With a new school year comes yet another internship and job hunt. For the last few months, college students all over have been updating and putting everything together, all in a bid to compete for the work experience they want and need before graduation.Â
And whereâs a lot of the focus been? Resumes. Theyâre often an employerâs first impression of you, and they can make or break an application. But with piles and piles of resumes to read, what makes an employer notice yours? Most of all, what more can YOU do to propel your resume to the top of the pile? Whether itâs your first time drafting a resume or youâre a resume vet, thereâs always room to improve! Â Hereâs how.
First, check for relevancy!
While itâs smart to have one polished resume for your applications, youâll often need to create a separate copy tailored to a specific industry. Your stock resume probably works for most postings, but it may not be able to cover the criteria for every position you want. For example, an editorial internship and a marketing internship may involve tasks that overlap with one another, but they also demand specific responsibilities unique to each position, meaning that you canât use the same resume for both.Â
Whatâs more, daily tasks also tend to vary by company. So, though your editorial intern resume may cover one companyâs criteria, itâs not necessarily applicable to another employerâs needs. In this case, you must make sure your resume is relevant to each position!
âFor any industry, a resume should be customized for each position a job seeker is applying to,â explains Afifa Siddiqui, COO and Co-founder of job search platform Careerleaf. âThis means that the experiences and skills provided on your resume should only be listed if they have provided you with the necessary qualifications to match those listed on the job postings.â
Before you send in your resume, stop, read over the job or internship posting again, and take some time to compare what you have on your resume to what the employer wants. You may need to take out some past experiences if theyâre irrelevant to the position, or you may have to add a bullet point or two to a section.Â
While you donât need to create a separate resume for each position, a good start would be to create separate resumes for each industry youâre applying for. So if youâre applying for editorial and marketing positions, create one resume for editorial positions, and another for marketing. Handing in a resume that doesnât cover all the bases disadvantages you, so make sure your resume is tailored to reflect what skills are really being asked for!
Second, be specific!
âWorkâ, âhelpâ, âmakeââŠWords like these may give an employer the gist of your past responsibilities, but theyâre so vague that they donât give a clear idea of what you have accomplished. Employers want to know what you have done in the past that makes you qualified for the position. But because resumes are only brief snapshots of your qualifications, you want to make it as clear as you can from the get-go that your past work has prepared you well for the position.
âFrom my experiences, it’s important to be as specific as possible,â advises Julia Chang, junior at the University of Chicago. âTry to quantify your accomplishments. Use action verbs, such as âleadâ and âcreateâ instead of more passive verbs. Your goal here is to make your past experiences and the skills you developed from them relevant to the current job posting.â
By illustrating your past responsibilities, you paint a better picture of your strengths and capabilities. This makes it easier for the employer to get an idea of what youâre like in a work environment, which definitely gives you a leg up as youâre being considered for your application.
âYour resume should also show your strengths, values, skills, and accomplishments — which not only show what sort of candidate you are professionally, but also how you will fit into the company culture,â says Alan Carniol, founder of Interview Success Formula. âFor instance, clearly illustrating how you nabbed a large client or converted customers can be solid indicators to the employer on how you will be able to operate successfully in the organization.âÂ
So whether youâre trying to describe a past job experience or your extracurriculars, make sure to be as specific and as quantifiable as possible!
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Third, get (a little) creative with formatting and design!
Even though a resume is, essentially, a list of all your accomplishments, the list doesnât need to look boring! While you donât want to bombard any employer with unprofessional colors and formatting, a little design can still go a long way in creating a visually pleasing resume.
âCreativity isnât always an option for all job fields, but if youâre in an industry that embraces creativity and applauds visualizations, your resume is the perfect place to express your talents,â says Siddiqui. âMore creative job seekers can incorporate their design skills heavily in their resume or perhaps create infographic-inspired resumes.â
Take Miami University of Ohio senior, Alaine Perconti, as an example of someone who adds her own aesthetic touch to resumes.
âI personally have a geometric design with blue and light blue colors in the top right corner to help distinguish my resume from others. I chose this because it is simple and not over the top. The colors are enough to make my resume stand out without going overboard.â
The key here is to make your resume pop out, but in a way thatâs still professional. Small designs, borders, and stylized headers are completely appropriate while you probably want to stay away from vibrant-colored or super funky fonts and over-the-top graphics. While a more creative design and format will get your resume more attention, remember to keep the designs within a certain limit, as some employers are more conservative than others. You still want your resume to convey some pretty serious information about you, so any design you incorporate should still remain professional.
Finally, make it personal with a fun fact!
Your resume may be a gateway into your work experience, but itâs also a glimpse into who you are as a person. While you should be focusing on your past job and internship positions, donât be afraid to include a small detail about yourself, so long as the information youâre including is relevant to the application.
âIn my âSkills and Interestsâ section I have two lines of important information, such as languages I speak and computer programs in which I am proficient,â says Grace Ortelere, a recent University of Pennsylvania grad. âSomeone suggested once I add a âfun factâ in the third line, so I added that I studied abroad in Paris and while I was there taught children English. This has turned out to be a great conversation starter in interviews and shows recruiters that I am more than my GPA and college internships.â
You can definitely decide to include a âfun factâ about yourself. However, if you decide to do so, make sure to be selective of what you put down. While your impressive handbag collection may fascinate some employers, they will probably be more interested in your times as a volunteer dance teacher at the local community center or dance studio. Once again, make sure the fact is not only interesting, but also relevant and work-appropriate.
With a little bit of work, you can get there!
Thereâs a whole multitude of ways to improve your resume, meaning that thereâs really no end to resume-tweaking! In a world where job and internship applications have become highly competitive, you want to constantly thinking of ways to highlight your resume. Whether itâs trying a different format or re-wording your accomplishments to maximize their impact, there are always ways to make your resume stand out. Experiment with all your ideas and see where they lead, because you never know when a tiny adjustment can make your future employerâs eyes linger for just a bit longer.