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Create an Impressive Resume

A resume is like a movie trailer. It should give a brief but compelling preview of your skills and experience to pique the interest of the hiring manager and entice them to learn more about you.

This guide will help you create a powerful resume that highlights your credentials to stand out from the crowd.

01 Structure Your Resume

While it is tempting to get creative with your resume design, following a standard resume structure will actually help you stand out. A standard format ensures the recruiter can quickly find the information they need and evaluate your fit for the role.

A reverse chronological resume is recommended for fresh graduates. This means listing your relevant work experience, education, and other qualifications, beginning with your most recent position and proceeding backwards.

Essential Sections to Include in Your Resume

Header including your Name, Contact Details, Linkedln URL
Objective or Summary (optional): Consider including a brief objective or summary statement that highlights your career goals and provides a snapshot of your skills and qualifications.
Education: your degree and any previous relevant qualifications
Relevant Coursework (optional): Consider including a section that highlights relevant coursework or projects related to the job or industry you are targeting, particularly if you lack significant work experience

Work Experience; including internships, part-time jobs, freelance work
Co-curricular Activities, Volunteering, External Projects, Competitions
Awards and Honours
Additional Sections (optional): Depending on your experiences and interests, you can include additional sections such as additional skills or certifications, language proficiency, or relevant professional affiliations.

Presentation Tips

One Page

All dates in MM YY format

All bullets must be properly aligned across the entire document

Use standard fonts such as Verdana, Calibri, and Helvetica in size 11 and 12.

Use of Generative AI

Generative AI has been a helpful tool in many areas and can also be useful in writing a compelling resume. However, please exercise caution when leveraging generative AI.

1. Protection of your Personal Data
Do not input your personal data (e.g. name, phone number, email address or any information that makes you identifiable) onto any public AI platform. They may be used to further train the generative AI model and the information may be accessible to others.

2. Hallucinations
Generative AI may produce inaccurate information, often referred to as ‘hallucinations.’ When using AI tools to research for your job search, always verify the output against credible sources. Likewise, if you leverage AI to refine your application materials, review them carefully and make necessary adjustments to ensure accuracy and alignment with your intent. Apply sound judgment in decision‑making when incorporating AI‑generated content.

3. Feedback on Application Materials
AI tools can provide quick suggestions on resumes and cover letters, such as improving phrasing, formatting, or highlighting achievements. However, treat these comments as starting points rather than final edits. Always cross-check with career advisors, mentors, or trusted peers to ensure your documents remain authentic, tailored, and aligned with industry expectations.

Ready to Get Started with a Trusted Resume Template?

On the NUS VMock Resume Platform, you will find approved resume templates crafted by your NUS Career Advisor. Once you login, you will be able to download the sample resumes for your faculty and select one of the blank templates to create your own!

Learn more

02 Identify Relevant Experiences and Skills

When writing your resume, always keep the end goal in mind; to convince the employer that you are the right fit for the role. To demonstrate this, you will need to tailor your resume to the specific job description and highlight your relevant skills and experience.

Image source: MyCareersFuture

Start By Analysing Job Descriptions

By analysing several job descriptions, you can identify key skills and qualifications that the employer is seeking and focus on highlighting your relevant skills in your resume.

For deeper information on the skills required for specific industries and job roles, you can also refer to the Skills Frameworks for the major industries in Singapore.

Technical skills

Technical skills refer to the knowledge and expertise required to perform the required tasks or use specific tools in the role. These skills will vary across industries and functions and could include skills such as programming, web design, lab skills, and experience using specific software.

Transferable Skills

Transferable skills refer to those types of skills that can be applied across careers. Your transferable skills can enhance the technical skills that you bring to the job. See a full list of these skills here.

What Are Soft Skills CCS

Image source: Critical Core Skills - MySkillsFuture

Identify The Key Skills Required

Once you are familiar with the meanings of technical and transferable skills, look over job descriptions and mark the keywords that indicate these skills.

job-description-annotated-with-transferable-skills

Image source: CVGenius

03 Link Your Experiences and Skills

Now that you have a good sense of the skills required for your target roles, you need to select the skills, experiences, and qualifications that will position you as the ideal candidate for your chosen career.

Experiences to Include in Your Resume

Work Experiences

Work Experiences
(Full time/Part time)

Global and Local Internships

Overseas Exchange

Extra-Curricular Activities & Voluntary Work

Hall Involvement

Community Groups

Hobbies

Research Projects

Virtual Experiences

Certifications

Professional Projects

Personal projects / Side gigs

Wondering how you can use these types of experiences to demonstrate specific skills?

Download this guide for some inspiration.

Increase Your Relevant Experience and Enhance Your Resume

Learn directly from leading companies and gain valuable career skills by completing virtual experiences with Forage.

Complete online courses from platforms such as Edx, Coursera and Google.

Enrol in CFG's Industry Insights Courses.

Take up a leadership position in a Student society or community group

04 Be Results-Oriented

Ready to write about your experiences in your resume? Before you start writing a long list of everything you did for each of your experiences, stop! For each experience, consider the most important tasks that you completed—the ones that required resourcefulness and strategy in order to solve.

After that, use the C.A.R. framework to succinctly and effectively demonstrate your skills.

letter-c

letter-a

letter-r

Competency

Start each sentence with a strong action verb that highlights the competency that you're trying to communicate. For example, if you want to demonstrate your teamwork skills, start by describing how you ‘Collaborated”.

Action

Explain who you worked with and the tools you used to achieve a positive outcome or desired goal, stating simply how you were able to affect change.

Results or Reason

Express the quantitative or qualitative outcome of your action. For qualitative results, you can state the purpose of your action. For example, "to investigate the role of market supply in consumer behaviour".

Download this guide to see the C.A.R. Framework in Action

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Want to learn more about creating an impressive and impactful resume?

Register for CFG’s essential career courses based on your year of study:

CFG1002 Career Catalyst

For year 1 or 2 undergraduates.

Learn more

CFG3001 Career Advancement

For year 3 or 4 undergraduates.

Learn more

Once you have created your first draft, you can also reach out to your dedicated career advisor for expert advice on tailoring your resume for specific roles and industries.

Ask CeeVee