Free Resume Templates for 2023 [Download Now]

What is a Resume?

A resume is a brief summary of personal and professional experiences, skills, and education history. Its main purpose is to show off your best self to potential employers.

When applying for a job, you’re (in most cases) going to be asked for a resume accompanied by a cover letter.

If you manage to create a “good” resume, you’re going to 2x your chances of getting hired. Want to learn how? Check out our complete guide on how to make a resume.

How to Write a Resume for Your First Job?

The process of writing a resume might seem super scary to you. After all, most resume examples you see on the web are 80% about work experience. So, what the heck can you include in your resume if you have none?

Well, here’s some good news. If you’re applying for an entry-level job or an internship, no one expects you to have ANY work experience.

Instead, you should focus on what you DO have: education, projects, volunteering experience, hobbies & interests.

For a complete guide on how to make a resume with no work experience stand out, check out our article.

What to Put on a Resume?

The most common sections on a resume are:

• Contact information

• Resume summary or objective

• Work experience

• Education

If you want to personalize your resume a bit more, you can also include the following sections:

• Projects

• Volunteering experience

• Hobbies & interests

• Portfolio

For more information on how to place these sections on your resume, check out our article on what to put on a resume.

How to Format a Resume?

There are 3 typical resume formats:

• Reverse-Chronological Resume

• Functional Resume

• Combination Resume

In 99% of the cases, you’ll want to go with the Reverse Chronological resume format. That’s the format most resumes you’ve seen follow – its main focus is your work experience, written down in reverse-chronological order.

Unless you’re looking to create a career change resume, we’d recommend sticking with this format.

If you want to learn more about resume formats, check out our comparison guide.

How Long Should a Resume Be?

Ah, the most popular resume question in the world: “how long should your resume be?”

Short answer: one page. If you have a lot of work experience (10 years +), sometimes it makes sense to make it 2 pages MAX if everything you mention is super relevant for the position you’re applying for.

Long answer: check out our guide on how long should a resume be.

P.S. all of our templates are one-page resume templates, so you shouldn’t have a lot of trouble sticking to the one-page limit!

How to Write a Resume Summary?

Your resume summary is a “hook” that goes on top of your resume. Think of it as an introduction to the rest of your resume. It should, in 2-4 sentences, explain what your background is, and why it’s relevant for the position you’re applying for.

Want your resume summary to stand out? Use this proven formula:

“Professional [job title] with X+ years of work experience in [job responsibility]. In the past Y years, I have [your top 1-2 achivements]. Seeking a position of [job title] at [company name]”

To learn more about how to create a resume summary that excels, check out our guide.

On the other hand, if you’re a student or just don’t have a lot of work experience, read our article on how to create a resume objective instead.

How to List Work Experience on a Resume

Work experience on a resume is one of those things that’s easy to learn, hard to master.

Each work experience entry should contain the following:

• Position title

• Company name/description/location

• Achievements or responsibilities

• Dates employed

Now, if you want to create a work experience section that stands out, you want to focus on quantifiable achievements. What this means is, instead of creating an entry like:

“Carried out sales operations”

You list an achievement:

“Hit and exceeded monthly sales KPIs for 5 months in a row.”

This shows the employer that you’re not just a random candidate, you’re an A-player! To learn more about how to list achievements in your work experience (and land the job), check out our article.

How to List Skills on a Resume?

Simply create a ”skills” section on your Novorésumé resume template, and list your top skills. We usually recommend going for a mix of hard and soft skills.

Not sure what skills to include in your resume? Check out these 101 essential skills for any resume.

How to Make a Cover Letter For a Resume?

Every job application asks for a cover letter (in addition to your resume). Here are some of our tips on how to do this right:

• Customize your cover letter to the employer. The more personalized it is, the more likely it is for the recruiter to like you

• Outline your general background (work experience, profession, etc.) and mention your top 2-3 achievements to show off your skills

• If you really want to stand out, create a cover letter that matches your resume template. To do this, you can use one of our cover letter templates here.

If you want to learn more about how to write a convincing cover letter, check out our comprehensive guide.

What is the Best Resume Template?

There’s no such thing as “the best resume template” – every recruiter/employer has their own personal preference. Our general recommendation is to do your research on the company and what their values are.

For example, if you’re applying for a position at a bank, you’d want a more professional resume template. On the other hand, if you want a job in a startup where they value innovation more, you should stick to a creative resume template.

Finally, if you’re still not sure which type of template is right for the job you’re applying for, you can just use a simple resume template just to be safe.