How to Create a Killer Resume for Free

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on Living on the Cheap.

If you’re looking to take advantage of the hot job market, apply for your first job or want to change careers, creating a resume is the first step.

Once you start looking on job boards or sites like LinkedIn, you’ll get lots of offers from people who want to write your resume for you. But save your money and use these tips to create a resume that gets attention.

Tips to help you write a killer resume

The following information needs to be included in a good resume, whether it is a digital file or any other format.

We’ve listed the essentials (meaning what you should include gradually) and optional information, as well as things that will give your killer situation a run.

Contact information

Always put your name and contact information at the top of the resume, in the body of the document (not in the header, which tracking programs may ignore).

• Important: Enter your name, phone number and email address. Cell phone numbers are preferred over home phone numbers.
• Optional: You can include your city and state, but not a local postal address.
• The killer: Enter the QR code on the online resume. An online resume can be your (professional) website, LinkedIn profile, or created using an online resume builder (see below for our suggestions for free digital resume tools).

Purpose or value proposition?

You probably don’t need one of these. The trend of the past few years, even traditional resumes, is to exclude them. General, ill-directed, or poorly written statements can do more harm than good.

When working with a recruiter, ask if you should include a goal or value statement. If you are unsure, leave it out and include this information in the cover letter.

• Optional: An objective is a short statement (one sentence) that describes the type of work the candidate is seeking.
• Optional: A value proposition is a long (one paragraph) statement that says why the candidate is the best person for the job. An objective can be used as the first or opening sentence of a value proposition.

Skills or qualifications

A skills section is a simple list of a job applicant’s key skills, boiled down to one word or short phrases of at most three words. Recruiters scan the skills section for a few seconds to decide if your resume should be put aside for consideration.

Include all the skills you have based on your education and experience.

• Important: Include all skills relevant to the position you are applying for.
• Optional: Include soft skills or unrelated skills that are not part of the job description.
• The killer: Hand skills carefully, using words and phrases copied directly from the employer’s job description.

Real world examples

For an online resume, include links to relevant content, such as a job-related photo, video, or audio files; social media profile; or work samples (such as documents, reports, presentations, etc.).

Use a resume builder to create a killer resume online (read on for our suggestions for free digital resume tools).

• Important: Work samples can be chosen for many jobs, but they are important in creative and content-driven fields such as writers, editors, artists and designers.
• Optional: A social media profile from a website like LinkedIn (not your personal Facebook page).
• The killer: Each piece of multimedia content you include needs to be directly related to the job you’re applying for and demonstrate competence in the skills and work experience you’ve listed on your resume.

Work experience

Recruiters and employers still like to see work experience in reverse chronological order. However, you can organize information by listing work and accomplishments that are directly related to the position you are applying for.

• Important: Accurately list all relevant work experience. Unless you’re applying for your first real job, you don’t need to include summer jobs you had in high school 10 or more years ago. Enter information such as the name of the company, the years you have worked there, your title and the type of work performed (“Employees managed by five partners”).
• Optional: If you have a gap in your work history, you may want to provide a brief description.
• The killer: Lead by accomplishments and provide interesting details when talking about the work you’ve done (“Increased morale by 30% through an incentive program to manage five associates covering a 10-county region”).

Education

Like work experience, list education in chronological order.

• Important: For college degrees, write the degree (Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, etc.), major (as stated on your diploma) and the name of the college or university. For some schools or certificates, they usually include the name of the course or title of the certificate and the name of the school or issuing organization.
• Optional: Graduation year, especially if you graduated 10 or more years ago.
• The killer: Be sure to provide documentation of your claims, if asked to do so. Some employers will ask for copies of diplomas and even transcripts if you go through the hiring process.

References

As with traditional resumes, the general recommendation is not to include references.

• Important: Whether or not you include references on your resume, contact three or four of your colleagues and ask if they would be available to give you a reference. Do not include friends. Consider references that are good managers or peers who would not be suitable or interested in the job you are applying for.
• Optional: Add references only when asked to do so.
• The killer: Only use references who respond quickly and enthusiastically to your application.

Important resume tips

Here are some of the most important ways to ensure that your resume will stand out in today’s job market.

• Important: Make sure it is error free. Check and recheck your resume for correct spelling and grammar.
• Important: Be consistent. Make sure that the information in different versions of your resume (digital file, online, or any other format) is consistent (names, dates, etc.). The archive of online tracking programs resumes 10 years, and disagreements can get you banned.
• Important: Make it easy for the employer to scan quickly. Organize and format content to make information easier to read, and make important skills and knowledge stand out.

More tips for a killer resume

• The killer: Make it attractive. Use plenty of white space and other formatting to make your resume attractive, without using gimmicks like unusual fonts.
• The killer: Use keywords from the employer’s job description. An employer tracking system can scan a resume for keywords before anyone reads it, to find the right candidates. Use each keyword two to three times throughout the resume, in the objective or value heading (if used), the skills section and the work information section. If you have links to other content in your online resume (such as video files, audio files and sample files) be sure to use keywords in both file names and links.
• The killer: Write for your audience. The visual details and organization of a resume should vary depending on the field. For example, an applicant in the finance industry may have a resume that looks very different from someone in the design industry. If your field requires an advanced degree, then the education section may be better placed at the beginning of the resume, rather than near the end of the resume as most jobs are.

Free digital resume tools

There are many reconstruction software applications and tools. Here are a few popular options that will cost you nothing to recreate the killer digital.

• Microsoft Office Resume Templates and Google Docs Resume Templates and Cover Letter Templates each offer a gallery of templates in various formats and styles that help you enter all the necessary information in an easy-to-kill format.
• LinkedIn Resume Builder quickly and easily turns your LinkedIn profile into a printable and shareable digital resume, and your LinkedIn profile into an online one. The bonus is that these different formats for your resume use the same content. Changes to your profile are updated on your resume. Different versions of your resume (if needed to apply for different jobs), can be created, stored, and managed in LinkedIn Resume Builder.
• Monster.com allows you to write or upload a digital file, store your resume online, and make it searchable by employers. Monster also offers sample resumes and tips for creating your own resume or updating an existing one.
• CVmaker allows you to create, maintain, publish, and share your “curriculum vitae” (CV), a type of CV commonly used in the academic and medical fields. There are options to add color and other visual content for a “killer” look.
• Wix makes it easy for you to create an online resume using your own custom templates that allow you to easily change the color, layout, and design to meet your needs.