Resumes are the key to getting that great internship or the job you’ve always wanted once you graduate. If you want to make sure you’re putting your best foot forward, here are 8 things you can do to boost your resume right now!
Resumes are essentially your first impression, so having the right format is so important to put yourself ahead of everyone else. There are many great templates you can download online, but you can also do this by creating tables in a word document. If you need extra help, most colleges have a career center that can help you format it too.
Every job has different qualifications, so it’s important to highlight the ones that matter for that job. Ideally, it’s good to have a few different versions of your resume so that it can appeal to multiple jobs. For example, if you’re applying for a marketing internship, highlight the parts of resume, such as club experiences with social media promotion, to really drive home that you’re qualified for the job.
Do you carefully curate your instagram? Or have you spent hours perfecting your Linkedin page? Employers want to see this and those pages can provide more information about you that can add to your resume or show them another side of you. Social media is so important for any job, so it’s important to show employers just how good you are at presenting yourself online.
It’s easy to get caught up in writing down every responsibility you had at your summer job, but sadly employers really don’t want to waste their time reading that. Many employers skim your resume, so make sure that you’re concise and to the point so that even when skimming, you’ll boost your resume and stand out as a great candidate!
While this touches on the last point, it’s so so vital to make sure that your resume is one page. Employers get frustrated and upset when it is longer and when you’re in college, you really don’t have enough experience to fill up multiple pages of a resume. As a rule of thumb, keep the content to what you did in college, not in high school. When you do get the job interview, you can expand on your resume and that’s a great opportunity to show off your talents.
Because there is so much variability between types of computers and how they handle word documents, converting your resume into a PDF is how you can keep it looking exactly the way you designed it, no matter what computer it’s being viewed on. Also, employers really do prefer PDFs and will consider you to be more professional if you do that.
Talking about your responsibilities at your past or current job is great, but what will really boost your resume is if you talk about what you were able to achieve while at that job. For example, if you worked at a startup that generated lots of revenue, talk about what you individually did to achieve those results. It’s important to show employers what you as an individual are capable of both by yourself and in group settings. Doing this on your resume will set you apart from everyone else!
It’s totally okay if you’ve never had a job, you still have tons to write about on a resume. If you were involved in clubs, talk about what positions you held and how you contributed to the success of the club and how well you worked with others in the club. Employers don’t expect to see that you’ve held tons of jobs in college, they want to see that you’ve excelled in whatever you’re involved in, so make the most of your club experiences!
Freshman year is an extremely exciting time, but it can also be intimidating adjusting to a new place. Here are…
Getting along with your roommates doesn't mean that you have to become the best of friends. Living with another person doesn't…
I am beyond happy that I decided to choose the University of Southern California as the place to realize my…
The big day is finally here! You've done all your dorm room shopping, you have all those wonderful school supplies, including…
So you’ve gotten through the college application and acceptance process. Congrats to you! But what comes next? From learning how…
There are just some things one can only learn from experience. Take it from the voice of students who have…
