A Top-Notch Resume Outline for Job Seekers

It is a professional axiom that resumes should be tailored.  And this tailoring should not only be to the job for which you are applying but also, should be based on the applicant him or herself.  Meaning, that the resume outline of a working professional should take a different form than the resume outline of a recent college graduate.

Below, we will cover several steps and resume best practices to follow when creating a professional resume outline and provide several examples you can rely on when crafting your own.

How to Create a Resume Outline

Regardless of your industry or desired employment, a professional resume outline should have the following five sections.

Section 1: Heading

This is the very first thing a hiring manager or recruiter will see when he or she comes across your resume.  And while this section will not earn you an interview, it can certainly cost you one.

A professional resume should have the following details up front and center:

• Name
• Phone Number
• Email Address
• Address

This is where your professional resume outline should vary from your basic resume outline from college.

While educational sections normally follow an applicant’s heading when professional experience is scarce, once you are a professional with more work experience, you should prioritize that work experience over education.

Section 3: Education

Once you have gone over your relevant work experience, you can then highlight your education and any pertinent accolades, such as honors, scholastic groups, or extra-curriculars.

This section can be brief so that greater space can be afforded to sections covering work experience and relevant skills.

Section 4: Skills and Certification

In this next section, skills, and certifications could either come before or after your education section depending on how comprehensive and relevant those skills and certifications are.  But in any event, you want to illustrate any hard or soft skills you have that pertain to the job you are applying for, along with any specific certifications you have earned that qualify you for the role.

Section 5: Additional Resume Sections

Once you cover the foregoing sections, there are several different ways you can conclude your resume if you have additional space and other relevant information you would like to share with a potential employer.

Some of the most common and popular sections to include at the bottom of your job resume outline are volunteer work and personal interests.

Resume Outline Examples 

A brief search online can provide you with several great resume outline examples, both professional resume outlines and more basic resume outlines.

If you would like to look at examples to assist you in crafting and tailoring your own, here is an assortment of several job resume outline examples from different industries that you can build on:

• Mediator Resume Outline Example
• Software Engineering Team Lead Resume Outline Example
• Construction Project Manager Resume Outline Example
• Business Systems Analyst Resume Outline Example
• Developer Resume Outline Example