Write a Resume for Free Using Microsoft Word Resume Template

A good resume will be your first and sometimes your only chance to make a great first impression on a potential employer. If you have a little time, Microsoft Word, and an Internet connection, you can be well on your way to a successful change in career. To get started on using an easy resume template, you can learn to pick the right template for the occasion, use it, and make your resume stand out in the crowd. See Step 1 for more information.

Steps

Choosing a Template

  1. Browse the resume templates available. You can access a wide variety of Word templates either online, by clicking here or by starting a new document in Word 2007 or later and selecting Resumes & CVs as the document style. There are over 250 different templates available.
    • If you have Word 2007 or later, start a new document and select "Resumes and CVs" from the list of document styles. You'll be able to browse between various options and download the template of your choice.
    • If you have an earlier version of Word, search the templates online and select the template of your choice. You can choose between templates for particular goals or careers, or a variety of basic templates.
  2. Select the resume template most closely associated with your career. There are many pages of templates, so take your time and find the right one. You can also look for specific resume types in the search field at the top of the page. You'll have the choice between the following template styles:
    • Basic resume templates feature simple design and basic categories of information applicable to many different career fields, and are the most useful for entry-level employees. Select the"Entry-Level Resume" if you're just getting started or are a recent graduate, which will highlight other experience, skills, and education over previous employment.
    • Job-specific templates are organized to focus on specific career-centered information and experiences that wouldn't be included on other types of resumes. An academics resume, for instance, would likely have a section for teaching experience and publications, while a driver's would likely have a section for particular vehicle class certifications.
    • Situation-specific templates refer to different organizations of information, which may be appropriate for highlighting experience and or complicated work histories. A chronologically-organized resume, for example, would organize your recent job history in order, rather than into different categories. This is a good choice if you're switching careers.
  3. Download the template appropriate for you. Once you've selected a template you like, click on the thumbnail of the template. You will see a page with a larger version of your chosen resume template. Click the green Download button on the right to Download the template to your computer and open it in Microsoft Word to edit.
    • Try to find the simplest, most professional-looking template that's appropriate for your job. Fonts like Times New Roman are appropriate, while fonts like Comic Sans are not if you're looking for a job. Once you find one that looks good to you, stop looking, download it, and get to work.
    • All of the options can be a bit overwhelming, but the look of the resume is the least important part. In general, you shouldn't have to spend more than 5 or 10 minutes at the most searching for a template that looks right. You're not going to get the job because your template was fancier than other applicants.

Using the Template

  1. Launch Microsoft Word and open the template to start editing. Open the downloaded template file, and locate all the gray text boxes in which you can click to fill in your information.
    • At a quick glance, the template will appear to be already filled out. The text boxes exist to tell you what information to put where. In the top corner of most templates, for instance, will be a text box with the words "Name" and "Address," formatted correctly for the information being asked for.
  2. Define the sections you need. Select the various headings you want to include on your resume, and make sure they're either already there before starting into the document and filling in your information. It's hard to make changes after you start editing the document.
    • On some templates, you can fill in the types of headings you want, the headings are pre-set. Common headings include, but are not limited to: work experience, school experience, special skills and other training, awards, and contacts.
  3. Fill out your contact information first. All resumes, at the top of the document, need your basic contact information: name, address, email address, and telephone number. These will be filled in with filler information, which you can highlight, and change to your own.
  4. Fill out all the necessary information. Go through the document slowly, filling out all the necessary information. Take the time to double-check phone-numbers for your contacts, addresses for previous employers, and the dates of your employment. Be as specific as possible, especially when describing your duties and responsibilities as an employee.
    • It would look pretty foolish to turn in a resume with the default answers still filled out in one of the latter sections. Even if you think you've filled out everything, check again.
  5. Remove unnecessary blanks or categories. If you've chosen a template with a specific category or blank for information that doesn't apply to the job you're applying for, you should neither try to make something up to put in it, nor should you leave it blank. Highlight the box and remove it from the document if it's not appropriate for the job.
    • A good example of this is something like, "Rewards" or "Achievements" on some academic resumes. It doesn't look good to have the category but leave it blank. Just delete it.
  6. Save the draft frequently. Losing your progress can be frustrating, and it's also likely that you'll want to go back over the resume and make changes later, so be sure to save the document, even if you're planning on printing it to make copies. Make sure you have a digital copy of your resume.
    • When you're finished, consider saving a copy of your resume as a .pdf file under the "Format" list after you select "Save As." When you're finished, you'll be able to open the file on any computer without having to worry about formatting issues. If you're sending an electronic copy of your resume, though, make sure the company accepts .pdfs first.
    • Don't lose your resume! Save it somewhere you'll be able to remember, like Dropbox, or a thumb drive, and keep it on you so you won't have to go through this process again. You'll always need a resume on hand, and it's hard to tell when you'll need it again. You won't have to start form scratch next time if you save it now, and it'll be much easier to update.
  7. Customize each resume you send out. If you're starting on a large-scale job search, it would be best to make one basic resume and send that resume everywhere right? Wrong. Different places of employment will likely be looking for different things, so unless you're looking at identical positions at identical places of employment, you're probably better off doing a little bit of research first and making the best possible resume for each place, by making little changes.
    • Spend some time researching each prospective employer's website or hiring statement, taking time to note any special language they use in the ad. If an employer is looking for "Someone who can follow directions explicitly" and your resume highlights your "Strong-minded leadership qualities," you might be out of line with the job.
    • There's a lot you can do to change the little things in the job descriptions to match the advertisement language. The more the employer thinks you've done your homework, the more you'll stand out in the crowd.

Troubleshooting

  1. Stay away from tables. It can get confusing quickly if you choose a template with a bunch of individual cells you'll have to figure out, and possibly reformat. Because the formatting of the templates often doesn't account for the amount of information you'll be typing into the individual boxes, the formatting can get messed up and it can be difficult to reformat the document correctly.
    • While tables, even invisible tables, can help to structure text, it can make customizing the document very difficult. If you're not experienced with formatting tables in word, don't get into it now.
  2. Don't be afraid to delete and rename sections. Highlight parts of the section titles that you don't like and rename them. If "Work Experience" would be more suitably-titled "Construction Experience" or "Travel Experience," or whatever topic you'd like to highlight, highlight the offending term, change it by typing in the new heading, content, or title, and check to make sure you haven't messed up the formatting.
    • If changing something messes up the sizing, or the font, and you can't figure out how to change it back, you've got a couple options. It's likely the text has changed back to the Word default settings. You can either use the Style setting to make the document uniform (discussed in the following step) or go in manually.
    • To find what you want it to be, start by clicking elsewhere in the document, on text with the correct-looking style, and examine the toolbar at the top of the Word window to see how it's changed. Go back and highlight the text you want to change, and change it to the correct format in the toolbar, now that you know what it is.
  3. Make the document uniform by selecting "Styles." If making changes has messed up the formatting, sizing, or the fonts, click on the area of text that you want your messed-up text to look like. Select the entire paragraph, or group of text, right-click, select Styles, then Update style name to Match Selection. Now, highlight your messed-up text, and select "Match Selection," and the text should reformat like you want it to.[1]

Making Your Resume Stand Out

  1. Put the most important information first. If you're applying for a job as a mason's apprentice, you need to highlight experience working with your hands outside, and your ability to follow instructions, not your experience as the leader of a punk band that went on tour last summer. Customize each resume to the job you're applying for, and eliminate any extra information that won't be helpful.
  2. Keep it brief. It's a sad truth that the average employer looks at a resume for no more than a few seconds. Make sure that all the important information is easy to find, at right up front to give yourself the best shot at getting an interview. The best resumes are the briefest, highlighting all the necessary information in about the front side of one piece of paper, and no more than two pages.
    • It's a common misconception that longer resumes look better to employers. This is not the case at all. If you're worried about a lack of experience, it's better to let your resume be brief and efficient, than to pad it with desperate-looking descriptions of your leadership at a yard sale, or the obstacles you overcame as the captain of the soccer team.
    • Always defer to the job description. If an employer is looking specifically for something with charisma and a sense of humor, like at a web start-up or a magazine, it might be appropriate to include a witty description of your yard sale leadership, if it's appropriate. Use your best judgment.
    • Your resume doesn't need to "sound smarter" than you are. Don't waste a bunch of time looking up 20-dollar words to describe something simple. Nothing will get you the job faster than relevant experience and seriousness.
  3. Use action-oriented words to describe responsibilities. One of the most common ways to make your resume pop is to use vibrant descriptions of your previous employment responsibilities. Your descriptions of your duties and responsibilities at your previous employers should be short and sweet. To do this, there's a particular technique of standing a sentence with an action word to give your short bullet points or descriptions the most punch. Buzz words that are always good to use include:
    • innovated
    • motivated
    • facilitated
    • organized
    • simplified
    • managed
    • examined
  4. Make sure all your bullet points use the same structure. If your template is organized into bullet points and sub-points for your description of each job, you don't need to use complete sentences for the bullets, but it does make it important to be consistent in the style. They should all have the same sentence structure, even if they're not complete sentences.
    • If one bullet starts with "facilitated" the next can't start with "I worked to." Instead, it should read "worked to," so they'll be parallel.
  5. Let yourself exaggerate, a little. Your job descriptions are the best way to give yourself credit for things you deserve credit for, but that might not necessarily show up on a cold description of your job written by somebody else. Make yourself look good. It's not lying.
    • If you were the only person at your previous job to ever clean up the mess at the end of the day, you might say that you "facilitated teamwork by organizing the work site more efficiently."
    • If you organized a carpool, you might say that you "streamlined the office commute by incorporating co-operative ride sharing."
  6. Contact your contacts beforehand. Most resumes will ask for personal or employment contacts. It's a good idea to think about these seriously beforehand and talk to your contacts, coaching them slightly on the nature of the job and what it is you're applying for. It doesn't look good if an employer cold-calls your contact and they're not expecting it, not available, or unwilling to give you a glowing recommendation.
    • Only pick contacts who will say good things about you. If you were fired from your last job, provide personal contacts with a relevant knowledge of your work history who can vouch for your reliability and your seriousness as a candidate, and older employers. Call and ask politely if you can use them as a reference.



Tips

  • Be honest! Misleading your potential employer about your abilities may get you the job, but it may also get you fired unexpectedly.
  • If you are wondering how to fill out a resume when you have no experience, just remember: everything counts! If you're a student, list the extra-curricular activities (sports, clubs, school government) that you're involved in, your role in the activity and what your contributions were. Other experiences might include volunteer work, babysitting, or yard work.
  • If you do not have Microsoft Word or a PC, simply enter "resume template" into Google, and view images. Find a template that works for you, and proceed as described above.
  • Keep your resume short and to the point — one page is best, and definitely no more than two pages.
  • Use brief, descriptive bullet points. Some managers have so many resumes to go review that they will simply toss out any that are longer than one page.
  • Think of some great adjectives to describe your good qualities that employers would be attracted to, words such as "team player," "outgoing," "dedicated," and any other descriptive words that apply to you.
  • Think of what you spend your time doing and what makes you good at it. If it reflects well on your character and work ethic, then it's all good to use. You may even want to interview some adults in your life that you look up to and ask them what they think your best qualities are.

Things You'll Need

  • Computer
  • Microsoft Word
  • Internet Access

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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.pcworld.com/article/227558/microsoft_word_nightmares_and_how_to_fix_them.html?page=2
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