College is filled with applications, whether they be for internships, jobs, scholarships, grants, you name it. And chances are, you will be applying for tons of these in your college career. For these applications, there is one key piece of material you need: The resume. It can be daunting – especially if your high school didn’t teach you how to write one. If you need a little help on making a stellar resume, here are some amazing tips!
1. Order matters
When you place your experience on your resume, it matters in what order you arrange it. Depending on the job you’re applying for, you can order your experience in reverse chronological order (most recent to least recent), or you can put your most relevant jobs first. A good rule of thumb to go by is your most important experience should go about the “fold” – the place where you fold your paper in half. Your employer will see this first, and it’s good to catch their attention early.
2. Include numbers
In the bullet points describing your experience at a job, don’t just list typical duties like “edits papers, goes to meetings, manages a budget.” Add numbers! This will make your expertise pop and quantify your contributions. You don’t have to have a career in economics or math to add numbers either. You can simply say, “Handles a budget of $5,000,” “Works with a team of 8,” or “Sees 5 clients a week.”
3. Use transferrable skills
If you’re applying for a job outside of your skillset, it’s especially important to word your skills in a way that your employer sees that they’re transferrable. For example, if you worked as a waitress and are applying for a research job, you can talk about how you learned to multi-task and keep a level head in a stressful situation. Along with this, never use the jargon of your industry. Make the language simple and easy to understand.
4. Add what you specifically contributed
Instead of adding the basic duties of the position, put what you did specifically to help. This can be an award you won, a leadership position you held, or a special project you led. Employers love to see what you did to benefit a company because they wish to have an employee that benefits them in the same way.
5. Be creative with the design
Believe it or not, the appearance of your resume matters as much as the content (especially if you’re applying for a design-related job). It doesn’t have to be fancy, but try not to just have a simple word document. Employers see a lot of the same resumes and will be more likely to remember yours if there’s something unique about the layout. Also, do not use a Microsoft Word resume template because they see them all the time. Be careful, however, not to make it too complicated. It should be easy to skim and have a fair amount of white space.
6. Don’t include EVERYTHING
Your resume should be one page and no longer, so you shouldn’t include every experience you’ve ever had. If you have enough jobs from college, do not include anything from high school. Even if you were the president of three clubs, don’t include it. Also, try to include experience relevant to the job you’re applying for. For a healthcare job, it would be relevant to include your volunteer experience at a hospital rather than your job as a cashier. And lastly, try and nix short-term jobs. You want to look dedicated, and the employer may question why you left so quickly.
7. Use key words
This may be a no brainer, but use key words from the job ad. However, don’t just insert them, exemplify them. If they want someone who’s dedicated, don’t just say you’re dedicated; show them you’re dedicated! Talk about how you’ve worked somewhere for years, have never missed a day, and take on extra tasks for your boss.
8. Add links and special projects
You don’t just have to add your career and skill experience on your resume. Add any links to your Linkedin, profiles or projects. If you’re working on independent research, writing a book, or building something, mention it as long as it’s relevant to the job you’re applying for! It never hurts to show the employer all the hard work you do in your free time.
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