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How to Make Your First (or Updated) Resume

For many people, writing a resume feels intimidating.


If you have never created one before, it can feel like you are being asked to summarize your entire professional value into a single page. You may wonder what employers actually want to see, what information matters, or how to make yourself stand out when you do not have years of experience.


A resume is a professional summary designed to show an employer that your skills,

experience, and background align with the opportunity they are offering. Think of it as your introduction before the interview. It gives employers a reason to learn more about you and consider you for their position.


Start With Your Information

Before worrying about formatting or design, begin by gathering your information.


A basic resume typically includes:

  • Contact information.

  • A professional summary or objective.

  • Work experience.

  • Education.

  • Skills.

  • Certifications, training, or relevant achievements.


Not every section is required for every person. Someone with ten years of experience may emphasize their work history, while someone entering the workforce may highlight education, volunteer work, projects, or skills. The dates of your experience should line up and be consistent across all resume templates. For example, if you volunteered as a camp counselor from May 2021 to August 2021, keep those dates consistent across every application you submit.


As we move forward, we will break down each of these sections.



Starting a Resume

The beginning of a resume is usually the easiest because it does not require much effort or finesse, just simple statements providing an overview of your goals and how to contact you. When writing a resume, these are the first things you should include:


Contact Information

This is the manner in which you'd like to be contacted. Most resumes include a phone number and an email address. Some people feel it important to include their mailing address, while others include their LinkedIn vanity URL or a link to a portfolio website.

A professional summary is a short introduction at the top of your resume that gives employers a quick overview of who you are as an employee and what you can bring to the position. It should highlight your most relevant experience, skills, and career goals while encouraging the hiring manager to continue reading the rest of your resume.


The hardest part is summarizing who you are, in just a few sentences.


When applying for jobs, this is the section that benefits from being tailored to the position you are considering. We will go a further in depth later on, on how to create a great professional summary.

High school, a GED, and college or trade school are all sections that should be listed on a resume. They show that you have met the baseline requirements of the job with the right education. If you have no work experience, education can also operate as an area for your skills to be listed.


How to Write a Professional Summary

One of the biggest mistakes job seekers make is using the same personal summary for every application. While it may save time, it also reduces your chances of making it past the employer's initial screening process.


Many employers now use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to organize and screen resumes before they ever reach a hiring manager. These systems compare your resume to the job posting by looking for relevant skills, qualifications, certifications, and job-specific keywords. These systems are designed to identify applicants whose experience closely matches what the employer is looking for.


Before submitting your resume, carefully read the job description and identify the qualifications that are mentioned repeatedly. If the employer is seeking someone with customer service, conflict resolution, cash handling, CRM software, and team collaboration, and you genuinely have those skills, incorporate those exact terms naturally into your personal summary and throughout your resume.


A few examples are:

Example 1: Customer Service Representative

Job Posting Excerpt

We are seeking a Customer Service Representative with excellent communication skills who can resolve customer concerns, process transactions accurately, utilize CRM software, and work collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.

Professional Summary Example: Customer service professional with over three years of experience assisting customers in high-volume retail environments. Experienced in resolving customer concerns, processing transactions accurately, and using CRM systems to document customer interactions and provide timely follow-up. Recognized for strong communication skills, de-escalating difficult situations, and working collaboratively with team members to maintain a positive customer experience. Dedicated to providing professional, solution-focused service while supporting company goals.

Job Posting Excerpt

Seeking an organized Administrative Assistant with experience managing calendars, scheduling meetings, preparing documents, maintaining confidential records, and supporting multiple departments in a fast-paced office.

Professional Summary Example: Organized administrative professional with four years of experience supporting office operations in busy professional environments. Skilled in calendar management, scheduling meetings, preparing business documents, maintaining confidential records, and coordinating daily administrative tasks for multiple departments. Recognized for attention to detail, strong organizational skills, and the ability to prioritize competing deadlines while maintaining accuracy and professionalism. Committed to helping teams operate efficiently through dependable administrative support.

Job Posting Excerpt

Looking for dependable Production Associates to operate machinery, perform quality inspections, follow safety procedures, meet production quotas, and work effectively as part of a manufacturing team.

Professional Summary Example: Reliable production associate with experience operating manufacturing equipment, performing quality inspections, and following established safety procedures in fast-paced production environments. Proven ability to meet production goals while maintaining accuracy, minimizing waste, and working collaboratively with team members to ensure efficient operations. Strong mechanical aptitude, dependable attendance, and a commitment to producing high-quality work while supporting continuous improvement initiatives.


Using the employer's terminology helps the ATS recognize that your experience aligns with the position while also making it easier for the hiring manager to quickly see that you meet the qualifications. Just be sure to include skills you actually possess and have experience with because a resume is just the first step.



Listing Past Experience

When you're new to the workforce, listing past experience can seem irrelevant. However, this is not true.


While you may not have paid experience, you still have accumulated skills that can benefit you in the workforce. Conversely, if you're someone who has been out of the workforce for some time it may seem like your past experience was too far back to count any longer. In both cases, there are options to build up your experience.


No Work Experience

Having no traditional work experience does not mean you have no experience.

Many first-time job seekers make the mistake of believing their resume has nothing valuable to offer because they have never held a formal position. However, employers are not only looking for previous job titles. They are looking for evidence that you have developed skills that will help you succeed in the workplace.


Experience can come from many areas of life, including school, sports teams, volunteer work, personal projects, clubs, community involvement, or even responsibilities within your household. The key is learning how to identify the skills you have developed and connect them to what an employer is looking for.


  • A student who regularly completes group projects may have developed teamwork, communication, organization, and time management skills.


  • A student athlete may have experience with discipline, accountability, goal-setting, and working toward a shared objective.


  • Someone who helps manage responsibilities at home may have developed reliability, problem-solving, scheduling, and organizational skills.


When applying for your first job, carefully review the job description and look for repeated skills or qualifications the employer mentions. These are often the qualities they value most. If a job posting emphasizes customer service, reliability, communication, and attention to detail, think about experiences in your life where you have demonstrated those abilities and include them on your resume.


For example, instead of writing:

"Helped with school projects."


A stronger description would be:

"Collaborated with classmates on long-term projects by organizing tasks, meeting deadlines, and communicating progress to ensure successful completion."


The second example demonstrates workplace skills without requiring previous employment.


When creating a resume without job experience, focus less on where you worked and more on what you have done, what skills you developed, and how those skills can benefit the employer. Everyone starts somewhere, and your first resume is an opportunity to show employers that you already have qualities that can translate into success in the workplace.

A gap in employment does not mean you have no valuable experience. Many people step away from the workforce for valid reasons, including raising children, caring for a family member, pursuing education, managing personal circumstances, or taking time to transition into a new career path. These experiences often develop transferable skills that employers value, such as organization, time management, communication, problem-solving, and adaptability.


If you have a significant gap in your work history, do not assume you need to hide it. Instead, focus on presenting your experience honestly and professionally. If the time away involved responsibilities such as caregiving or parenting, highlight the skills developed rather than simply stating the reason for the gap.


For example, managing schedules, coordinating appointments, balancing competing priorities, and advocating for others can demonstrate organization, responsibility, and problem-solving abilities. In the same way you will list skills for a job, include your role as a Caregiver, a Parent, or a Household Manager. These are just as taxing as paid jobs, and show persistence and capability even without the motivation of a paycheck.


The goal is not to present personal responsibilities as a replacement for professional experience, but to recognize the skills you developed and explain how they can transfer into the workplace.


Listing Skills - The Most Important Part of Your Resume

Resumes can seem like they just show work history or job roles, but in reality, those are nearly irrelevant to hiring managers. The majority of what is viewed in a resume are skills, specifically transferrable skills.


When you list your role in employment, education or other obligations, the title might be relevant to the position, but what is most important is how you portray what you can bring to the company. Many applicants make the mistake of focusing only on job duties. They list what they were assigned to do but fail to explain what skills they developed or what value they provided.


When reviewing resumes, employers are usually trying to answer a few basic questions:


  • Can this person perform the responsibilities of this role?

  • Does this person have relevant skills or experience?

  • Would this person be a good fit for our workplace?


Your resume should be able to answer these questions long before you sit down for an interview.


For example, saying:

"Answered phones and scheduled appointments."

explains a task.


Saying:

"Managed customer communication, scheduled appointments, maintained accurate records, and supported daily office operations."

shows skills that apply to a wider range of positions.


The length of the explanation is not as important as the words and explanations used.


The best skills sections combine two types of skills:


Technical skills are abilities that are specific and measurable, such as software knowledge, equipment operation, certifications, or industry-specific tasks.

Examples:

  • Microsoft Excel.

  • Medical terminology.

  • Inventory management systems.

  • Auto repair diagnostics.

  • Customer relationship management (CRM) software.

  • Laboratory procedures.

  • Data entry.


Transferable skills are abilities that apply across many different jobs, such as communication, organization, problem-solving, and leadership.

Examples:

  • Conflict resolution.

  • Time management.

  • Attention to detail.

  • Training and mentoring.

  • Customer communication.

  • Project coordination.


A strong resume usually includes a combination of both. For example, a customer service applicant may list "conflict resolution" and "CRM software" rather than only saying they are "good with people." The specific skills give the employer a clearer understanding of how that ability applies in a workplace.


Keep It Clear and Easy to Read

A resume should be professional and easy to review. It can be tempting to make a standout resume with colorful graphics or a unique layout. While this may have worked in the past, with the automation of resume reading many of these layouts have become obsolete. Applying in person may still present the opportunity for a memorable resume template, but in the digital world a simple, clean, and easy-to-parse-information-from layout is supreme.


Focus on:

  • Consistent formatting.

  • Clear section headings.

  • Easy-to-read fonts.

  • Appropriate spacing.

  • Accurate spelling and grammar.


Creative designs can be appropriate for certain industries, such as graphic design or marketing, but for many positions, clarity is more important than appearance.

A resume should showcase your qualifications, not distract from them.


Customize Your Resume When Possible

One of the most common mistakes applicants make is submitting the exact same resume for every job.


While your overall work history may remain the same, your resume should emphasize the experiences and skills most relevant to the position.


Read the job description carefully and identify the qualifications the employer mentions repeatedly. If a company is looking for someone with organization, customer service, and scheduling experience, make sure those skills are visible if they apply to your background.


A resume should present your strengths, but it should always remain truthful. It can be tempting to include skills or positions you have not actually done just to fit the job requirements.


Exaggerating skills, changing job responsibilities, or claiming experience you do not have can create problems later in the hiring process. Employers understand that candidates grow into positions. Someone who demonstrates honesty, willingness to learn, and reliability may be more valuable than someone who appears highly qualified but cannot support their claims.


Final Thoughts

A resume is more than a list of jobs you have held. It is a tool that communicates your abilities, experiences, and potential to employers.


Whether you are applying for your first job, changing careers, or looking for advancement, the goal remains the same: make it easy for employers to understand why you are worth considering.


Up Next: Even qualified applicants can be overlooked because of small resume mistakes. In the next article, we will discuss 8 Resume Mistakes Employers Hate, including common issues that cause applications to be ignored before a candidate ever reaches the interview stage.


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