Knowing how to format a professional resume can improve your chances in getting your dream job.

The layout and design of your resume is as important as what you say, a messy, disorganised or overly complicated design will detract from what you have written. It may also speak volumes about your attitude to the job.

As with personal interviews presentation is key to making a good impression. These tips should help you order your resume to present you and your achievements in the best light.

Personal details
Start with essential personal details; name, address, contact telephone number and email address. If you have a professional website address include that too.

Education
Show your graduate and post-graduate education, listing institute attended, dates attended, subject and class of your degree.

For secondary and tertiary education you need only list institution, years attended and number and level of grades received

Employment history
Starting with the most recent, list your employment history. Show dates of employment, employer, job title, main responsibilities and salary. Do not go into too much detail here there is room to show your skills and achievements later.

Skills and achievements
In this section of your resume you should list achievements in your past experience that reflect the skills that your future employer is looking for. You should give an example of you fulfilling each of the skills required by the job.

Other skills and abilities
Here you can list things like computer skills, driving licence and any other skills that you have relevant to the post.

Personal interests
Here you can show that you are more than just a job description. List your hobbies, charity work and pastimes. It can be a great way to get your prospective employer thinking of you as a person and can build rapport for your interview.

Overall layout considerations

Try to keep your resume to two pages of A4
Use white or cream paper
Use a simple, non-fancy font. Arial is clean and easy to read
Keep it orderly, use bullet points and short sentences
Use active, dynamic language
Use formal language
Check your spelling and grammar
Check the contact details of the company you are applying to
And finally

Don't forget to research your company and tailor your resume to suit each company. There is no faster way to get your resume in the bin than to have the wrong contact person, or worse, the wrong company name on your application.

With these tips you should be able to format a professional looking resume for every application. Don't forget, keep it simple, orderly and accurate.

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