Do you have a resume you’re proud of? A resume is a critical component of any job search, and outlines relevant information about your skills and work history. It can, however, be somewhat stressful to produce a resume that genuinely reflects who you are as a person. Learn how to create a professional resume for free with Canva, an online graphic design platform that has some amazing templates, specifically for resume-building.
Table of Contents
What Is A Resume?
In its simplest form, a resume is a marketing tool that is used when seeking employment or applying for an internship or scholarship. Its purpose is to showcases your individual abilities and experiences.. Most companies require a resume as part of the interviewing and hiring process.
A resume is an essential component of a focused job search, and is a determining factor in whether or not an invitation for an interview will be extended. A well-thought out resume conveys to potential employers whether or not a particular candidate will be a good fit for their company in terms of their education, work history, and skills.
Benefits Of Having A Great Looking Resume
A resume is essential for underscoring your value as a professional. It’s also the first impression a future employer will have of you. Here are more reasons for having a well-written and visually-pleasing resume:
- Streamlines the hiring process
- Demonstrates your business skills and qualifications
- Outlines your work history and education
- Reflects who you are both personally and professionally
- Gives you the opportunity to convey what you want a future employer to know about you
- Is a foundational component when forming new business ventures and alliances
- Portrays if you’re a good fit for a particular company
- Improves and/or secures your status in your current industry
- Confirms your value as an employee
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How To Create A Professional Resume For Free Tutorial
1. Begin by going to Canva.com.
[Read More: How To Use Canva For Your Online Business]
2. In the “Design anything” box on the homepage. Type in “resume” to bring up the resume templates:
3. On the left-hand side of the editor, you’ll see an assortment of resume templates. Scroll down until you find one you like. I chose one that has a photo on it because I like that it adds a personal touch:
4. Now comes the fun part of designing your template. In the tool box on the far left, you can upload your own images, add elements and text, or change the background color. The Canva editor is drag-and-drop so you’re able to see your edits in real time.
I’m going to create a sample resume of a fictitious person named Chloe Brown who has just started a dog-sitting business, and wants to get her name out there. First, I’ll be adding Chloe’s photo, her name and title, and the name of her business:
5. Now I’ll start filling in her personal information, such as her education, work experience, skills, and contact information. Use the percentage tab at the bottom to zoom in for an easier editing experience. The various boxes can be moved to different locations. Simply drag to your preferred location. Change the font and text size by highlighting the text you want to edit:
I’d like to change the color of the lines on the resume. Do to this go to the “A” symbol above the template to choose a different color. See how the lines are blue now instead of green?
I’ll also changed the font for each of the headings. I think they’re easier to read in a bold font:
6. If you want, you can add additional boxes by dragging a text box onto the resume. I’m going to add a box that highlights the hobbies and activities Chloe enjoys. I can add a line to underscore it by going to “elements:”
7. Now it’s time to download the completed resume. JPEG is the smallest size. If you add clickable links, like I’m going to for Chloe’s website, you’ll need to download the file as a PDF. Go to the link icon to apply the URL:
8. There are a variety of download options. You can either download the file, share the link directly, or share to social media.
Since I added a link, I’m downloading the resume as a standard PDF. You can also choose the PDF print option:
Here’s my final edit. I think it’s an awesome resume and I like the personal touch of the photo at the top. Chloe can now print the resume to take to employers or add it digitally to add to sites like Glassdoor or Indeed:
Join Canva today
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Key Points
I used to dread creating resumes. With Canva, the process is much less stressful and is actually fun. Simply choose a template and you’re off to the races.
If you’re in the market for a resume or need to freshen up an existing one, head over to Canva and start creating a resume you’ll be proud to share.
Did you know you could make a resume in Canva? Let me know in the comments:)
Actually, I couldn’t have found this article at a better time because I have been looking to improve an existing resume. I’m not the best at this sort of thing so I feel like using a template will make it a lot easier. Thanks for the tutorial and pointers. I’m stoked to now create my resume.
Thank you Ian. I’m happy to hear my post will help you with your resume. The process doesn’t have to be hard or complicated. Simply choose a template in Canva and fill in your information. Best of luck to you:)
Thank you for this great article. I graduated college in 2011 and at that time, we were just taught to make a resume that was only one page, and to create it in a Word document. It was pretty basic, without any colors or formatting, it just included a few bullet points, and if you really wanted it to be fancy, you could include a small thumbnail photo of yourself in the top corner.
Making a resume with Canva, like you have described, looks a lot nicer and it is probably easier too. It’s amazing how far the applications have come in just the last 8 years.
Wealthy Affiliate sounds like a great program, and if you can build a full-time income online, you won’t need to worry about making the perfect resume. You could just be yourself because you would have your own business. I wish I knew about Wealthy Affiliate before I even went to college because I would definitely have done that instead.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment. Resume-creation has come along way with software such as Canva, which makes the whole process a lot easier than it would be using Word or even Photoshop. I like using templates for simplification. They provide the foundation, which streamlines the process.
Wealthy Affiliate is an amazing platform. I wish I had found it earlier too, but I’m glad that at least I found it when I did. It was the best find ever. What’s better than building your own business and creating financial freedom?! Thanks again:)