Irrespective of what you call it, Curriculum Vitae or Resume, it is undoubtedly the foremost weapon you have in your armory to woo the recruiters. It is the first impression that the interviewer has about the applicant and goes a long way into intimating him/her about the latter’s potential.
Building a killer CV is not a rocket science anymore, thanks to the advancements and development in every field. The CVs these days are custom-made to suit any kind of industry-specific job you are looking for, thanks to the various apps and web-software for assistance.
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Why is resume-building important?
Since a resume is the first impression that the applicants can create on the recruiter, making it according to the industry standards is very important. Some applicants never hear anything from the company they applied in, only because the resume wasn’t impressive and did not include everything that the recruiter wished to see.
This is where a custom-made and professional resume comes into play. Since the templates are developed by bigshots in the industry and experienced people themselves, they include everything that a recruiter would be interested in, but without making it too drab.
Best resume building apps for you
| Name | Templates | International Formats | Paid/Free |
| Visual CV | Yes | Yes | Upgradable |
| Cake Resume | Yes | Yes | Upgradable |
| Resume.com | Yes | Yes | Free |
| Canva | Yes | Yes | Free |
| Zety | Yes | Yes | Paid |
1. Visual CV
Visual CV is one of the best resume builders that can help in creating a very professional-looking CV. It is a wide range of templates both for resume and CV and differentiates them very precisely. Moreover, it has international formats too, based on different countries and their professional needs.
2. CakeResume
CakeResume is best known for its modern approach to resume building and presents some of the most amazing resume templates. The online resumes are highly responsive and can adapt to mobile devices too. Moreover, it has an interesting resume building feature that allows you to customize the template with a simple drag-and-drop feature. The basic comes free of cost while the “Advanced” and “Pro” are chargeable monthly.
3. Resume.com
Resume.com is 100% free and is a very comprehensive online resume-builder with a host of templates. It helps thousands of prospective applicants every day to build very professional CVs without tinkering much with what the recruiters would want to see. The users would need to sign in using their Google or Facebook profile and get going. Alternatively, setting up an account with an email and password would also do.
4. Canva
Canva, the very popular image editing tool, can assist with resume building too, and getting started with it is very easy. It brings thousands of professionally-designed resume templates on the table along with hundreds of combinations for the fonts. Each of the CV built with Canva can be specialized based on the industry that is being applied in for. Moreover, the usability is extremely high since the presence of drag-and-drop editor makes it very easy on the part of the users.
5. Zety
Zety makes resume-building very creative, easy and professional. It offers over 18 templates that can be had in 400 different colors. It takes into account the tips from recruiters to form the templates, which increases the probability of being shortlisted. It also allows options to edit the resume as and when desired based on the fonts in use or the size and spacing. Moreover, it even includes a professional cover letter to go with the resume.
A basic guide to creating a killer CV
There are certain guides that are prevalent while making a CV. Though these guidelines aren’t imposing, they are good to follow, keeping the recruiters in mind. The most common things that should inevitably be included are:-
Photo
Attaching a passport size photo has become a recent trend and a huge number of applicants do it. Not that it makes a lot of difference, but the recruiter would eventually ask for one. So why not add it right from the beginning to enhance the authenticity of the CV.
Personal info
Personal information includes name, birth date, contact, email, gender, nationality, and even marital status. Though the last two aren’t very relevant in CVs these days, the former ones are extremely important.
Education
This is where you include everything about your education, all the exams you have passed and all the degrees you hold, preferably in reverse chronological order.
Work experience
It is wise to write down the work experience for only those companies you hold the experience letter from or have testimonies. Also, it is wise to include all the work experiences in reverse chronological order, that is, the recent one goes first while your first ever job goes last.
Volunteer
Most people hold certificates for volunteering or interning for companies, whether big or small. Go ahead and mention it, it would give the recruiter an impression that you are passionate about the work.
Languages
This is a very underestimated part of the CV but can be an asset to mention them. Do mention all the language you are fluent in and other foreign languages you have learnt.
Conclusion
Gone are the days when CVs were simply a bio-data and look old-school, like the front page of a personal diary. Instead, the resume-builders are quite apt for building a very professional CV that would impress the recruiters and level up your corporate life.
Visual CV and CakeResume are probably the best resume-builders and have a very wide range of templates based on geographic location and field of profession. On the other hand, Resume.com and Zety are exhaustive and offer better customizability.
And lastly, Canva is an amazing resume builder with over a thousand templates and seems to be too good to be free.
