Today you will learn how to make a résumé for online jobs.
What is the most important thing when you are applying for a job?
The first step you take when you have found the right job?
Your RÉSUMÉ.
A résumé is the most vital factor in the job application process. It becomes all the more important when applying for a work-from-home job. This is because of the following factors:
- The difference in the process of recruitment for telecommuting jobs.
- Your résumé is your strongest selling point as you will not be face to face in most of the job interviews.
- Recruiters are very strict considering the unconventional method of applying for work-from-home jobs.
That being said, a résumé will be pivotal for any job, but it becomes even more important when you are applying for any online job.
Most people make many mistakes while preparing their résumé in many areas which might eventually end up with them getting rejected.
People usually go wrong in these areas when applying for a work-from-home/freelancing position:
- Writing a lengthy résumé that’s too lengthy
- Following the wrong formats
- Writing long personal stuff
- Not emphasizing their skills enough
- Not giving a proper objective/introduction
- No projects to list
- Not having a cover letter that speaks of their expertise
- Omitting the references
You should consider all of these points when you start applying for jobs, especially work-from-home or freelancing ones. The biggest mistake most people make is not tailoring the résumé to the position. This is crucial as it makes all the difference.
After all, you don’t want to send the same résumé for a freelance writer position as you would send for a web researcher position.
Let’s discuss how you can correct all your problems with your résumé.
How to Make a Résumé for Online Jobs
#1. Not Too Long, Not Too Short
No recruiter will have time to read your “long essay,” in other words, your résumé. They do have to go through other applications as well, so there is a chance that your résumé might end up being on the bottom of the application pile.
Try to make your résumé an acceptable length that still speaks of all your skills and expertise. Don’t skimp on anything, but don’t make it your life story.
#2. Formats
Résumé formats keep changing with time, and you need to keep up with trends. You don’t want to give an old résumé, making the recruiter think you are not up to date with trends in the market.
Through time, formats have changed, and at the time of writing this post, the latest résumé format is concise and short form where you talk about your strengths in a pretty brief manner.
Related:
- How to Create a Killer Cover Letter Format
- Top 5 Time Management Skills You Need to Work from Home
- Benefits of Working from Home: 5 Ways You Can Increase Your Productivity
#3. Fishing Trips or Your Skills
Seriously, do you think they’re going to be interested in your travels or your microhobbies?
Well, they might just put away your résumé as it speaks more about your “other” skills that might not be relevant.
Try to keep the hobbies or creative skills to a minimum and try to list out the ones that relate to, and, in turn, add to your professional skills.
On the other hand, it does help to list out some of your hobbies so they can understand your creative side when you are mainly applying for freelancing or writing jobs.
When it comes to applying for online jobs, your creative or multitasking skills can give a lot of weight to your résumé.
#4. Talk about Your Strengths
Sometimes, we do not go into enough detail about our strengths/skills, which we need to if we want to be noticed. When it comes to online jobs, it is hard to get through the scammy ones, so for you to land an authentic work-from-home job, you need to stress the high points and describe your projects.
When recruiters or companies look for candidates, they search for keywords, which should align with your skills.
#5. Objectives are Obsolete
I don’t mean this heading totally.
But in today’s times, you do not call this section objectives; it might be your mission statement, profile, or just an opening statement containing your skills and expertise in a very short three to four lines.
The latter works very well as it shows your suitability immediately at the top of your résumé. A strong opening statement makes it easy for the job provider to match your skills quickly.
#6. Projects! Projects! Projects!
I cannot stress this enough.
Any job provider or company needs to know what you have done to prove your mettle in the industry. This convinces them to see qualities in you other than your technical skills.
For example, if you have handled a project on a very tight schedule and got great best results, you should highlight it. This demonstrates your time management skills, focus, and ability to work under high pressure.
You might not mention this in your résumé, but the projects or the work studies show that. Always list as many projects/achievements as possible where you have excelled.
#7. Cover Letter Is a Must
There is a debate about including a cover letter or not. I say you should. A cover letter does a lot to a résumé. It shows how much you are interested in the job, and it gives you a chance to talk to the person who is recruiting directly and express your interest.
A well-written cover letter almost does half the job of getting you into the job race.
I wrote a detailed cover letter guide that will help you to shape up your cover letter skills.
#8. References
Adding references is also an important part of your résumé creation. Recruiters or potential clients will make an inquiry, and the recommendations need to be good ones. Even in freelancing, your résumé should also have good references from your past clients, preferably recent ones.
Creating a Résumé Is Not Easy but Can Be Learned
There are many other points like the positioning of different sections in your résumé, font size, grammar, etc. that matter to a larger extent even though they don’t seem to.
Résumé creation is an art, and it can be perfected over time. There are many good résumé creating and distributing services out there like ResumeWriters.com and Resume.io that are superb and make the whole process of job hunting a bit easier.
With the résumé distribution companies, you can cut down the time you manually spend on applying for jobs as they do it for you.
What are the challenges you experience when you create your résumé? What do you think is the most important part of a résumé?
