training or courses, with the oldest at the bottom. Include the years and whether you have received a diploma or certificate.

Work experience:
Job postings often ask about your work experience. List your work experience by employer here. Again, the most recent comes first. Have you had many different jobs? Then only explain what you did at the job -which is useful for your future job.

Skills:
Here you tell about the things you are good at that are important for the job you are applying for. For example, if you are certified to drive a forklift, you can write that down here.

Interests:
To make your resume even more personal, you can conclude with your interests. Make sure you only mention relevant hobbies and interests here that will give the recruiter a better picture of you as a person. Besides making your resume even more personal, hobbies and hidden talents are always good topics during the interview.

Have you gone through the above points? Then add another photo of yourself. Adding a photo is not mandatory, but it can make your resume more striking and add a personal touch. Just make sure it's a neat, professional photo of yourself and avoid vacation photos.

Connecting the dots

When you are ready to send your resume, double-check it for the following points. Then you can be sure that your resume looks good:

• Make sure your resume is no longer than a maximum of 2 pages.
• Make your resume clear. You can do this by adding headings, for example.
• Make sure you have a neat email address that includes the name you are also applying with (for example: jan.devries@email.com).
• Always have someone else check your resume. That person may still pick out a mistake you hadn't seen yourself.

Be honest

It may go without saying, but be honest when creating your resume. Many people like to sugarcoat certain things on their resume. Don't. Describing qualities on your resume that you lack or insufficiently possess may get you an invitation for a job interview, but you will ultimately fall through.

Not getting there or don't know where to start? No problem; you can apply to UBN even without a resume. At UBN, we are happy to help you. Have you just written your resume and are ready to apply? Then take a quick look at our vacancies.

View our vacancies here