In recent years, it is more common to come across viral stories of fresh graduates applying for their first jobs in various wrong ways. From poorly written resumes to rude interactions with potential employers, the possibilities are endless.
How to ensure resume for fresh graduates is relevant and attractive for the best jobs in Malaysia, or at least stay away from being negatively viral on social media? Well today, we are going to focus on the golden rules for resume for fresh graduates.
Resume For Fresh Graduates: Crucial Rules
1. Don’t Mess Up Your Contact Information
One of the most important things to include in a resume is the job seeker’s complete contact information.
For a start, always include this section on the upper half of the front page of your resume. Aside from the usual contact information, include these items whenever applicable:
- Professional profile link – E.g. Your LinkedIn profile.
- Portfolio link – E.g. Your videos, blog articles, mobile apps, etc.
- Video resume link – Highly recommended to stand out from the crowd.
- Mailing address – Not compulsory, but should include if it’s relevant to the application.
- Social media profile links – Not compulsory, it depends on the job you’re applying for.
Note that a single mistake in your email address or phone number, for example, could totally ruin your chance at landing your dream job. You wouldn’t want the risk of being labelled as unprofessional and unreliable.
As the hiring process is getting more digital than ever, your online identity and accessibility are especially crucial to ensure a smooth job application process.
2. Stand Out From Your Competitors
The truth is, the Malaysian job marketplace is not facing a shortage of fresh graduates. Instead, it is facing a shortage of fresh graduates that are of high quality.
One job vacancy, especially at the top companies in Malaysia, would have hundreds of applicants consisting of not only fresh graduates but experience talents as well. How can you compete and stand out from the rest? The answer is simple.
By including your achievements and greatest accomplishments, your profile would be highly attractive, boosting your overall value. Once you have brainstormed a list of achievements, you’d have to justify its existence in your resume.
Start by researching the job advertisement and identify the keywords they use. You should only prioritise and include the 3 achievements that are most relevant to your applied job.
At Job Majestic, we’ve always been adamant about quantifying everything we possibly could. It’s not enough to just list down your achievements plainly – you should include some numbers & statistics to enhance them.
3. Grammatical & Spelling Errors Are Unacceptable
Your resume is an extension of yourself. The entire resume includes your lifelong experiences, skills and qualifications. Because it provides crucial first impressions of you to whoever reading it, your resume must be free of errors.
When hiring managers discover careless grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, it gives the first impression that the applicant is not professional, not attentive to detail and not serious in the job application.
In this day and age, these errors are not justified because we all have access to various proofreading tools such as Grammarly and Microsoft’s in-house Grammer tool.
You could also ask for a favour from your family members or friends to proofread your resume for fresh graduates. Their neutral perspectives may help you identify awkward phrases or careless spelling mistakes that you’re unable to.
4. ATS-Compatibility Is Half The Battle
Applicant Tracking System (ATS) looks for ATS-compatible resumes that contain specific keywords that the ATS is programmed to look for. If a resume fulfils the criteria, it is then passed onto the next stage.
No matter how fancy your initial resume for fresh graduates is, it can still get rejected if its information cannot be read by the ATS. Here are some of the key tips to ensure ATS compatibility:
- Use ATS-compatible resume formats
- Ensure keywords are relevant to the applied job vacancy
- Keep your resume simple and well-structured
- Save your resume using the right type of file
- Ensure zero grammatical and spelling errors
One final tip – Always ensure that the resume’s keywords and content are 100% true, and not there just to pass the ATS test.
Resume For Fresh Graduates: Closing Remarks
Now that you are aware of the latest, most important rules in resume for fresh graduates, you are ready to start your journey to land your first dream job.
Keep in mind that your resume is only one of the many tools you need to succeed in your job application journey. We wish you good luck and feel free to contact us for help!
Browse through our Job Majestic Blog for more resume-writing tips:
- Standard Resume Formats You Should Know
- How to Write a Resume Easily
- How to Write an Internship Resume
- Expected Salary 101
Perhaps you’d be interested in creating your own visume? Or, have you created your job application letter? All the career resources you need is available at Job Majestic.
