No matter what job, internship or co-op you’re applying for, your resume is a way for employers to get a glimpse of the awesomeness that is you. But getting those fonts, header sizes, margins and indents just right can drive anyone crazy. That’s exactly why it can be nerve-racking for collegiettes writing a resume for the first time; you have to get your experience, skills and academic history across in a manner that is both professional and sets you apart.
Before you go all Legally Blonde and resort to pink, scented paper, check out these five free online tools and apps that will take you through all the steps necessary to make an awesome resume!
1. Resume.com
The cookie-cutter resume is far from dead! Rick Gillis, author of The Real Secret to Finding a Job, believes that sometimes choosing a more classic format will allow the spotlight to shine on your super impressive skills. “It’s like writing a book. Every book looks the same, but when you open it up, some of them just speak to you and others don’t,” he says. “A fairly boring-looking document that is rich in content is where it’s at.”
Just because you’re opting for a standard resume doesn’t mean you’re doomed to stick to the template on your school’s career services website. For a professional looking document, Resume.com lets you input your information into a clean-cut format without dealing with the nightmare that Microsoft Word can be. Resume.com takes you step-by-step and then allows you to choose a template so you won’t have to worry at all about formatting. An awesome feature on the site is the “helpful examples” that appear on the screen for each section of the resume, just in case you’re not sure what category something fits into.
You can download your creation as plain text and print it out, but you also have the option of sharing it as a link via email. Resume.com even helps you start out your job search while you have your newly designed resume handy; you can view thousands of job postings right on the website!
2. ResumeBear
ResumeBear is another no-nonsense site (it’s also available as an app for Apple and Android devices) that walks you through inputting all of the important information you’ll need to include on your resume. Once you’re finished creating your resume, there is a convenient button that allows you to send it directly to an employer in a variety of formats (PDF, Word Document, HTML).
ResumeBear is highly sophisticated; it embeds tracking information within each document you’ve created on the site. It does all the stalking for you by telling you how many of the people you’ve sent it to opened, downloaded or forwarded your resume. You won’t have to wonder about whether or not you’re getting noticed, since the site will send you text-message or email notifications letting you know exactly who has been checking you out!
3. Résunate
Résunate can help you with more than just the formatting of your resume. It acts as a combination resume builder, career coach and trusted BFF by giving your document a 1 to 10 rating on how closely it matches any job description you provide. It even offers suggestions for effective wording that will appeal to recruiters based on what you’re applying for.
“I'm a big advocate of customizing each resume toward particular jobs or companies you’re applying to,” says Tom Dezell, author of Networking for the Novice, Nervous, or Naive Job Seeker. No more sending a resume touting your summer working at a fast food chain to a Big Four accounting firm! You can also have it “focus” your resume if you’re applying to multiple companies, meaning it will include only information that is relevant to the job you’re applying to for up to 25 different job categories. Beyond that, there are options to upgrade to a premium membership for some more custom tailoring.
4. Sumry
If you’re looking to turn heads with a more visually appealing presentation of your experience, Sumry is a great site to use. Its customizable format is presented as a vertical timeline, letting you tell the story of your life linearly. Pick a background color, upload your go-to picture that says “I’m not trying too hard, but I actually spent two hours posing for this” and list any qualifications you’d like to include. Ultimately, Sumry gives you a resume that looks polished, personal and super impressive.
Dezell stresses that this type of resume can be particularly effective when applying for certain types of jobs. “If a student is applying in a more creative-oriented field, like graphic design, the employers will want to see more creative license on the resume,” he says. So don’t be afraid to take advantage of all of the customization tools and use a little color if you’re looking for work in a field that values originality.
Once you’ve made your resume, Sumry makes it easy to share it with recruiters by providing you with an option to input a cover letter and enter an email address that the site will send out for you directly. There are also built-in options to share your resume on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus. It’s literally too easy not to take advantage of, and there’s nothing wrong with a little shameless self-promotion!
5. re.vu
For the collegiette who marches to the beat of her own drum, re.vu takes creative visualization to mind-blowing heights. The site’s mission is to represent “the whole person,” more so than a Word document can.
You’ll create an interactive profile page that features all the important parts of a resume (experience, education, etc.), but those parts can also be mixed in with pictures of yourself, charts and text. re.vu can even generate your very own infographic based on data you provide. Want to show how many publications your work has been published in, or how many continents you’ve visited? As the site says, if you can quantify it, they can make it visual for you. All you have to do is input your information into a table, and it will create your very own eye-popping infographic with charts and tables. The stunning typography and graphics at your disposal will have you swearing off 12-point Times New Roman font forever.
Once you’re done, you can share the link to your profile via email, or you can take advantage of the built-in buttons to share the link directly to social media. In addition to tracking how many views your profile has, it will tell you the average amount of time a visitor spends on your page so you can gauge potential employers’ interest.
Creating a resume from scratch can be frustrating, but these online resume tools are a great way to get you started. Different sites have more to offer depending on the type of position you’re applying to, so be sure to consider what the employer is looking for. Whether you choose to go creative or classic, these sites will give you all the help you need to show employers that you mean business!