Resume for Freshers versus Resume for Experienced Professionals – Find Out the Essential Differences

You would rarely find a fresher on the planet who has not wished for at least a year of solid experience to show off on their one-page resume.

Likewise, there would hardly be any seasoned professional around who has not wished for a few more pages to squeeze in all those years of lush, enviable work experience.

Resumes came into play to prove the worth of an individual whose name it bears. While freshers rely on their education emphasizing their inherent abilities, seasoned professionals bank on their accomplishments giving impetus to their expert capabilities.

When it comes to recruitment and selection, this essential difference between a fresher and a seasoned professional is seen extended to the look and feel of the professional resume each one presents. And this is exactly why the professional resume format for a fresher greatly differs from the resume format of an experienced professional.

So, if you are still sending across a professional resume that is a world apart from your level of expertise and experience, read on to find out the essential differences between the resume of a fresher and that of an experienced professional.

Best Resume Format for Experienced Professionals

The Chronological Resume is by far the best resume format for experienced professionals. Anyone with continuous experience of more than three years and a career graph that is scaling upwards, would immensely benefit from the Chronological Resume.

As the name suggests, the Chronological Resume lists everything in chronological order, with the most recent gig positioned right on top. The primary focus is on the employment history followed by the education path. The Chronological Resume is a perfect resume format for experienced professionals since it allows recruiters to quickly scan and assess the candidates’ most recent work experience.

Best Resume Format for Freshers Looking for a Job

The Functional Resume is the best resume format for freshers since it places great emphasis on the skills and abilities of the candidate instead of their employment history. It is also the preferred format for those who have gaping gaps in their employment history.

In this resume format, freshers can highlight the transferable skills they managed to pick up during an internship or volunteering stint. Some of the most sought-after transferable skills include Problem Solving, Analytical Reasoning, Critical Thinking, Adaptability, Relationship Building, Interpersonal and Communication Skills, Creative Thinking and Project Management among many others. Freshers can easily flaunt some of these skills in the Functional Resume format.

Length of the Resume for Experienced and Freshers

Many experts state that the length of your resume is proportional to a job-seeker’s years of relevant experience. But then that is no reason to send in an autobiography for a job listing that requires more than a decade’s experience.

Freshers are relieved that one-page resumes are in vogue and widely accepted. But then, as you gather years of relevant experience, it is but natural to pat yourself on the back and ensure that every laudable turning point in your career is elaborately given pride of place in your professional resume. However, brevity is key when it comes to making a good impression in the shortest hiring encounter possible.

For freshers, a one-page resume is a norm. Unless you have over a decade of relevant experience to brag about, stick to the two-page limit for your resume. With a little self-control, you really can concise all those career milestones into 2 pages of accomplishment instead of an autobiography.

Summary of Essential Differences in Resume Format

Tabulated below is a spotlight on the main components of a professional resume and how differently each component may be written when it comes to a resume for freshers or a resume for professionals.

RESUME COMPONENTS – ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCES
	FRESHER	EXPERIENCED
NAME & CONTACT INFO	Include your First and Last name, Email, Phone number, Address and LinkedIn	Include your First and Last name, Email, Phone number, Address and LinkedIn
RESUME SUMMARY	Write a resume summary specifically crafted for freshers, communicating your qualifications, individual attributes as well as transferable skills in less than three sentences. If you need personalized assistance in building your Resume Summary, click on the link below for unlimited access to HiCounselor’s Resume Builder where you can accelerate your employment search and make use of pre-written examples to pep up your Resume Summary. Click here to build your Resume Summary for Freshers	Write a resume summary specifically crafted for professionals Click here are a few rocking examples of the Resume Summary that you could consider while building your professional resume for an interesting job. Of course, you do need to thoroughly read the Job Description (JD) of the opening you are interested in and then jot down keywords used in the JD. Keeping these keywords in mind, make use of the Resume Summary examples below to pen a summary of how inimitable a person you really are.
EXPERIENCE	Mention internship or volunteering experience	Emphasize this section, listing the work history in chronological order. Be concise without exaggeration
EDUCATION	Emphasize this section	Emphasize this section, listing the education history in chronological order.
SKILLS	Mention transferable skills	Mention job-specific skills, experience and accomplishments
NO. OF PAGES	Stick to one page	Try not to go beyond 2 pages
WHAT TO INCLUDE	Cover Letter	Cover Letter
WHAT TO EXCLUDE	The reference section can be excluded	The reference section can be excluded

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