Like the rest of the college population, you’re applying for a summer job or internship. This process can get frustrating. Maybe you have applied so many places you can’t even count, and none of them have responded back to you. Maybe you don’t even know where to start looking. Maybe a bunch of your friends are getting internships left and right, and you’re thinking “what am I doing wrong”? Well for starters, take a good look at your resume. Is it something that will appeal to employers? Is it too long, too wordy or too disorganized? Learn how to improve your resume and hopefully you will get that job or internship that you are looking for this summer!
1. Keep your resume at one page.
The absolute biggest mistake people make is writing too much on their resume. The truth is, the employer might only read the first page anyway. You might as well just put all the important information on that page. You can even change the margins to 0.5 or 0.25 so that you can fit more.
2. Organization is key.
If your resume is sloppy and disorganized, what is the employer going to think about you? They will take one look at the organization of your resume and move onto the next one. You do not want that.
Obviously the most important thing is your name and contact information. Make sure your name is at the top of the page and centered. The font should be slightly larger than the rest of the resume. Underneath, put your address, email and phone number all in one line to save space.
Underneath should be your education. Although lots of people are very proud of their high school GPA and all the honors and AP classes they took, no one cares about that anymore. Get rid of high school information. All you need is the name of your college in bold and the city of that school also in bold on the right-hand side of the page on the same line. Underneath is your major in italics along with your expected graduation date (i.e. May 2013) on the right-hand side also in italics. Lastly, the next line should consist of your GPA and any distinct scholarly awards (i.e. National Society of Collegiate Scholars Member).
Next comes your work history. Make sure you list your work history in chronological order. Your most recent job should be the first one you list. Do not list more than 3 jobs because the employer does not have time to read about all the odd jobs you have had, and you still need space for more things on your resume. List the job and position you held and, on the right-hand side, the city and state you had the job in as well as the date you left the job. You do not need to put when you got hired, just when you left. List all your duties and responsibilities in bullet points underneath. Lastly, do not write in complete sentences! There is not enough room or time for that.
The next section is activities and organizations. These should be listed in the same order as your work history – most recent first. The style and format is the same. Again, do not list more than three!
Lastly, draw a line down the center of the remaining part of the page. On the left side, write your skills and certifications (i.e. cash register, first aid, social media, Microsoft Office, Spanish). On the right side, list your references. Give two or three names of references with their phone number or email and identify which job or organization you know them from.
3. Use past-tense verbs for previous positions.
When listing your duties and responsibilities of your previous jobs and activities, make sure that you start off each bullet point with a past tense verb. For example, ‘used cash register’ or ‘fulfilled requests made by supervisor’ or ‘improved customer service skills’. Using a different verb at the beginning of each bullet point makes the point stand out to the person reading it and also clarifies the actions you were performing. It is important to use the verbs in past tense because you no longer hold that position, therefore, do not perform those duties anymore.
4. Cater the resume to the position you are applying for.
Although it seems like a lot of work, it will be worth it when your resume stands out against the rest. The key is to look at the job description that is given on the job listing you are applying for. Take everything under the list of ‘responsibilities and duties’ and ‘requirements’ and apply them in your resume, only if you actually have that experience! For example, if you are applying for an internship at a government agency, their job listing will probably have responsibilities such as ‘be able to work in a fast paced environment’. On your resume, you will put under one of your previous jobs or activities ‘learned to work in a fast paced environment’. This will not only make you seem more experienced to the employer, but it will show that you are genuinely interested in the position. They will see that you took the time to carefully review the job listing and cater your resume to that specific job.
5. Don’t lie.
It is really easy to tell a small fib on your resume or over-exaggerate something you did. A lot of people do it. Don’t be one of those people. Telling lies will never help you. If you get the job and your boss expects you to know how to do something that you wrote on your resume and then finds out you lied about it, not only will they fire you but if any future employers call for a reference, you’re screwed. Also, employers can sometimes tell when someone is lying on their resume anyway. Don’t be that resume that the employer laughs at and then throws in the garbage. Be honest, be sincere, and be yourself.
NOTE: Before you submit your resume to any jobs or internships, visit the American University Career Center or the Kogod Center for Career Development. They will personally look over your resume and help you improve it more!
If you write up a nice, pretty resume, but still have trouble finding jobs or internships, read our new article Apply Where? Your Internship Resource Guide. There are a bunch of great tips on finding internships that you probably never even thought of! The Career Center and Kogod Center for Career Development can help you find jobs and internships too! Happy searching!