Marketing yourself for the professional world can be tough, especially when you are competing against everyone else who searching for a job, internship, or opportunity. It’s hard to know where to start when there are thousands of webpages trying to teach you how to create the perfect resume or cover letter.
- Take Online Courses
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There are tons of opportunities available to build your resume without ever leaving your house. Since COVID-19, dozens of high education institutions have created online virtual courses and provided the public with the opportunity to teach themselves using these materials. Pick an online course that will make you stand out in your desired industry or field, or just pick one that you like! Some courses will come with different types of certifications to prove that you committed to learning something; but, if it doesn’t offer a certification, you can list the name of the course and date of completion on your resume.
- Use LinkedIn Learning
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Another great option for padding your resume with certifications is taking advantage of LinkedIn Learning, which is available to ODU students by signing in with your MIDAS ID. LinkedIn Learning gives you access to hundreds of courses, ranging from website building to diversity and inclusion training. When you complete these courses, you can take a quiz, and add the skill directly to your LinkedIn profile where your peers and coworkers can endorse you for these skills, supporting your professional abilities.
- Perfect Your Resume Layout
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There are also other ways you can invest time in creating a professional platform for yourself, one of them being learning how to make a modern and eye-catching resume. Plain, old resumes can land you the job, but an up-to-date resume using a sleek template can make you a company’s number one choice. Free graphic design websites like Canva have hundreds of different resume templates to choose from that are a modern upgrade to the generic template from Microsoft Word that you might be using. These templates offer a professional amount of color and clean boxes or columns to separate information.
Depending on where you’re trying to land a job, color on a resume might be a creative way to help you stand out from other applicants, especially if you’re applying to work for a smaller company that will be reviewing all their resumes by hand.
- Clean Your Social Media
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Don’t forget that your social media platforms are an extension of your application! Even if you don’t have them listed on your resume or portfolio, companies will be able to find them and evaluate your online presence when you apply to work for them. Of course, you don’t need to turn it into a collage of all the times you sat down to do your homework, but it’s important to keep it clean and appropriate.
For more tips and tricks on everything from resumes to interviews, check out the Resources tab on our homepage, then click “Get Your Dream Job!”