For those individuals searching for a new job in a competitive market, a standout resume is the first vital step to landing an interview and, hopefully, new employment.
Many people looking to start their career, find a new position, or switch careers struggle with resumes, either not understanding what information from their academic and job history should be included or how it should be formatted. Some services offer to help job seekers for a price, but there is a free resume builder that helps to properly format resumes, organize achievements and skills, and allows applicants to tailor their resumes for multiple jobs.
“Our resume builder is designed to be beginner‑friendly, which means you don’t need any previous knowledge to create a professional resume,” says Resume.co’s website.
A professional, ATS-friendly resume can secure advancement to the next round of resume reviews or perhaps an interview.
The Importance Of ATS-friendly Resumes
In the past, fancy formatting, graphics, or fonts were used to catch the eye of a recruiter, but now those things can result in your resume being discarded because it confuses the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software used by companies to automatically screen resumes before human eyes review them. The ATS scans submitted resumes for job-specific keywords for experience, job titles, and skills, sorting them into rejection and accepted files.
Harvard Business School conducted a study that found that nearly 63% of employers use ATS, with the figure higher among larger companies. Recruiters use ATS systems to efficiently handle the large volume of resumes they receive for job listings. If a resume isn’t ATS-compatible, it might be misread, or worse yet, rejected, even if the applicant is qualified to do the job.
How ATS-friendly Resumes Are Different
ATS-compliant layouts feature clear headings, simple fonts, and structured content so the software can easily read the resume. The simple formatting is professional and ATS-friendly. The headings are basic and direct, such as “Education,” “Work Experience,” “Skills,” and so forth. Resume builders use standard fonts like Arial, Calibri, and Times New Roman, use text-based layouts only, and don’t include complex graphics or tables.
Resume builder tools also help with keyword optimization, targeting job-specific terms from the job posting. The final resume is saved in DOCX or PDF, which are the formats accepted by ATS.
“After using Resume.co’s tool to create my resume, I realized how amateur-looking my old one used to be. I’m looking at my resume, and I even feel more like a professional now,” says resume builder Robert R.
Simplifying Formatting
Pre-designed templates on free resume builders help streamline the resume creation and editing. The layouts are professional and ensure that both software and human recruiters can read the resume. The templates also help eliminate common errors that occur in resumes, such as inconsistent or unreadable fonts, misaligned sections, and missing headings.
Job seekers often struggle with laying out a resume, and resume builders make it easy to create a neat, easy-to-read resume while also serving as a guide to proper formatting and content.
“I used to hate making resumes, but this tool makes it fun. I’ve been playing with the template configurations and all the features, and I’m loving the process. Plus, I’m getting way better resumes than I used to,” says resume builder user, Samantha C.
Save Time With Consistent Professional Formatting
Resume builders make it easy to apply for multiple positions because the pre-designed templates retain the spacing, headings, and font choice, along with the data entered. The applicants can create multiple versions of their resumes without worrying about design errors.
Additionally, users of resume builders can reuse the same template and create different versions of their resume to target specific positions. This eliminates the need to rewrite a resume from scratch, since the user only needs to update specific details to fit the various jobs they’re applying for, such as keywords, job titles, and skills.
Resume builders can help job seekers at all points in their careers. For recent graduates, the templates can be adapted to create a one-page resume that is focused on education, internships, and projects.
If someone is seeking to change careers, the resume builder tools can help show how work experience and skills from their job history can adapt to a new industry. If a professional is applying across a spectrum of industries, resume builders can help create resumes tailored to different positions.
Free resume builders still give job seekers on a limited budget access to templates and guidance without hefty fees, giving them a better shot at securing a new job and a fresh beginning.
“The whole process is incredibly simple. It makes me wonder why anyone would create resumes on their own when they can just use this resume builder,” says an anonymous user of the resume builder.
An ATS-friendly resume increases the likelihood that it will make it through the screening and land in the hands of a human reviewer. By using free resume builder tools that prioritize ATS compatibility and formatting, job seekers can confidently navigate the modern job search process and improve their chances of landing their next opportunity.
