How To Make a Resume, Recruiter & Insights by Luis Mojica

My name is Luis Córdoba Mojica. I am Lead Recruiter at Softon and have more than 2 years of experience in the Human Resources field, focusing on Recruitment and Selection. One of the most common inquiries I receive from candidates and friends is: How do I go about building my resume?

It’s easy to look at a Word sheet like the one we have here and wonder: What do I do now? Where do I begin? What can I include?

In some cases, this task is intimidating, especially if you don’t have work experience or don’t feel like a fit for the position. For that reason, I want to share insights from my own resumes and those I have reviewed, creating this guide with tips to help you take that first step in creating a resume.

A resume generally has four main parts:

• Personal information
• Work experience
• Academic training
• Skills

These parts are considered “main parts” but they are not the only ones your resume should have. Some resumes will have more, but these four are the most important.

Personal information:

Personal data is crucial to the resume as it identifies you to the recruiter. Not all personal data is necessary; recognizing which ones are essential is important.

• Must include:
• Full name
• Email
• Phone number
• Should not include:
• Full address
• Marital status
• ID number
• Age or date of birth
• Last GPA

The data you should include allows the recruiter to identify and contact you if the rest of the resume aligns with the position. Data that doesn’t fulfill this task is unnecessary. Check this example

Work experience:

One of the most important sections of a resume. However, if you don’t have work experience, not everything is lost. There are options you can include.

In general, this section must always comply with the following:
• Reverse chronological order (most recent to oldest)
• Use bullets to simplify reading
• Use action verbs

If you have work experience:

• Talk about the last 3 positions you’ve had or the last 10 years of working life.

If you do NOT have work experience:

• The ideal order is internships, professional practices, and volunteering. Internships or practices experienced in a career or technician role can provide important tools for future job opportunities.

Academic training:

In this section, it is unnecessary to indicate the academic training received in school, kindergarten, or elementary school. It is better to include college or high school education if you do not have a college degree. If you have not finished your studies, indicate a possible graduation date if you are close to completing them.

Skills:

In this section, include details regarding your skills such as languages ​​you master and relevant courses or training. For languages, avoid using percentages; instead, use terms like “basic”, “intermediate”, and “advanced”.

General tips:

I would like to end this article with some important tips for creating a resume.

Customize your resume for the position:

It is important to have the job description available when creating a resume. This helps you reflect the skills requested for the position in your resume. Create a new resume for each position you apply to, as not all positions require the same skills.

For instance, if you apply for a creative role, highlight your artistic skills. For an administrative position, emphasize organizational skills. It is difficult to have a resume that applies to all positions, so updating and creating new ones is essential. If the position demands a high level of English, your CV should be in English.

Showcase soft skills:

Sometimes positions request soft skills like leadership or a sense of urgency. Therefore, reflect these skills in your resume to match the profile being requested. For leadership, mention times you led a team or project. Similarly, for proactivity, include experiences where you found solutions before problems arose. Provide examples to demonstrate these soft skills effectively.

Keep it concise:

Try to keep your resume to two pages. Recruiters do an initial scan of your profile, and a concise resume helps ensure your details are reviewed. Save the file in PDF format with a clear name indicating it’s a resume. Files in Word format or with unclear names may be overlooked by recruiters.

In conclusion, making a resume is a challenging but manageable task. Consider what recruiters ask for in each job position and align your skills and experiences accordingly. Creating a new resume for each application is a good practice. Additionally, using the job description to identify relevant skills ensures you share necessary information while respecting the resume’s length limit.

Finally, I hope this guide on how to make a resume helps you in future processes. Resume building is not an exact science, so experiment to find what works for you. Adhering to general considerations will make your resume stand out. Don’t fear making mistakes; it’s the only way to learn and improve.