Resume Tips for Success
Are you currently applying for an internship or a full-time position? Whether you are a student or a young professional looking for a career change, you must make your resume stand out.
A resume is key for your job or internship search. This one-page document is your chance to brag about yourself and your experiences. Show off your top skills, qualities, and positions that you have held. Resumes help employers make hiring decisions and can open the door to your first interview.
Brand Yourself
Creating the structure of your resume and deciding what to include on it can be hard. You want to introduce yourself and showcase your qualifications to secure an interview. Your resume will offer your professional and educational backgrounds and the skills that you obtained from them.
A well-written resume is an advertisement for YOU. You are branding yourself as the best possible candidate for this position and employer. Not only will updating your resume make you a competitive candidate, but it will also allow you to add new experiences and skills.
Author: Payton Hoffman
Structure your Resume
Your resume is supposed to evolve so don’t be afraid to modify it. Make the writing concise and to the point. Don’t forget to check for proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation, too. Your resume should be visually appealing and attractive to a reader’s eye.
The style and organization of your resume may need to be adapted to meet the needs of each role that you apply to. For example, you may need to make adjustments to your resume when applying for an accounting internship versus a marketing or sales position.
Introduction
Start your resume off with your name and contact information. Include your name, phone number, and email address. You could also include a link to your LinkedIn profile and your home address. Depending on the type of position you are applying for, you could include a link to your online portfolio or professional website.
Education
Next, include your educational background. This is helpful for employers that require a certain degree or expect that you graduate by a certain year. Be sure to include your most recent and relevant education. Include the name and location of your school, the degree you obtained or plan on obtaining your area of study, your graduation year, and your GPA. If it’s relevant to the position, you can also include any relevant academic coursework, recognition, or honors you received while in school.
List educational experiences that make sense for your level of experience. For example, if you are a high school student or graduate, list your high school information. College graduates do not need to list their high school. If you have post-secondary education of any kind, you should list that as well.
Experience
Next, let’s add your professional history. This is a place to showcase the value you have brought to former employers and the skills you gained from these opportunities. You should list all of your most relevant work experiences and list the tasks you performed.
Even if you think you have little to no experience, any experience is great! List what you have done, even if it is not relevant or related. Employers can still use this experience as a gauge to see what kind of worker you might be at their company. Also, a lot of the skills from unrelated jobs could transfer over to your new job. It is helpful that you list any experiences that you’ve also had in volunteer organizations or clubs, especially if you held an officer role or had multiple responsibilities.
Don’t forget to add bullet points that summarize your duties in each position. This gives you a chance to show employers the specific things that YOU did to help in previous roles. You can showcase the leadership roles you filled, as well as the specific things you did. Quantity as much as you can and don’t be afraid to include the specifics of things you accomplished.
Skills and Accomplishments
Next, include your accomplishments! Be proud of the awards, honors, and recognition you have received. In this section, employers can see that you have stood out from the crowd and will be interested in what you have to offer. Include volunteer work in this section as well. Employers appreciate knowing that you care and respect your local community,
Lastly, add any relevant skills, certifications, or tools you’ve mastered. For example, you could include mastery of Microsoft Office or Google Suite tools, knowledge of languages, Adobe Photoshop, Canva, study abroad experience, etc.
These skills should be related to the job or internship that you are applying for. You can easily find what skills potential employers are looking for by reading their job descriptions. Figure out the keywords that match your skills and try to include them on your resume as appropriate.
Now that your resume is done, have a mentor, peer, or former boss review your resume and give you feedback. It is always helpful to have a second eye glance at it to see if you missed anything.
Congratulations! You now have a resume and can start applying for jobs and internships. Be sure to check out our other blogs on tips for searching for an internship. A well-developed and structured resume will help you be recognized by employers. Good luck out there, you got this!