This infographic gives some great advice and things to think about when putting together your resume. So, how does one make her resume stand out and get noticed? The best way to do that is to have a well-written, error-free resume that describes your skills and experience and strongly supports your objective or career goal. Here are 5 short tips I have - (some of these are specifically for college students since that is who I get to work with every day)
- State your objective on the resume. The real world is not organized major so you need to state the type of job or position you are looking for - use a position title or a career field. I still recommend that college students use an objective on their resumes to clearly state what type of job they are seeking. Just because you are an English major doesn't mean you are looking for "English" jobs. You need to figure out what you want to do and ask for it.
- Keep your resume to 1 page. Most undergraduate students should be able to fit all their information on one page. Employers and recruiters give your resume an initial 30-45 second scan, so often they won't even get to a second page. You don't want them to have to hunt for information so have it all on one page if possible. (YES, there are exceptions to this rule! Graduate students and seasoned professionals may have a longer resume. Mine is 2 pages and growing!)
- Put all of your related experiences together in one section. Related experiences can include jobs, internships, volunteer work, leadership in student organizations, course projects and research. Remember, professors give your projects to work on to gain some practical experience. Choose your projects wisely and get some great experience for your resume.
- Use a clear and concise writing style. Avoiding using pronouns and writing narratively. Use bulleted statements that start with action-oriented words to describe your experiences. Don't just describe your daily responsibilities, instead list your accomplishments and skills developed through the experience.
- Be consistent. Keep your formatting and sections consistent throughout the document. If you are including a cover letter or reference page with your resume, make sure all those documents are consistent with each other. Use the same fonts, heading, etc.
You don't want to resume to stand out because of bright paper, silly graphics or spelling errors and typos!
Want to know more about writing a resume? Visit the VT Career Services webpage. Or check out these CareerSpots videos.
What do you do to make sure your resume stands out?
