As a business student, I feel that I’m always asked for help from my friends about making a resume or what to do/say during an interview. Thinking of this, and especially during recruiting season, I thought this article would make the most sense and be beneficial to all. Many of the things I’ve learned have been given to me as tips or even as a lesson from the different classes I’ve taken so far. For your resume, there are standard things that need to be included despite the major you’re in or the job you’re applying for.
1. Create a Heading
Firstly, you should include a heading at the top of your resume. This should consist of your name in bold or a larger font that will stand out so that people can properly see your name and not get confused with the other information on the page. Additionally, underneath your name should be your campus and permanent address, cell phone number and a non-university email address.
2. Education Information
After the heading, the second piece of information should be your university, major, degree type, grade point average (or GPA) and expected graduation date. This information is critical since employers tend to have age requirements for certain positions. Having this information easily accessible will give you a leg up, even if you do not meet all of the job’s requirements, and companies will be more likely to hold on to your information for a later date.
3. Job Experiences, Internships, Volunteering, Etc.
Next on your resume should be the job experience (or experiences) that you’ve had, volunteering, leadership or other organizations and activities that you’re involved in. This is the bulk of your resume and it’s what makes you unique. Putting detailed wording to describe each opportunity as specifically as possible is essential to ensure that you’re getting the point across about your obligations. This is what makes your resume! These sections need to be as detailed as possible to show everything that you did and to show off your accomplishments. As strange as it might be, your resume is your time to show yourself off and flaunt it all.
4. Acing the Interview
Now for the interview, the most important tip is to be yourself. Don’t sound scripted or planned; you should sound like your authentic self while being outgoing and fun. This is the key to a successful interview. In terms of formatting, the STAR method is your best friend. If you haven’t used the STAR method, it will help you out big time! This consists of Situation, Task, Action, Result. You should first identify the situation you were in, explain the role you had and where you were. The task, afterwards, explains the problem you were presented with or the goals that needed to be met. Action consists of what you did to achieve these goals or to solve the problems, which should be as detailed as possible. The result shows the overall outcome, where you learned and grew and how you will be able to incorporate this into your everyday life.
Overall, acing the interview and perfecting your resume takes time. These are general tips and tricks that I have found useful throughout my experiences so far. Just like any other job or sport, practice makes perfect and failure is always an opportunity to get up and try again.