A Comprehensive Step-by-Step Guide for 2025

1. Identifying Your Audience

The first step is identifying your audience—the people and technologies that will read your resume.

Your primary audience will probably be an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). ATS is a system that scans a candidate's resume and qualifies it for the second screening by the second audience. This human recruiter will review your application and decide whether to contact you for the interview.

2. Fetch Important Skills & Keywords

After establishing your first audience, the next step is finding the best way to pass the ATS and recruiter review. To do so, you need to understand how ATS works. ATS is like a human recruiter, but an electronic one. It manages the hiring process electronically and ranks the best resumes by scanning for relevant keywords and skills mentioned in your resume that resonate with the job description.

These are some of the best ways to find and use relevant keywords in your resume. You need to look for keywords such as:

3. Different Resume Formats And Choosing The Right One

Before diving into the details, the very first part of the resume building is to decide which of the best resume layouts to opt for. There are three kinds of best resume formats that you can choose from. All three focus on different sections of a resume based on various situations.

The three best resume layouts are:

Reverse-Chronological Format

Functional resume

Combination resume

Despite all three best resume layouts, reverse chronological is the most common format, and most recruiters prefer it. It lists your most recent job at the top and works backward, which is why most recruiters prefer it. It is also best for ATS because it makes it easy for the system to parse and show the progress in your career.

This (Chronological format) best layout for resume is perfect for people with consistent work history or professionals looking to show career growth.

PRO TIP

PRO TIP

This (Chronological format) best layout for resume is perfect for people with consistent work history or professionals looking to show career growth.

Here is what a reverse chronological resume format looks like:

However, the reverse chronological form is the most common one, which doesn't mean the other 2 formats are insignificant. If you are someone who explores different careers constantly and has a diverse work history, a combination will work the best for the candidate, as it will put equal focus on the varied and transferable skills that they gained from various job experiences.

On the other hand, a functional format will work best for individuals who recently graduated with a significant career break and want to focus more on skills rather than work experience.

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On the other hand, a functional format will work best for individuals who recently graduated with a significant career break and want to focus more on skills rather than work experience.

4. Sections Every Resume Must Include

Regardless of the perfect resume format you choose, there are some sections every resume should have. Let's break them down one by one:

01:

Contact Information

This is the simplest yet most crucial part of your resume. Make sure it's clear and easy to find.

What to Include:

• Full Name
• Phone Number
• Professional email address
• LinkedIn profile (optional) 

02:

Professional Summary or Career Objective 

The second and most important element of a resume is a professional summary or career objective that goes right on top of your resume. It is short and direct and tells the recruiter in quick snippets. Thus, make sure it is creative and includes all the right characteristics of an appealing resume; let's talk about both separately, how it should be, and who it is best for: 

1:

Professional Summary

This is a quick overview of your experience as well as your skills, also a profile section. It's excellent for experienced professionals who like to underline their accomplishments. See the example below to get an idea of how to write a profile section of resume:

2:

Career Objective

If you're new to the workforce or switching careers, an objective statement can outline your goals and how you can contribute to the company.

Example:

Recent graduate in Graphic Design eager to apply creative and technical skills to help brands grow through visually compelling content.

03:

Work Experience

The third most important section of a resume is obviously your work experience. This section should show your career progression and what you've achieved in each role. You can use bullet points to make the work experience clear and easy to read. However, if you don't have much experience, you can highlight your education and your relevant skills to the job description. You can also check out our guides on how to write a resume with no experience.

What to Include for Each Job:

• Job title
• Employer name 
• Employment dates
• Key responsibilities and achievements

04:

Education

The 'Education' section of your resume is extremely important as it can be a great point to stand out from your competitors. It is important when you don't have much experience in the field, and it can work wonders for you when it comes to getting a job. Thus, you need to have your academic qualifications in reverse order, starting with the most recent degree or course.

What to Include:

• Degree
• Institution name
• Graduation year

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If you're a recent graduate, you can also add relevant coursework or projects.

05:

Skills

Another important section of your resume is the skills section. It is a quick way for the recruiter to know what you are capable of. This section can be a really good element if you don't have much work experience, are fresher, or are looking to switch your industry. The skills section is often divided into two categories, as you already know: 

1:

Hard Skills:

Technical skills include data analysis, coding, or graphic design.

2:

Soft Skills:

This category includes your interpersonal qualities like teamwork, problem-solving, and time management.

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Match your skills to the ones mentioned in the job description, as it can help the recruiter find your resume relevant. Plus, it can be a great way to pass the ATS system because it passes your resume by detecting relevant keywords and phrases from the job description.

06:

Certifications and Awards

Sometimes, people don't consider adding or putting extra effort into putting their certificates or awards. However, it can be a great section and add value to your resume that a recruiter might find compelling, which can ultimately boost your chances of getting an interview.

What to Include:

• Certifications (e.g., Google Analytics, Certified Scrum Master)
• Awards (e.g., 'Top Sales Performer 2022')

5. Writing Tips for a Winning Resume

How to craft a job-winning cover letter?

How to craft a job-winning cover letter?

Use AI Pro Resume to generate a personalised cover letter by simply entering a prompt, and start crafting yours in minutes.

6. A Quick Word About Our AI-Powered Resume Builder

If designing and formatting and learning how to write a resume for a job from scratch feels like a challenge, tools like resume makers, which include some incredible platforms such as AI Pro Resume, can make the process easier. These tools offer professional resume templates, help with content with AI suggestions, and ensure ATS-friendly formatting.

Some Professional Resume Examples For You To Check Out

Creative Infusion Template

Create Resume

Professional Polished Resume Template

Create Resume

Classic Professional

Create Resume

Pro Tip

Pro Tip

To build your resume in these or similar templates, head towards AI Pro Resume and boost your chances of getting your much-awaited job opportunity.