The job search is on. With the semester ending and job postings opening up, there is no better time than now to review your resume. No matter what year you are, having a polished resume can always be helpful, especially as you start exploring the available internships. There are so many resume templates out there, but many are dull and uninspiring. We are not sending in our resumes by mail anymore, so they have to pop! Here are five ways you can spruce up your resume to make you any recruiter’s first choice.
- tHE GOLDEN RULE: KEEP IT TO ONE PAGE
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This may be obvious to most people, but you would be surprised how often first and second year students present a resume that exceeds one page. Since most of us are in college, it is time to get rid of the high school accomplishments. Unless they are truly inspiring and changed the trajectory of your college career, consider it gone. Join a few clubs on campus, take up some leadership opportunities and make a name for yourself. But, keep it within one to two bullet points. Short and sweet is the name of the game.
- ADD SOME COLOR
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Now, this could mean going full Elle Woods with the pink scented paper, or it could be color coordinating your headers. Though a lot of the free templates online are strictly using black font, who says you cannot spice it with a splash of color? Many people have told me that recruiters look at a resume for between six to eight seconds. If they see that you like to express yourself right from the beginning, they will be more willing to keep you in the ‘yes’ pile.
- INCLUDE A SUMMARY
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Towards the top of your resume, preferably under your contact information, you should include a summary of what the rest of the resume entails. This allows the recruiter to get a six second recap of what they would see if they kept reading. It acts as a hook to draw them in and engage them, and can be a helpful aspect to encourage them to want to learn more about what you have to offer. This can be a short two to three bullet points highlighting what the most important parts of your resume are.
- ORGANIZATION IS KEY
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Although your resume should be kept to one page, organization is critical. Make sure you structure the sections from most to least important, featuring the key players at the top. Include your education under your contact information. The focal point should be the experiences that are an asset to the job you are applying for. For example, for a job in media or communications, a section titled “Media and Advertising Experience,” would showcase the skills you will bring to that particular job. This could include leadership experience or previous employment relevant to this area. Experimenting with different header names and shifting the bullets around will create a good flow throughout the resume.
- be creative with your descriptions
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Under each piece of your experience, you should include at least one to two solid bullet points that will give insight into what you learned while holding that position. Get creative with your descriptions and treat it as practice to answer potential interview questions for the future. The recruiter will use these in the future to question your experience, so make sure they are detailed and concise.
Hopefully some of these tips will help make your resume as unique and clean for the next job interview. Happy applying Collegiettes!