It’s always difficult deciding how to make your resumé for your dream job after university or that crappy summer job in between semesters. There’s just too many options and too little time. I’ll take you through some of the best options for making a painless resume, while giving some of my personal experience too.
1. Microsoft Word/Google Docs
If you’ve made it to university, you should probably be dropping the MS Word resumé by now. It’s boring, bland and speaks for itself. However, in a lot of cases employers for part-time positions might just want one page that says “I’m not a total loser, I need this coffee shop job until September.” And on the flip side, MS Word can make you something workable for applying for a “big boy job.”
There are plenty of free templates online which work with both Adobe InDesign and MS Word which leave in icons for social media, a section for your photo, and selective fonts which make your credentials pop out. It’s not going to be easy, but hey it’s still usable.
Ease of Use *****
Time *****
Cost** (unless you’re a student)
Look*
2. Adobe InDesign
The learning curve on Adobe InDesign will suck some time out of your day while you look at YouTube tutorials to figure out what the fuck you’re doing. But I swear it’s so worth it.
Building an amazing-looking resumé and making the most out of the limited space of a single page is simply impossible or infuriating to do on other resumé building platforms. You can squish letters without it looking terrible, change alignment to get rid of a whole section you don’t need and so much more.
It’s my personal favourite way to build a resumé and it can be yours too. Just remember you’ll have to find out how to actually get InDesign (don’t ask how I did), or buy an Adobe Cloud one month membership.
Ease of Use *
Time *
Cost **
Look *****
3. Canva
If you’ve ever created a class presentation or group project you’re probably familiar with Canva. It’s an awesome tool for making social media posts, infographic and so much more.
Little did I know that you can find some amazing looking resumé templates on Canva, and customize them to boot. The fonts and colours are nice, and you can even replace photos and backgrounds with your own if you’re going for something flashy.
My only complaint is a lot of the templates focus more on having a bio over having more than two references. If you’re someone who’s done a lot of volunteer work or internships, you’re going to probably want at least four.
But to be honest, it’s simple to change things around. You can build your own resumé from scratch as well, without using templates.
Ease of use *****
Time ****
Cost *****
Look *****
4. Online resumé builders
Online resumé builders are a mixed bag. If you’ve used any of them, it usually goes a bit like this: Enter information, resumé is built, website asks you to pay $20-$30. It’s a scam I tell you.
Yes, a lot of these are dead simple since they do all the work for you and you just type, but do you really want the easy way out when you can spend that $20 on a pack of Picaroons brews and support local? You can do better, I believe in you. But hey, if you’re in a bind to meet that deadline for that summer research job, go ahead.
Ease of use *****
Time *****
Cost ***
Look ***
In the end, the winner is Canva. Gosh damn if the internet hasn’t come a long way since the dawn of playing flash games on a dial-up connection. Now you can even build a beautiful resumé without paying a damn cent. Use that saved cash and buy yourself a junior chicken after making a resumé which shows the beautiful human being you really are. Because that’s exactly what the employer will think after they see your masterful creation.
