Applying for a job can be quite tough today. According to an article published in Inc. Southeast Asia, a company that posts a job opening will receive about 250 resumes. This means that at least 250 individuals are interested in the job and each applicant will have to compete with dozens of other candidates to land this highly coveted position.

And since you will be relying on your resume to get ahead of the competition, you need to have the perfect document to submit every time you are interested in a job opening.

 

Having the Perfect Resume

Using a ready-made template is the norm and acceptable practice for creating a resume today. After all, when you use resume templates, you simply enter all your personal information and within minutes, you will have a beautifully designed document you can submit if a particular job vacancy catches your eye. It’s a simple and convenient way to have a professional-looking resume.

But according to staffing solutions providers, although using a template is the easiest and fastest way to have a resume, you still need to put some additional effort into creating a product that should stand out. This is because there is a high chance that the recruiter has already seen the template you used before. As such, the likelihood of your application standing out is reduced.

The key, therefore, to having the perfect resume while still using a template to create it is customization. If you plan on using a resume builder, choose one that has customization features or tools. If you have to pay for this additional tool, it will be something worth paying for since you will still save yourself a lot of time and effort. This is because you won’t have to come up with a resume from scratch.

For instance, most templates contain sections for placing your objective or details about your references. These types of information are often not necessary. Customize the template to replace them with sections that can highlight your relevant experiences or projects that you led or completed on your own.

 

Selecting the Ideal Resume Template

Since having a personalized resume that stands out still depends on choosing a good template first, here are some important factors you have to consider when making your decision:

  • Your target audience, more specifically, recruiters, HR team, or the employers themselves
  • What you want the template to say about you (your personality, skills, achievements, etc.)
  • If the job description calls for some skills that a resume template can reflect

Considering these factors is essential in selecting a template and customizing your resume to suit job postings and companies. If you are applying for a company that is known for following traditional practices, you will have to choose a template that is more conservative and professional-looking. But if you’re applying for a start-up that encourages employees to be creative and innovative, you can show off your personality and skills by using a template that will allow you to bring out your artistic, colorful side.

 

Where to Get Resume Templates

Below are some of the best sites you can visit to get resume templates or find inspiration to come up with your own design and format:

enhancv.com
This site gives users visually creative resumes that will help them showcase their skills, talents, and achievements. You can use the basic templates for free to promote your most recent work history and handy traits you want to recruiters, hiring officers, or employers to know. But to use more customization tools, you will have to pay a monthly fee

resume-Now.com
You can upload your current resume to or create a new one on this site and watch as it is transformed from one template to another. The site also offers great tips on what to put on your resume. The website also has ready content you can easily revise and add directly to your document.

Google
By simply inputting the keywords ͞resume template on Google and clicking on images, you will be able to see thousands of templates, many of which you can download for free. Although you will still need to filter your search and screen out the ones you don’t like, your chances of finding a template that will give you a standout resume which you can customize will be really high. You can also get ideas on how to create the perfect cover letter to accompany your resume.

 

Using a template will allow you to have a great resume without taking up a lot of your time. However, to have an impressive resume that will catch the attention of recruiters, hiring officers, and employers, you need more than the usual bells and whistles; you also have to back up your claims.

This means your resume should have great content. You have to know what to put in and to use the right words correctly. You need to customize it to meet the job description. You also have to pay attention to your grammar because if your content is poor, a good-looking resume won’t do anything much for you