Having a presentable and accurate resume is an essential staple for every college student. Your resume is the first thing a prospective employer sees. It’s the first thing they judge you on, and your resume can stand between you getting the job, or not. One miniscule typo could send your resume straight into the garbage can faster than Kim K said she wanted a divorce.
So, how do you create the perfect resume? Follow this guide and you’ll be on your way to having an awesome resume.
- First things first: Use a simple font to type your resume. (Times New Roman is best.) Use font size 12 and font color black. Having fancy fonts in large sizes can be distracting to employers. You want them to focus on what the words say, not how they look.
- Your name, local address, phone number and email address needs to be at the top.
- Email address warning: Use a professional email address. Do not use your email address you’ve had from middle school that says beachhottie123xo. That’s not professional and no one will take you seriously.
- Next, add your education. What college/university you attend, your intended year of graduation, your major, minor and GPA.
- Following your education is your previous experience in your field of study. This can vary from previous work-related jobs, internships, and volunteer experiences. Order this with the most recent experience first. Write the company name, your job title and detail your responsibilities. Be sure to add in the month and year of starting and ending the experience. If you don’t have tons of previous work-related experience, (and that’s ok!) list some relevant classes you’ve taken that have prepared you for this internship/job.
- Next, you can add any actual job experience you’ve had, relevant or not. Be sure to list the month and year of when you started and left the job, or if you still have it, put present (Example: June 2008-present). Also, put your job title and responsibilities you have/had while working there.
- Now, add in your membership in professional organizations, any awards or honors you’ve received. This can be the Dean’s List, an honor society, etc.
Lastly, on a separate page, list your references. These people can be your current boss, previous bosses, professor – someone who will advocate for you. List their name, job position, mailing address, email address and phone number.
Things to keep in mind while writing your resume:
- The primary reason of your resume is to get you the interview, not the job.
- Be consistent: If you used bullets to list responsibilities at one job, use it throughout your resume.
- Go chronologically.
- Do not exaggerate your work experience. You can use powerful verbs to describe what you have done, but do not lie.
- The one page rule is not really a rule: While you don’t want to have a 10-page resume, there is no written rule you must squeeze everything onto one page.
- Don’t fluff up your resume. Stick to the facts: who, what, where, when, why.
- Professional work experience verbs: advised, coordinated, created, developed, directed, expanded, implemented, led, managed, planned, produced, reviewed, solved, trained, and wrote.