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What to Add and What Not to Add to Your Resume and LinkedIn Profile: Practical Tips

A good resume is the first and most important step in building a successful career history for any specialist. This document should present you favorably as a candidate for the desired vacancy. Remember these words of the famous Coco Chanel: "You will not have a second chance to make a first impression." And the first impression of you is given by your resume. So here we will talk about how to do everything right and get the maximum benefit for yourself even before you move on to active actions and start fighting for the desired position
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What should you write in your resume?

So, to make the right impression on a potential employer, you need to immediately show your professional value. Describe your work experience in detail, while it is important to clearly formulate and detail your responsibilities for each position. Also indicate your professional achievements, completed trainings and courses, note the presence of important certificates for your field (for example, PMP or SHRM).
At the same time, you need to organize the information on the page correctly. Here's how to do it:
Contact information: phone number, e-mail, instant messengers, etc. Advice: indicate a formal e-mail, the title of which will contain your first and last name ( Name.LastName@gmail.com , or something like that), numbers, childhood nicknames, nicknames are not appropriate here.
  1. Provide a separate section "Education" with details of the stages of professional training, including the university, years of study, specialty, and degree received. Also indicate professional courses, trainings, etc.
  2. Focus on important things, for example, a resume can have a section: “Skills” (with details of soft skills, since this is very important in many cases), “Projects”, “Internship” (it is better to list internship experience separately from work experience), “Certificates”, “Language knowledge”, “Volunteering”, etc.
  3. The best way to present information is with a bulleted list. It allows you to place emphasis and convey the message you need clearly and concisely.
  4. The resume should be as functional as possible and designed according to the same parameters of the entire document. It is better to use standard fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, Trebuchet, size – 10.5..12.
Here are a few more useful points to consider:
  • Proportionality. The attention paid to a particular job should correspond to the achievements and duration of work, i.e. if you worked in one position for a year, and in another for 5 years, then the volume of the description for them should differ by about 5 times. If you have little work experience, the volume of the resume should be 1 page.
  • Literacy. The criterion by which the recruiter sees your education. This creates the first impression, regardless of your qualifications. Therefore, proofread your resume well before sending it.
  • Detail: List your specific responsibilities and accomplishments in your previous position.
  • Honesty. Always write the truth and call a spade a spade. An internship is a valuable experience, but not enough to be considered a "Job".
  • Keywords. Just like when writing a cover letter, you need to use keywords in your resume (recruiters will be looking for you by these words). But how do you find them? Carefully read the descriptions of the desired vacancy. Who are they looking for for this position? A person with what skills do they want to see? Highlight the most in-demand skills and knowledge and indicate them in yours.
  • Trends. Analyze what resume format is used in the country you are going to. Each country may have its own tricks, which include resume design and adding or removing certain information, including information about age and date of birth, gender, availability of a photo. Look for the necessary information on specialized forums, in short, look everywhere you can.
  • Readability. Pay attention to the font size; logical distribution of text into thematic blocks; structure of information using a design relevant to your purpose: a student’s resume with no experience, a volunteer’s resume or a job application will all look different. Are punctuation marks the same everywhere? These details are important.
  • Correct format. Don't forget that the finished resume should be in PDF format to open correctly on any device. The document signature can be like this: First Name_Second Name_Resume or vice versa: Resume_First Name_Second Name. Also pay attention to how your document will look on a tablet, smartphone? Is it legible? Does your file fit into a standard letter sent by e-mail (the most common method).
In any case, you need to approach the execution of this document responsibly. Spend your time and do everything right, a lot will depend on this in the future, perhaps even your future career
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What should not be included in a resume?

Now let's take a quick look at what you shouldn't include in your resume, as this is also an important aspect of the future document.
  1. Age. No one knows exactly what criteria the employer is guided by, or whether he has a bias towards the employee's age. Therefore, by noting the age, you can deprive the resume of the possibility of further consideration.
  2. A photo is an ambiguous detail of a resume. A photo takes up quite a lot of space and carries a minimum of information. It is better to post it only at the employer's request. In addition, the photo must be of sufficient quality, and if there is none, it is better not to show it at all.
  3. Recommendations. It is also appropriate to include them only if required.
  4. Extra documents – scans of diplomas, certificates, work samples. These materials are too bulky for the resume format. They are usually sent separately at the employer’s request.
If you follow most of the tips listed above, your resume will look more professional and attractive to employers, so consider them when composing your document. Now let's talk about your LinkedIn profile
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Creating a LinkedIn Profile

Your LinkedIn profile is not the online equivalent of a resume, although many people think so. Yes, it looks like one, but it is much more than that. Your LinkedIn profile allows you to tell your story, ambitions, and personal brand without the limitations of a traditional resume. It is a business card of sorts. Here are some simple tips to help you turn your LinkedIn profile into a useful career tool:
  1. Be an active user by posting your content. Present your content as if you were talking to friends, but be professional. Let your star shine brighter than anyone else. Be bold in showing others what you love about your work and business and sharing that part of your life outside of work. The most important characteristics here are “professional” and “social”.
  2. Don't limit your headline to your job title. Your job title alone won't necessarily convince an employer. LinkedIn is full of diverse professionals, and the chances of finding someone with the same job title as you are very high.
  3. Therefore, it is worth adding some personality . For example, you can tell about your major clients or employers, or how you can help people solve their problems.
  4. Use a summary to tell your story . The summary section of your LinkedIn profile is not the same as a blurb or professional summary on a resume. On LinkedIn, you’re not limited to a one-line accomplishment. There’s plenty of room to tell the story behind your accomplishments, giving readers a sense of the context of your work and how it impacts the people around you. You can also write a short narrative about how you’ve advanced in your career or share the story of how your business came to be.
  5. Add a background photo . Not all users know that you can set a background photo or cover photo on your LinkedIn profile. This background photo is the same as on Twitter and Facebook, but here you need professional pictures, not selfies. Here are a couple of ideas for what you can post as a background photo: a business logo, the front cover of a book, a banner of an event where you were a speaker, you are a speaker at a conference or seminar, a screenshot with a thumbnail of your work. LinkedIn background photos or cover photos should be 1584 x 396 pixels, maximum 8 megabytes.
  6. Link to your other accounts and sites . LinkedIn allows users to link other social media accounts to their LinkedIn profile, so your current connections can find you on other platforms. For example, instead of just plain old Portfolio, you could list your site as Graphic Designer Portfolio. If your site URL is different from your brand name, you can use this feature to list your brand name next to the URL.
  7. Use Visuals . With these visuals features, users can provide evidence of their work by uploading videos, articles, presentations, or PDFs next to each job posting. Showcasing visuals on your LinkedIn profile is a great way for creatives to showcase their work, and for entrepreneurs to prove the value of their products and services through case studies in PDFs or video demonstrations.
  8. Use the achievements section . Don't ignore the achievements section on LinkedIn. It's a good way to enhance your LinkedIn profile or experience section and categorize your achievements. For example, you can add: publications, certificates, courses, projects, awards, patents, languages, exam scores.
  9. Ask for recommendations. Endorsements are meant to validate your skills, but they are not enough to make you recognizable. You need recommendations. LinkedIn user email lists tell the story of your work, how well you have certain skills, how you handle tasks, and how others rate working with you. Recommendations on your profile add life to your profile and support the claims in your profile.
Remember, “the devil is in the details,” so it’s worth taking some time and making edits to your profile so that it looks presentable and attractive and, most importantly, works for you. LinkedIn is a very popular platform for professionals today, so don’t ignore the opportunities it gives you.