The resume. If you’ve applied for a job, or are planning on applying to one in the future, providing a resume of your own is a standard practice in the hiring process. While most resumes are only meant to be one page long, creating one of your own can often be a daunting task- and if we’re being honest here, a pretty boring task at that. That said, one cannot understate the importance of a good resume. A resume, when well done, is a necessary component in any working girl’s tool kit.
What is a Resume?
A resume, simply put, is usually a one-page paper detailing all the qualifications one possesses. According to a Harvard Extension School resource on resumes and cover letters, it’s defined as, “a brief, informative summary of your abilities, education, and experience.”
Experience
Experiences can range from previous jobs to leadership or volunteer experiences. Deciding which experiences to include versus which ones not to include should be based on the number of experiences you have, plus which ones are most applicable to the job (which I’ll touch upon further down).
Abilities
Abilities can range from soft skills to hard skills. Abilities are often listed as skills learned as part of an experience.
- Soft skills are personal attributes that can be applied to a job. Skills like, “good in a team”, “clear communicator”, and “clear writer” are all great examples of soft skills that can be included in your resume.
- Hard/technical skills are specific and tangible learned skills that someone can possess. Skills like, “proficient in English and Spanish”, and “Knowledgeable of Social Media Marketing Tactics” are both examples of technical skills.
Education
Education is pretty plain and simple. If you are a current college student, be sure to include which school you are attending, your area of study (official degree name), expected graduation date, and any additional awards or honors you may have received that are worth mentioning. For example, if you’re a part of the GCU Honors College, that might be something worth adding. If you’ve already graduated college, you can simply put when you graduated instead of your expected graduation date.
There is no need to include that you received your high school diploma if you are already in college or graduated from college. (Unless you graduated from Hogwarts or the “Harvard” of all high schools; then definitely leave something that cool in your resume!)
Why are Resumes Important?
A good resume is what helps you stand out among the competition. The average time hiring managers today spend looking at each resume is around seven seconds. Your resume only has seven seconds to make an impression on the employer, so it better be good. If not, it may only take seven seconds for your resume to be placed in a pile of rejections.
What makes a resume “Good”?
For a resume to be good, it should include all the previously mentioned components: your skills, education, and experience. Plus, like every other assignment you turn in in college, your name should be included, along with other contact information such as your phone number and email. You can even include other information like your address or a link to a social media platform such as Linkedin.
Now, what is it that makes a resume, provided it has all the required information, “good”? Well, it’s all about the way you create your resume (the formatting, word choice, and detail).
- Get Organized
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To get started, try searching for a template online. Microsoft Word has tons of templates to choose from that are both aesthetically pleasing and already laid out for you to fill in with ease. And, if you do not have access to Word, there are also thousands of templates and examples online you can search from.
A well-designed resume is both more aesthetically pleasing to the reviewer, as well as a good reflection on how much effort you put into the creation of your resume.
- Be Relevant to the Job
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Researching the job before submitting your resume is a must. Consider what the job is calling for. Take time to study any of the qualifications listed for the job. For example, if the job you’re looking at lists that skills in design are preferred, and you have skills in both tractor driving and Adobe programs, it is best to put the skill that is more relevant to the job requirement – which would be your Adobe program familiarity.
The entire goal of your resume is to educate the employer on why you, above any other candidate, are the best person for the job. That is done by evaluating the skills you have compared with the skills they want and creating your resume as it applies best to the job. The same resume you may have used for your first fast food job should not be the one you use for your nine-to-five desk job without a few tweaks first.
- Use the Right Words, the Right Way
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A resume, unlike a cover letter, should not be in the first person. There should be no “I”, “me”, or “my” anywhere. The information you are providing is meant to be brief and precise, not a personal essay. Heck, most of the time you can even use bullet points rather than complete sentences.
If you are listing your experience at a previous job, it should be quick and brief. For example, rather than writing, “I worked to assist customers to return their items,” you can put, “Worked in Customer Service”. Remember those seven seconds I mentioned before? The person reviewing your resume wants to know your qualifications as quickly and easily as possible in as few words as possible.
Speaking of words, in addition to precision of language, action verbs should be sprinkled throughout your resume. Keywords like “collected,” “developed,” “led,” and “analyzed” should be used to describe your experiences.
The TakeAway
I sincerely hope I have made the art of resume-making sound easily comprehendible, and if not anything else, at least a little less daunting. Resumes are a vital aspect of applying for a job, so it is important that as ladies of the working world, we put our best heel forward and nail any and all job applications we go after.