Just graduated college in the middle of a pandemic and have no clue how to start applying for jobs? Don’t worry, cause we’ve got you covered! It’s pretty well-known that the business industry can be competitive and daunting to jump into as a college graduate or as a student looking for an internship. In order to find what interviewers are really looking for in applicants I asked marketing professional Margaret Long what 6 elements make an applicant stand out on paper, regardless of experience!
- Aesthetically Pleasing
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We all have to start somewhere and that google doc resume is a great start, but in order to stand out from competitors you need to spice things ups! Use templates, especially if you’re in a designing field- you are branding yourself! You need to express who you are on paper and comic sans 12 pt. font isn’t it!
- Link to Portfolio
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If you do have previous artwork or field related work that shows your abilities it is important to add a hyperlink to a resume or even a qr code to a paper resume, so long as it is an appropriate size.
- Updated Contact Information
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Far too often do students and industry professionals mistype or put a no longer in use phone number or email. Make sure your contact information is correct!
- No Spelling Errors
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Spelling errors are the easiest fix and often the main reason why applicants miss out of job opportunities. Double, triple, and quadruple reread your resumes! Have your family or peer’s read over it just as an extra precaution in case you overlooked anything.
- Keep it Concise
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Bullet points are a necessity! You don’t want your resume tossed to the side because it is full with lengthy summaries about your high school clubs. Keep it straight forward, clear, concise, and fool proof. One page is ALL you need! Flipping back and forth and too much information can bore readers. Remember less is more!
- It is NOT “One Size Fits All”
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For every job you apply for you need to cater your prior job descriptions to each job you’re applying for. Regardless if you worked at McDonalds or Google, you need to cater your bullet points to your new job. For example, let’s say you were a cashier at McDonalds. Some skills that are scalable to a business field are guest interaction, money handling, time management, and organization.