We are here for all the advice you are looking for! All your questions answered and all your confusions cleared in one article here! Read on to learn everything about resume template and using them!👇
What is a resume template?
A resume template is basically a ready outline and structure for your resume which cuts more than half of the time you would otherwise need to write your professional resume! If you have gone through some best resume template samples, you might have noticed how well organized layout and best resume format they provide.
Such resume templates help you enhance your existing resume because such format emphasizes skills and other important areas of your resume.
Resume templates are available in all the forms and criteria that are your requirements. From one page resume template to creative resume template or resume template for senior position, you can find the best template for your resume for the job applications!
Why should you use resume templates?
One might wonder why use resume templates! There might be great resume templates for many job seekers but why bother choosing from various options with resume layout and document formats such as google docs and so many other factors?
Well the short answer is- well because why not? It's much easier and you don't have to put in too much effort when you find the best template! But let's discuss some really good reasons in detail as well.
Free
For one, the free resume templates are easily available and you can choose one and use it without having to pay anything for it which is no less valuable than having a certified resume writer help you out with your professional resume!
Save time
Using a resume template saves your time! The outline and the structure is ready, if you choose particular template even the document format and everything will be perfect and ready to use. All you need to do is put in your information.
This saves a lot of time of figuring out the outline and then typing out every heading of sections and setting margins and whole lot of other editing and formatting from scratch which might take hours to get done with.
Customizable
Resume templates are easily customized according to your needs of space and every other feature of resume writing. You can choose a template and customize with your preferences and have your resume ready all within half an hour!
Professional resume templates
The best resume templates are always professionally designed which meet the professional standards and are perfect resume samples for your own resume and all you have to do is replace the details of each section.
Resume template types
The best resume templates allow you to present the relevant skills, professional summary, your work history and more in the most efficient manner which helps you impress the hiring managers.
There are various types of resume templates that you can choose from. The types of resume templates are based on the document format, themes and the length.
There are many resume templates for Microsoft word document, pdf document, text, google docs resume templates and so on. You can choose the template based on the format and platform you are comfortable with to edit the resume template for your resume.
Many resume templates also have various themes of design and outline such as modern, minimalist, traditional, standard, contemporary, themes based on fonts and colors and images and so on. Whether you are looking for something simple or something more visually appealing and unique, you can find many options and variety to choose from.
Resume templates type is also based on the length of the resume. There are two page resume templates, one page resume templates and even 3 or more page resume templates that you can choose from depending on your need.
Resume Format
- Functional resume format: Functional resume format helps you focus on your skills and education which is why it is suitable for freshers and recent graduates who have next to none experience.
- Reverse chronological resume format: This resume format focuses on the experience which is why it is suitable for seasoned professionals and those with significant or extensive work experience.
- Combination resume format: This format is the combination of above two which focuses both on skills and experience. It is suitable for the professionals looking to change their career.
How to choose the right template?
Choosing right template requires you to understand and consider certain factors:
- Your industry: Depending on the industry (i.e. creative industries, architecture industry) of your profession, you will need creative resume template or professional resume template or conventional resume template or any more various resume templates.
- Your role: Much alike industry, your role (graphic designer, writer, doctor etc.) will decide whether you need to take a modern resume design or traditional resume template that traditional industries prefer or use a creative resume template and so on.
- Your profile: If you have extensive experience you will need to choose reverse chronological resume format template, if you are a fresher you might need single page resume template. Depending on your profile you will need a particular resume layout and for that you will need particular resume template.
- Template format: You can also choose the resume template based on the format you need for your professional resume. It will help you present your profile in the most efficient manner.
Best resume template choice can be made based of above mentioned factors that define your needs for the resume presentation. As job seekers, you need to understand these well.
What is the ATS?
ATS or the applicant tracking systems are the software utilized by hiring managers across the world who want to skip the manual work and shortlist the resumes through automated AI backed scanning and filtering of the resumes they receive.
What they do is set particular parameters to scan the resumes and if you meet those parameters you will be able to beat the ATS. ATS has its limits or even parameters set by the recruiter for their preferences, which is why not every resume is compatible with every ATS.
Using the professional resume templates allows to ensure that your resume will beat the ATS. Because these resume templates are designed to be compatible with the applicant tracking system. Even if they have visual elements or resume design or tables, they are formatted in a manner which make them compatible with and well detectable (the information in them) by the ATS.
Benefits of a one page resume template
You might wonder why should I go for one page resume templates? One page resume templates provide you a fixed structure and an outline which helps you decide which content to get rid of and which details to include. It also helps you figure out what amount of details is right for your professional resume.
Two page resume templates are suitable when you are looking for a resume template and you have an extensive relevant experience section to describe and much more information that is extremely important and must to be presented on your professional resume.
When you are trying to minimize your resume and trying to find ways to fit your resume in one page, the one page resume template helps you with it because it has fixed outline and structure that are ready and you only have to fill it up with your information.
It will help you write your relevant experience, list skills that are soft skills and important and also hard skills that are mandatory and so on.
Formatting your resume template
Formatting your resume template is very important because you cannot simply change the content within the outline of the template and call it a day.
When you change the content you will see some changes in font size, paragraph alignments, margins and white space and you cannot leave it however it ends up to be.
You will have to make some changes, do some formatting to ensure the overall visual appeal. Let's see how you can do that.👇
Fonts
The fonts take up space depending on their size. When you are editing your resume template to fit your information and maintain the visual appeal with symmetry and aligned content placement, you will not be able to keep the font size same everywhere or keep the font size that the template provided.
To make sure the information fits and at the end everything looks good too, you will have to increase or decrease the font sizes of headings, subheadings and the details in each sections.
Bullet points
When you are writing your professional resume you will be describing various information such as your list of professional skills, details of your professional experience, your resume summary, extra section details and so on.
If you describe all these details in paragraph the content will be difficult to read and will require more effort to successfully comprehend the information. It will also require more time and focus to ensure the information is truly understood.
Using bullet points makes the reading experience much better and efficient. When the details are written in bullet points, our eyes do not have to find the sentence beginnings and ends nor do we have to focus hard to comprehend what is written. Details of bullet points are easier to read through.
Margins
Margins are the invisible borders on the top, bottom and sides of the resume page. The margins contribute to the visual appeal, symmetry and proper presentation of the content.
If the margins are not adjusted and edited properly, your content will look chaotic and the information will not be aligned well with the vertical invisible borders as well as horizontal invisible borders.
One way to fix this issue is to use table format for the whole resume and its every sections however it might require a lot more margin fixing unless you are editing your resume template on a fairly advanced platform with automated features of editing documents.
White space
When you are polishing your professional resume, you need to pay attention to the white space that is left in your resume. You need to fix the distance between paragraphs and manage the white space in between the sections and it information along with the white space before, after and around the content.
White space can make a big difference in the visual appeal and when you take a ready resume template for your resume, your profile information amount and space will not be exact as it is in the template and you will need to make some adjustments to fix the white space.
You need to maintain the symmetry and visual appeal of the content on your perfect resume and managing the white space helps you with that.
Conclusion
In conclusion, writing a resume is tricky and demands a lot of background research, preparation and other efforts. If you have a ready one page resume template, all you need to do is customize it with your profile information and format it properly and you will be good to go!
Using one page resume templates is a really convenient and efficient option to reduce your work load when writing your professional resume.
Choosing the right professional resume templates is also important. Having read this article, we are sure you now know all the answers to your questions and have received all the advice you were looking for regarding using one page resume templates!
You should check out our resume templates along with resume examples and resume writing guides! Good luck with the job hunt!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, resume builder platforms offer various resume templates you can choose from and they are efficient.
Yes, free resume templates are efficient and useful and you can utilize them. Paid premium resume templates may offer more variety but they are not necessarily the only good options, free templates are just as good for your professional resume.
Yes, absolutely. Templates have sample information which may be very different from your own particular profile details. This means that you can copy the outline and general theme of the resume template however you must edit them with the information of your own professional profile.
