The end of the fall semester is here, and suddenly we can all breathe again and relax after weeks’ worth of stress — unless you’re a senior graduating in the spring, that is. If you’re as Type A as I am, then you’re probably overwhelmed by thoughts of grad school, “big girl” jobs, and a heavy spring course load. In all the chaos, it’s easy to neglect one of the most important things for any graduating student: your resume.
My resume has undergone multiple drafts to become what it is today, and I learned a lot about perfecting it along the way. Here are my tips and tricks to give your resume a last-minute boost before graduation.
- LEAVE HIGH SCHOOL IN THE PAST
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Employers are looking for your most recent, relevant experiences, and anything that happened before your college degree no longer fits into that category. Those club and leadership roles don’t mean much when compared to your college experiences, so it’s better to make your resume more concise by leaving them out.
If you’ve won any awards in high school and are thinking about including them, keep in mind how relevant they are to the positions or schools you’re applying to. Similarly, if you earned certifications that align with what you want to pursue, it can be helpful to keep those to highlight your proficiencies. Before doing so, double-check that the certification is still valid, and you still know the skills it focuses on.
- PRIORITIZE RELEVANCE
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When you’re applying for specific jobs in established fields, your resume must represent experiences relevant to those areas. Employers won’t have time to go down a list of all your past jobs, so make it easier for them by cutting the ones that aren’t relevant or least recent.
If, during your college career, you participated in many clubs and organizations, keep only the ones in which you held a position or that resonate most with you. Campus involvement is valuable, but only if it’s relevant. At the end of the day, you have final say over what experiences align with what you’re trying to accomplish with your resume, but I’ve also found it helpful to ask professors in my field what they think might be unnecessary.
- USING VERBS
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For each position listed on your resume, you should include two to three bullet points explaining what you did in that job. When doing this, you’ll want to use strong action verbs that detail your work. Instead of “oversaw,” say “led,” and swap out “I did” with “achieved.” Don’t downplay the skills you acquired and instead talk about them with the confidence of someone who’s accomplished a lot.
It also helps to quantify your descriptions and use numbers to make a more impactful statement. For example, instead of putting on my resume, “Wrote articles every other week for Her Campus,” it’s more powerful to say, “Wrote seven articles throughout the semester.” Be specific and use numbers to showcase the extent of your accomplishments.
- BEATING THE COMPUTER
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Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are software programs used by employers to organize and filter applicants. These systems are programmed to look for specific words and skills that help narrow down who best aligns with what the position is looking for. It can be challenging to compete not only against other applicants but also against a computer. The best way to handle this is by including verbs from the application in your resume.
If a job description mentions the need to organize and lead a team, emphasize those skills on your own resume using similar terminology. For example, if a job heavily emphasizes the word “design,” find a way to connect that word to a relevant experience you have. Although there’s no way to fully know what an ATS filter is programmed to search for, talking about your skills with strong verbs and adjectives is a great way to be proactive.
- FORMATTING
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Most jobs and graduate schools aren’t looking for a flashy resume with colors or, if you’re Elle Woods, a perfumed scent; instead, they want simplicity. You’re not advertising your ability to create a pretty Word document, but rather yourself. By using a bolder design, you’re only taking attention away from the experiences that truly matter.
My biggest recommendation for this is to find references for functional resumes, rather than wholeheartedly trusting an elaborate template. There’s no single way to organize a resume, but it always helps to pick a layout that feels natural to you. If you feel more comfortable with a certain style, then that’s going to be the easiest one for you to edit and make your own.
- SECOND OPINIONS
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It never hurts to have another set of eyes look over your resume and potentially notice things you overlooked. An objective opinion helps see the effectiveness of your resume design and how strong an applicant you appear to be. It can also be beneficial to ask someone with experience in what you’re applying for to take a look. This can be a professor, career advisor, or even a friend.
- NEW OPPORTUNITIES
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With spring fast approaching and the stress that comes with it, the idea of adding something else to your plate might be daunting or unreasonable. If you’re up for the challenge, though, it’s never too late to apply for a campus internship or that leadership position in your favorite club. Even if it seems like there are no relevant opportunities, try searching for them. College is full of unlimited possibilities, and you owe it to yourself to maximize each one before graduation.
A resume is a first impression, and it introduces you to employers and admissions offices before they’re even able to meet you. That’s why it’s important to put time and energy into perfecting it now, so that you can have the best chances of achieving your dreams in the future.
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