Resume templates are a tricky part of resume making as picking or making a perfect one requires some know-how. Not only does the resume template have to match your personality but also has to abide by the overall nature of the industry you want to work in. Furthermore, you have to take care of the technical aspects of resume making that shift according to one’s professional experience. Meaning the years you’ve spent working in a particular field.
If you’re new to the job market and have trouble figuring out what your resume should look. Like and which aspects of your resume take precedence over the others then have no fear. In this article we will be looking at how to choose the best resume template for an entry-level internship.
Resume Formats
Resume formats essentially determine where everything goes in your resume, in other words, they establish the order of your resume. There are 3 resume formats you can choose from, each with its characteristics and reasoning for use.
- Reverse-Chronological
This resume format highlights an applicant’s work experience as work experience is the first thing. An employer looks for in a resume when analyzing a resume and gives it precedence over other elements like education and skills for a resume. This should be used by applicants with over 2 years of professional experience in a given field.
- Functional
The functional resume format is reserved for applicants that have recently graduated from college or those who are looking to change their career paths. Since applicants who use this format have limited professional experience. This format will focus more on their skills for a resume, certifications, education, etc to make up for the lack of work experience. This is the most common type of resume format and is generally preferred by most hiring managers. A chronological resume leads with your work history, which should list your current and previous positions in reverse chronological order.
- Combination
This resume format uses an applicant’s strengths in certain parts of the resume to make up for weaknesses in others. Since this needs a bit of creative writing experience it is not recommended for everyone.
Since in this article we are talking about an internship resume. The best choice for any internship position would be the functional resume format. Therefore, when picking out a resume template for an internship position pick one that does fulfill the criteria of a functional resume format.
Technical Changes
In a Reverse-Chronological resume format, the heading Professional Experience is used to highlight past accomplishments. And achievements to make an impact. Since we assume that the applicant applying for an internship position is lacking in professional experience. The heading changes from Professional Summary to Resume Objective.
A resume that belongs to a professional with years of experience under their belt the Education section should be short and sweet. Where they went to school and a graduating year is enough. However, in the functional resume format, it is recommended to add detail to this section. Mention your GPA and any relative course work or activity you may have participated in.
Just because you don’t have work experience does not mean that you should omit this section from your resume. Think of any related activity or projects you may have been a part of or led that correlate with the desired job position. And mention them in detail in the Work History section.
Skills for a resume for an internship position should always have some elaboration to them. It is not enough to tell the employer what you’re capable of doing but you must also show your expertise with the given skills for a resume for an internship.
Keep these things in your mind when choosing or making your preferred resume template for an internship position.
Design
The design element of a resume for an internship follows the same rules as any other resume. It solely depends on the user’s preference and the nature of the industry in question.
Resume Templates come in all shapes and sizes but to pick the right one an applicant must ask themselves. “What information do I want to (non-verbally) convey to the employer?” and “Does the appearance of my resume fit with the industry that I want to work in?”.
Another way to do this is to study resume examples of individuals already practicing in that industry and take inspiration from their design.
