Whenever we are ready to start our career or to move on to our next job, the one thing we need to keep polished is our resume. Our resumes are the first element everyone -from recruiters to hiring managers and CEOs- sees when considering us for any position, and first impressions are always extremely important. What should you do when building your entry-level resume?

There is not just one formula on how to properly build your resume, but there are certain standards. Today, I want to share different tips you may want to keep in mind when building and optimizing your resume.

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No Experience/Entry-Level Resume

We have all been first hand witness of the so-said “Can’t get a job without experience. Can’t gain experience if I can’t land a job“. We may think is an internet meme, but reality has hit us in the face with that phrase.

When applying for that first job, we need to prove who we are, what we have and can offer. What our entry-level resume needs to have in this case:

• Summary: The key to gaining someone’s interest on your resume, is definitely the summary you provide. You must condense education, field of work you are interested in, and relevant skillset to a job in that field.
• Education: this is the first and foremost element when applying to that first job. Our educational background is the cornerstone to our development in most work-related activities. Make sure you add the dates for your academical background as well as relevant coursework. When lacking relevant work experience your resume must include more than your degree, college, and dates. Also include your Grade Point Average and the title to your dissertation.
• Relevant Experience: Here you must include any volunteer work or internship experience that allowed you to develop skills that are relevant to the job you are applying to. Make sure you word your skills correctly, is more than just listing them. You want to layout your relevant skills the same way the job offering has them.

Plus Section

As long as you have information and skills that may help you add points to your application, more never hurt nobody. These two sections I am going to talk about now are always a plus and you must not skip them if you can build them.

• Certifications and Licenses: did you earn a certification or hold a license that provides you with tools to best-perform at this position? Then its your time to pull it out. If your certificate is closely related to the position, then add it to your summary -first bullet-. A course, certification, diploma, can put you ahead of other applicants, never not use them.
• Software and Others: in this section you may include all software that you excel at, if your career is linked to programming, then add programming languages. Here you must also add any language other than your native that you communicate in. Did you attend any conference or webinar that provided you with relevant skills/information? Add it in this section.

Now, I know it may seem like you have plenty of work to do to get your resume together, but I can assure you, you will see great results. Here’s an example of an no-experience/entry-level resume for a Lab Technician in the Aquaculture and Seafood Industries. You can use this guide to optimize your future job applications, best of lucks.