A hiring manager or employer looks at a candidate’s resume for an average of 7.4 seconds, according to a study by Ladders, Inc. Hence, your resume structure should be such that the employer can immediately scan your skills and educational qualifications as soon as they read it. Not to mention, the CV or resume should contain enough material to keep the employer engaged with your profile. Professional resume drafting is challenging for a student seeking internships or entry-level jobs. Here comes VisualCV to the rescue. This article presents a concise review of VisualCV so that you can use it effortlessly for job-seeking and career-building.
Challenges Students Face During Job Search
As a student and fresh graduate, the main challenge you might face is crafting your resume according to industry norms. If your CV is out of the track, then the recruiting manager will overlook it. Here is a details explanation of challenges related to student resume:
#1. Format of the Resume
There are various formats of resume writing like reverse chronology, functional CV, and a combination or hybrid of these two. However, you need to know which resume format is applicable in which industry and what are the current trends. If your resume does not come in an appropriate format, the hiring manager might discard it.
#2. Creating the Cover Letter
An attractive and engaging cover letter may help you secure a job. However, composing a catchy and jaw-dropping cover letter needs a lot of experience. As a student or fresh graduate, it is obvious that you lack that experience.
#3. The Content of the Resume
A job or internship-seeking resume should reflect that you possess the professionalism and corporate etiquette required for white-collar jobs. While drafting the resume, you must show the above qualities in appropriate sections of the resume. If you do not have prior experience working in a corporate environment, it could again be a difficult job for you.
#4. Showcasing Skills and Qualifications
Most recruiters look for job-relevant qualifications, skills, and prior experiences. Hence, if you simply generalize your CV with all the relevant and irrelevant data, your CV will not attract the attention it deserves. This is a crucial requirement, and failing this will result in the rejection of candidature.
#5. ATS-Friendly Resume
Above all, automated resume parsing and screening via applicant tracking system tools have become a nightmare for students and fresh graduates. It seeks out non-compliant resumes in the application phase. Hence, if your resume is not in the right format, it will not land on the table of a hiring manager or recruiter. Additionally, ATS tools also look for certain keywords in your CV to understand that your profile fits the position. If you fail to mention such keywords, you can forget to get an interview.
Introduction
Conventional text-based resumes have limited capabilities to communicate your zeal toward the job role. VisualCV eliminates this communication gap and other resume-related issues a student or fresh graduate might face during job searching. It helps you to craft the next-generation resume that contains text, charts, graphs, images, video, animation, and more. Essentially, these are electronic resumes that you can easily transmit as an email attachment or upload to companies’ job boards and career web pages. Furthermore, the tool helps you link additional documents, like references, certificates, recommendations, etc., to the original CV professionally. Such an elaborate resume pushes the hiring manager to scan your profile thoroughly before they move on to the next applicant. Finally, a profile that stands out from the crowd gets noticed and passes the selection process successfully. VisualCV helps you to stand out by creating a visual, interactive, and comprehensive resume that overshadows the rest.
Benefits
Its CV, resume, cover letter, portfolio website, and career journal builder are automatic and can pull data from LinkedIn profiles. Drag-and-drop editor for CVs and resumes. Advanced text-formatting options like fonts, font sizes, font colors, text background colors, etc. It generates additional fields in your resume in just a single click. Easy-to-edit placeholders for text content. A vast library of templates and examples of student CVs. Free access to the VisualCV editor. Create unlimited cover letters and resumes with a monthly subscription. Intelligent resume analytics shows you download and view counts. Track your career accomplishments in the same dashboard
Features
#1. Online CV Builder
VisualCV is an intuitive online platform where you can create a resume from scratch, import an existing one for editing, and choose templates form. Moreover, you do not need to download it on your system and perform the resume creation process online before sharing it with potential employers.
#2. Easy to Use
This platform is so easy to use that even a novice user will not have any difficulty. Whether it is about adding content to the CV template, customizing fonts, or making other edits, all can be done smoothly on VisualCV.
#3. Multiple CV Management
The present-day job market is highly competitive. Hence, you can not expect to attract all HR managers with a single CV. VisualCV lets you customize your CV for different organizations and industries. Here, you can also manage the different versions.
#4. Resume & CV Analytics
Do not get lost in the hiring process, as this tool’s advanced CV analytics feature is here to help you. It lets you track the views or downloads of your CV and immediately informs you of such events.
#5. Download and Share
After creating the resume here, you can download it in pixel-perfect PDF format and use it as an attachment while applying for a job. Also, You can get a convenient link to the resume and share it through email or social media.
#6. Data and Privacy Control
The company does not share user information with any third party. It also offers CV privacy options that you can use to ensure your data safety.
#7. Professional Resume Writing
If you are unsure of the quality of your self-created CV, you can take help from the professional and experienced resume writers of VisualCV.This paid service enables you to land a job much quicker than traditional self-written resumes.
#8. Professional Resume Reviews
VisualCV also offers a paid CV review service. You can upload your current CV and let the resume experts and experienced career coaches offer detailed and actionable video feedback.
#9. Resume Skill Suggestions
Most of the resumes these days are checked by ATS. That’s why your resume should contain skills related to the job position and description. VisualCV has a collection of 200+ skills to add to the resume and teaches you how to itemize a specific skill.
#10. Create Customized Versions
The online VisualCV resume is optimized for search engines and mobile devices, so you can share it without any worries. Moreover, you can export it in PDF format for traditional job applications.
Resources
#1. International CV Guide
Resume guidelines and specifications vary from country to country. Here, you get a country-specific resume guide for the USA, UK, Canada, India, Australia, China, Singapore, and many more.
#2. Cover Letter Examples
For many organizations, you need to submit cover letters along with resumes. You can look at examples of cover letters from this platform.
#3. CV Photo
VisualCV also provides you with suggestions and tips on your resume photograph. It offers you some country-wise scenarios for adding a photo to a resume.
#4. Help Center & Blog
You can also check out its knowledge base and blog sections and find answers to your resume-related queries.
CV Examples
VisualCV also has a dedicated section containing examples of student resumes. Anyone can view the handpicked resumes and get inspiration to craft their own. Here, you can find examples for the following industries:
Business Construction Education Engineering Creative IT Healthcare Hospitality Service
Steps to Create a CV
Using VisualCV to draft and download the perfect professional resume for many industries is a ridiculously effortless job. Try these steps:
Log in to VisualCV using your Google or LinkedIn account using the login link.
Once you log in, the web app takes you to the dashboard with options like Create a Resume, Create a Cover Letter, etc.
Look around the dashboard page, and you will find sections like Resumes, Websites, Career Journal, Cover Letters, VisualCV Expert, and Resources. Once you create CVs, those will show up in these sections according to content type. Now, try these steps:
Click on Create a Resume.
If you want to upgrade the existing CV, select Use existing resume. Alternatively, if you do not have a resume or CV, choose Use sample content. From the Resume Samples screen, choose a resume format.
The examples show role-based resumes, so pick the one that matches the job you are applying to. On the resume preview screen, select Use This Sample. If you have updated your Google or LinkedIn profile with your skills, personal details, qualifications, etc., the VisualCV web app will fetch those automatically.
Now, you must go through the resume format carefully and personalize the rest of the content with your educational or professional data. If there are some fields for which no data is available yet, you can delete that part. For example, you are a fresh graduate, and you do not have any work experience. So, remove the work experience section. Additionally, you may edit some fields with custom headers. For example, you can change the Work Experience option to Apprenticeship or Internship Experiences.
You will find Add section option at the bottom of the resume. Click that to add a new content field like Portfolio, Text section, Custom dated section, Skills, etc.
That is it! Your CV is ready. Now, click the Share button on the top of the screen to forward a link to a recruiter or employer. You can also download the resume in Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF format for printing, emailing, etc. However, these actions will ask you to sign up with a paid subscription before getting the final CV.
Templates
Here, users can find more than 30 professional templates that they can customize according to their needs. Some beautiful templates are as follows:
#1. About
This template comes with a customizable banner image and a convenient navigation bar.
#2. ATS
It is a direct resume template suitable for both ATS and human managers.
#3. Baker
This dual-column CV is great for showcasing your personality.
#4. Corporate
If you are looking for a corporate job, this clear and classic template can help you.
#5. Marketing
The distinct two-color design of this template is perfect for job seekers in the marketing domain.
Alternatives
Resume Build
With Resume Build, you can level up your resume to impress hiring managers. It has an easy-to-use template library from which you can choose your favorite one and create your resume in a few minutes. It also provides you with examples and expert tips to make your resume one of a kind.
Kickresume for Students
Kickresume for Students is another useful platform that helps you create an attention-grabbing resume. It offers a number of templates that you can edit according to your requirements and get your resume ready quickly. The templates are customizable with innumerable possible designs and always ATS-ready to give you an edge.
Resume Coach
Students have different purposes and limitations, and Resume Coach can assist them in getting their dream job. You can choose from its professionally designed templates and enter your personal information. Users can also download the ATS-compatible resume in PDF or text format.
Final Words
So far, you have gone through a 360° review of VisualCV as a student CV builder. The article covered its notable features, benefits, CV examples, resume templates, and how to create a professional student CV on the VisualCV tool. You can now try the tool by signing up for a free account. If you like the sample student CVs, you can upgrade your account, download the CV, and submit it in online or offline job applications. Next, you can check out tools to create an impactful video resume.
