Can you really create a beautiful and well organized resume using a CANVA FREE ACCOUNT ?
Yes, you can! And you have to!
You are a new immigrant, and you need to have a job, fast!
You must have a well-written and a well-formatted resume to merit a closer look from the recruiters. And, hopefully, that once-over will get you a chance to be interviewed and move forward on your job-hunting journey.
Gather your data and details and start building that resume!
And yes, even with a Canva FREE account, it is very possible to make wonderful documents and graphic-rich printouts.
Disclosure
This page may contain affiliate banners and links, which means that if you purchase through them, we may receive a commission (or compensation of some kind) AT NO EXTRA COST TO YOU. You may read the full disclosure here.
THIS POST BELOW IS ABOUT THE CREATION AND BUILDING OF RESUMES USING A FREE CANVA ACCOUNT TO HELP NEW IMMIGRANTS FIND JOBS.
You must stand out in the crowd.
As new immigrants, you will be swimming in an ocean full of job-seeking applicants. It is no question to find a job, you have to stand out!
That is why we would like to share with you how a CANVA FREE ACCOUNT can help build a skillfully made resume.
A resume that is not only pleasing to the eyes, but one that will do justice in terms of presentation and content for a new immigrant’s resume.
The purpose for you to have a well-written and a well-formatted resume is for it to merit a closer look from the recruiters and, hopefully, that will get you a chance to be interviewed and move forward on your job-hunting journey.
There are many resume-builders out there and some are free, too, which means they are friendly to the immigrant pocket. The most basic is Microsoft Word which has resume templates, too.
However, we would like to recommend to you an outstanding FREE option (free until you decide to go PRO). The program is called CANVA and you can avail yourself of it for FREE right now.
CANVA is easy to use and will surely help you make a resume that is truly worth a second look. (But first, read the disclaimer right below.)
This page may contain affiliate banners and links ABOUT CANVA, one of our favorite graphic software, but you can avail of CANVA for free. It is only when you want to go PRO (Canva Pro) to have the full functionality of its graphic design capability that we may receive a commission, AT NO EXTRA COST TO YOU. You may read our full disclosure page here.
Gather your all your information.
Your resume is made up of information about you that you want the hiring officer to know to be considered for the job.
For this information to be accurate, you may have to dig into your records for them. It is best to have the correct dates and other pertinent details on the resume.
Read the post about the 5 MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF A RESUME for guide.
- HEADER
- PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
- WORK EXPERIENCE
- SKILLS
- EDUCATION
Then, draft your resume on any word processing program you use (WordPad, Microsoft Word, etc.). The resulting rough draft will be your source from which you will lift (copy) the information and paste it onto CANVA. Just copy, and paste.
Get the CANVA free account.
CANVA is a wonderful program that is accessible on your computer/laptop or on your smartphones. This is the same program that we use on 95% of our photos and graphics on this site (even our logo was made in Canva!).
Also, almost all of the printables we have on the FREEBIES page are made on the CANVA app.
Getting this wonderful and FREE program is as easy as clicking the link below (see the Canva logo?). You will be asked to log in using either an email account, a Facebook, or a Google account. For authentication, a phone number must be included when signing up, for the purpose of sending you login codes when you forget your password.
Search for a design template.
After logging into your Canva account, click the CREATE A DESIGN button.
It is located at the topmost right-hand corner of the screen.
When you click the CREATE A DESIGN button, a SEARCH BAR opens, along with a dropdown menu of suggestions. On the SEARCH BAR, type the keyword of what you are trying to design. Type the word “RESUME“.
After typing your keyword, “RESUME”, the dropdown menu changes its suggested designs into RESUME RELATED designs:
- Academic Resume
- Babysitting Resume
- Colorful Resume
- Graphic Design Resume
- Creative Resume
- Scholarship Resume
…and many more.
You can choose any from all these designs. Any design can be your starting point or foundation. It does not have to look exactly like the template when you are done.
Choose an appropriate template for your purpose.
In searching for designs for your resume, you can click on any of the suggested ones on the dropdown menu. You can choose THEMED RESUME DESIGNS, like Academic or Modern, etc.
Or you can click RESUME and the whole catalog will be on display.
Whatever you clicked previously, either RESUME or any of the themed designs, the corresponding catalog appears on the left column of the screen. You can search for the template you want by moving the handle on the right side of the menu (which we indicate by pink arrow for illustration purposes).
The canvas in the center of the screen is currently empty and blank. It is just waiting for the template that you will be choosing
As soon as you click on a template, it pastes itself to the empty and blank canvas.
You can click on a different template if you do not like the current one.
Once you have picked a template and it is on the canvas, you can closely inspect it. You can now decide if the format, color and fonts are to your liking.
You can choose a different template. Or you can just edit this one. You can change the color, font, and format of any template.
Edit the look and format of your base template.
As we have mentioned in our post 5 MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF A RESUME, a headshot is not necessary unless you are applying for a modelling or an acting job.
As per NOVORESUME.COM there is no need to include a photo on a resume in the following countries:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Ireland
NO PHOTOS OR HEADSHOT NEEDED
If your resume does not need a headshot, click on that photo (on the template) and hit delete.
Yes, that is how easy it is. Then you have a placeholder there (in green) and you can delete that, too.
REPLACE TEXTS ON THE TEMPLATE
It is time to replace the texts of the template with your personal details. All you must do is to type directly onto the place holder or, we recommend, copy, and paste the details from your readily prepared texts.
In 5 MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF A RESUME, and get a guide that may be helpful for you.
changing columns and deleting elements
If you want to change the look of your resume, for example, from a two-column template to one column, it is easy.
You highlight the whole thing you want removed and hit DELETE. Or delete one element at a time until you get the desired look.
The deleted parts of the template, from a two-column to one-column, as per this example will look like this (4).
ADJUST WIDTHS OF ELEMENTS ON A PAGE
To make the now one-column to fill out the page, you can adjust each element using the handles (encircled on the illustration) on each side.
To adjust the dimensions of an element and make it symmetrical with the other elements, there are two ways. One is to park both handles of an element to the edge of the page. Another is to center the element on the page and wait for a line to appear. The line indicates the element is centered.
ADJUST WEIGHTS AND PROPERTIES OF LINES
You may want to adjust some elements on the base template, like a line for example. To adjust the line (or any element for that matter) click on that and look at the top or to the left for the available options to edit it.
You can choose to have a solid line or a dotted line. You can also choose the weight (how big and dark) you want the line to be.
ADJUST LINES BETWEEN TEXTS
As you choose fonts and as you add your details on the template, you may find that some lines may be too cramped or too far apart.
You may change the line spacing by clicking the lines of texts first. And then on top of the canvas, you three dashes with a double-headed arrow, click that. This action will open a menu where you can move the slider to adjust the line spacing. Also on the same menu, you can adjust the spaces between letters in words.
(On this same illustration, you can see that our chosen line of texts is BULLETED, you can un-bullet them by clicking the bullet icon next to the LINE SPACING icon on the same menu line.)
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Choose your fonts and edit them, too.
Let us say that you have managed to change the texts on your resume template to your personal details already.
If you want to change your fonts and add some icons, here’s how to do it.
Click on the line of text you want to edit.
On top of the canvas, you can see several things. These are the current characteristics of that text:
- Name of font: MONSERRAT CLASSIC
- Font Size: 27.3
- Font Color: A with a rainbow underneath indicating the color is BLACK
- Font Weight: If B is highlighted, it means that the text is in BOLD
- Typography/Appearance: If aA is highlighted, it means the text is in ALL CAPS (capital letters).
This means the text LALYNNE SAHARA has all these properties. And you can change all of them if you want.
To change from the current font to another, click the name of the current font up on top. For this example, it is MONSERRAT CLASSIC. This action opens a menu on the left column of the screen that shows a collection of fonts and typography styles.
To navigate the menu, there is a handle you can move up or down (indicated by an arrow here).
You can also change the font size by decreasing it or increasing it.
To change the color of a line of text, you can click the A on top of the canvas (the one with a color or rainbow underneath). This action opens a palette of colors on the left column of the screen.
Click on a color and the chosen line of text will correspond to that color.
If the color palette seems limited to you, you can make your own by doing these steps:
- Click on the main color that you want.
- Click on the PLUS SIGN.
- Use the mouse and move the little circle around to find the tint and hue that you want.
Optional: Add icons
Icons and graphic elements are optional on resumes. However, they add texture to the document. Plus, as the saying goes – PICTURES PAINT A THOUSAND WORDS – vectors and icons can convey an idea in the absence of many words.
Here are some ways to add icons to your resume:
A professional document like a CV or resume needs very minimal graphic elements.
You may want to decide which icons you need and decide if they are necessary.
On the left column of the screen, click on ELEMENTS. Then on the search bar, type the keyword of the icon you want. For example, phone icon or email icon.
A collection will populate the column and you can pick at any of them.
If you have a LinkedIn account, a Twitter, a website of your own, a Facebook page you want to append or a Pinterest page – you may choose to indicate that information with an icon instead of brand itself. To save space on the page.
Optional: Add decorations
And yet another piece of advice: If you must put any decorations and embellishments, stick with simple ones like border lines or corner borders.
Do not overdo things.
On the left column of the screen, click on ELEMENTS. Then on the search bar, type the keyword of the embellishment you want. For example, CORNER BORDER.
A collection of corner borders will populate the column and you can pick at any of them.
To change the color of an element, you can see on the top part of the screen how many colors you can change.
On our example here, there are TWO colors. You can change those colors by clicking on them one at a time. You can make them similar or contrasting or complementary.
Finalize and Revise
Once you make your first resume in your CANVA free account, print one and critique it yourself. Check for grammar, punctuation, tone, etc.
If you are brave enough, you may want to have a friend or family member to review it as well. Be ready to handle criticism.
You can always create many different ones using a different template every time. For FREE.
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To recap: Canva is a FREE RESOURCE, until you decide to upgrade to Canva Pro like we did (because we need it for graphic design of our site and the printables on the FREEBIES page).
In Canva, you can create well formatted resumes that have a greater chance of getting a second glance from hiring officers. What do you have to lose?
Share this article to a fellow immigrant.
Thank you!
Maria is just a chatterbox (on a mission.😋)
NO ONE AUTHORIZED her to spew all this MOMSENSE, but she is a complicated cat and so she feels that she must. Be advised and take a spoonful of salt for every opinionated post you read here. And please, please consult a professional for individualized advice on life-altering decisions.
Maria is just a chatterbox (on a mission.😋) NO ONE AUTHORIZED her to spew all this MOMSENSE, but she is a complicated cat and so she feels that she must. Be advised and take a spoonful of salt for every opinionated post you read here. And please, please consult a professional for individualized advice on life-altering decisions.
THIS POST above IS ABOUT THE CREATION AND BUILDING OF RESUMES USING A FREE CANVA ACCOUNT TO HELP NEW IMMIGRANTS FIND JOBS.
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