There is an old saying, “You need money to make money.” You will often find this to be true even in the earliest stages, such as when looking for a job. When you’re on the hunt, your resume is one of the most important things to consider. Many people end up paying professionals to write resumes for them, just to make sure they get the most out of their job applications.
However, we recently taught readers a free way to create a resume using Google Docs resume templates. In this article, we’ll find out where you can find the Google Docs Template Gallery and what to expect from it.
The gallery is currently limited to five templates, which is not enough for many. Some of us are very picky about how we present ourselves and want to stand out. Using the default templates that hundreds of thousands of other people use is not the best way to do this.
Fortunately, there are many more templates. Sites like Etsy have extensive lists of Google Docs resume templates for sale, but there are free options elsewhere as well. In this article, we’ll take a look at several sites that have the best free resume templates for Google Docs.
Genius Resume
Resume Genius is the right choice if you really like the look of the standard resume templates in Google Docs, but don’t want to be bothered by cosmetic changes to them yourself.
Resume Genius offers five repaints for the Swiss, Serif, Coral, Spearmint and Modern Writer templates, which are some of the most popular. These recolored templates come in black and white, blue, brick red, navy blue, and gray.
To recolor any of the templates, just select the elements and make a few clicks. It’s nice that Resume Genius simplifies the process for us and offers a quick preview of multiple color options.
Hloom
Hloom is known for its Microsoft Word templates, but it offers a selection of Google Docs resume templates. However, this requires some manual work.
The Hloom Template Gallery is filled with 19 resume templates of all types: text, graphic, regular, professional, columnar, tabular, and more.
However, the way Hloom provides these templates is a little awkward, so let’s talk about how you can get started using and editing them.
Instead of providing a direct link to the Google Docs file, Hloom will prompt you to download the GDOC file to your hard drive. Compatibility with this file requires that you have Google Drive installed. However, we can work around this step.
- After you’ve downloaded the GDOC file for the template you want to use, navigate to its location in Windows Explorer and try to open it. If Google Drive is not installed, Windows should ask how you want to open the file.
- If Google Drive is installed, right-click and select Open With, then Choose Another Application.
- In the pop-up list of apps, scroll to find Notepad. If you plan to experiment with multiple Hloom templates, you can check the Always use this app to open .gdoc files checkbox.
- Click OK when ready.
- Notepad will open and you should see JSON data in it. Here’s an example (for the main template):
{“Url”: “https://drive.google.com/open?id=1A4V2M8RB-5xzR20LlIYq7H5vh4A0mIV_z3lCR9JXdYI”, “doc_id”: “1A4V2M8RB-5xzRIY4LIYBLIYqL5H8H7M8RB-5xzRIY4LIYBqLH8HxM8R9 “}
- Copy the URL you see in this file (in bold), open a new tab and paste it into the address bar. And press Enter.
- This will open a preview of the resume template in Google Docs for viewing only. From there, click File and then Make a Copy to create a copy in your own Google Drive, which will allow you to freely edit this template.
While the process is inconvenient, you may find it worth it. Hloom has some very stylish and unique resume templates that you won’t find anywhere else.
Jobscan
Jobscan offers a large selection of ATS resume templates. ATS, or Applicant Tracking System, is a type of software that employers use to automatically sort, scan, and rank job applications based on resume.
It is important for anyone looking for a job to learn how ATS works in order to increase their chances against not only human-tested apps, but these bots as well. Fortunately, all Jobscan resume templates are ATS compliant.
Jobscan offers resume templates in the following categories: classic format, leadership, management, intermediate, recent graduate. A use case is explained for each of them.
For example, executive resume templates put more emphasis on soft skills such as leadership and entrepreneurial drive, while less emphasis on technical skills.
The resume templates on Jobscan are not flashy, visual, or colorful, but they are designed to help you get the job done.
To open any of these resumes in Google Docs, simply click the Google Docs button below each one. This will take you to a preview.
If you want to edit a template yourself, simply follow the instructions in the header of each template, which says to select the Make a Copy option from the File menu.
If you don’t like the Docs resume templates provided by Google, don’t give up. That doesn’t mean you still can’t use Google Docs as a free and easy resume building tool. Visit any of the three sites above and you can find the template that suits you!
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