I believe we can all attest to the trials and tribulations that go with job hunting. There’s interviews with the subtopics of, “What do I wear that’ll say I’m professional, but not trying to suck up,” and the ever important, “How do I tone down my personality while letting them see the real me?” It can be both exhausting and frustrating to search for a job.
One aspect of getting a job that can be extraordinarily challenging is creating a resume. It can be daunting to think of the hundreds of resumes your employer receives, so how can you make yours stand out?
According to websites devoted to this subject, I’ve compiled some tricks and tips that’ll help you the next time you need to build a resume. Always remember that if you’re pressed for time or need a simple format, you can go to sites such as resume.com where they will create it for you. All you have to do is fill in the information they ask for and print it out.
First of all, the four main things you need to include are:
– General information
– Education information
– Work information
– Skill information
General Information:
This is the basic stuff that needs to be put at the top of your resume so that the employer can contact you. Make sure your name, phone number, email address and mailing address are all listed.
Education Information:
List the high schools and colleges you attended, in order of where you’re going now, where you last went to, and where you first went. Make sure you list whether you graduated or not as well as what year you are now and your major. List the institution’s city and state or address as well.
Work Information:
Again, list from current/last place you worked to first place. It should include everywhere you’ve worked. I’m a camp counselor in the summer, which may not apply to any job in the journalism industry, but I’d write it anyway to show that I’ve had experience working in general. Make sure to include the locations, employers’ names and numbers, job titles you had, and what dates you worked by each one. You may want to contact previous employers and give them a heads up if you know that this job will be calling for references. Also, make sure to include the same information for internships in this section.
Skill Information:
In this section, you should put additional skills or hobbies or volunteering information that pertain to the job you’re applying for. If you volunteer at an orphanage every Sunday, list it when you’re applying to work in after school care. If you know InDesign or Photoshop, list that as well for any internship or job that has a publication or website. Also, if you can speak another language, you’ll want to mention that here too.
You can break it up into those four sections, underline the headings, and call it a day if you wanted to, but the blog “Living on the Chic” recommends otherwise. This blogger is interested in design, so she gave tips and tricks for making your resume pretty and precise. It has everything a typical resume would, but has its own personal flair. My suggestions for this type of resume are to try it…especially if you’re in any fashion or art field. I would just be wary of going overboard. Don’t make it frilly or childish. Instead, make it look professional and clean, and that’s sure to help avoid an employer just skipping over your resume.
My final tip is to remember that the resume can be what’s talking up your boss before you even get the chance to. It can create interest in you and can share the details of your work life if you let it. Without being too obnoxious and wordy, make sure you write everything that pertains to the job you’re applying for. If you got awarded “Employee of the Month” five times at your last job because you were so outstanding with customers, write it. You never know, it could be what sets you apart from all the other applicants.