Tips for Bettering your Resume

Tips for Bettering your Resume

Header: Who are YOU?

In your header, it’s important to make sure that your name is the biggest thing on the page. You don’t want to put all this work into your resume, and have the employer forget who it was even for by the end. Who you are and how they can contact you are what’s MOST important in your resume, because without it, it’s just a bunch of random information about a stranger.

Objective: What are you LOOKING for?

Your objective is more like a goal: what type of position are you looking for? When do you want to start? What field do you want to work in? These things matter to employers, to make sure you’re not just trying to take any job that you can get (which you may be doing, don’t tell them that), but that you’re genuinely interested in the field.

When applying for one particular position, specify that position in your objective: To obtain the full-time research assistant position for Coca-Cola, starting Spring 2017.

When handing your resume at career fairs, you can keep it general: To obtain a Summer 2017 internship in the field of Architecture.

Education: What do you KNOW? What are you LEARNING? Is it RELEVANT?

Your education section tells a lot more about you than you may think. First, put your degree that you’re working towards. This is currently your full time job, and that shouldn’t be taken lightly. IT MATTERS! It tells the employer where your interests lie, and what you’re spending 3 hours a day on. Then, putting your graduation year shows them how far along you are, and adding your school is the cherry on top. Feel free to add GPA, Dean’s List, and other honors here too.

Experience: What have you DONE?

Most people are worried that if they haven’t held a big time related job or a bunch of positions, they don’t have anything to include on their resume. NO NEED TO FEAR! Any experience is good experience. In this section, you can include anything from Girl Scout Projects to Class Projects to Research Experience to Waitressing jobs or Internships. If you DO have relevant experience, make sure to include that first, and then as space allows add more experiences.

Each experience should specify your role, where it was, and the dates under which it happened. Dates include month and year- month and year, if it is currently ongoing, then write – present. These dates should be in reverse chronological order: the most recent, the most relevant.

Under each header, you can use bullets to describe your experience. Try to stay away from “responsibilities included” and move more towards what you did, and why that makes you the best candidate for the position. If you’re having trouble, try to think about your bullets of what skills you gained, and what you did to get them.

Activities: Because you can’t ONLY study.

Activities section is the place where you can exhibit your role in the community, which can show that if you don’t have a ton of work experience or the best GPA, that you’re still making contributions to society, and not sitting there doing nothing. These can range from Greek life, campus ministries, to volunteer work with children. Basically here you just need to think: what do I do in my free time? You can also elaborate on your activities if you think that your contribution has led to you being a better candidate for the position.

My Biggest Tip? Make it your own!!

Always remember that your resume is you on paper. Make it represent you! Recently a student said they brought two resumes to recruiters: one styled, and one not. The recruiters actually said they like looking at the styled resumes. I don’t suggest putting it on pink, lightly scented paper like Elle Woods, (Although she DID get the job) but a little flare sets you apart from the crowd.

Written By Kathryn Rappold, Peer Career Advisor