Maybe you really like the feeling of money in your pocket or you want to gain the relevant experience needed to achieve your dream of becoming a Fortune 500 Company CEO. Either way, you need to dust off that old resume or create a fresh one. After all, how can you tell future employers about all of your impressive skills without that all-important document? Sort of like your Facebook (except more professional), a resume gives potential employers a quick snapshot of your experience.
Important? Yes. Scary? Definitely. For the newbies, how do you create the perfect resume without crashing and burning faster than someone running on two hours of sleep and six Redbulls?
Resume Breakdown
1. The Essentials
Without your name and contact info, your resume is only a list of impressive accomplishments. Don’t forget to include your email address (one that you actually check), your phone number and street address. Place this at the top so it’s the first thing they see.
2. Education
You’ll want to list your school, using its full name, your graduation date, your major, any minors, relevant coursework and awards/scholarships (if you have them). As for your GPA, only include that if it’ll blow their minds. In other words, if you cringe looking at your GPA, then keep it to yourself.
3. Experience
Pro tip: List only the most impressive and relevant points in reverse chronological order, including the location and the time period you worked there. While looking at a stack of resumes, your potential employer’s short attention span needs a reason to keep reading. If you’re applying for a marketing position, don’t bother including high school goalie, but make sure to list last year’s business internship. Don’t forget to write out a job description and acquired skills for each position to show how your previous experience will translate at the job you’re about to land.
4. Organizations
You know all those clubs that take up so much time? Here’s when they come in handy. List anything from sports teams to Greek life to honor societies, especially if you held a leadership position.
5. Skills
Use this section for any relevant skills for the job. Include your WordPress and iMovie expertise, but leave out Microsoft Word since most people know how to use it.
Should I Include My Life Story in My Resume?
Absolutely not—only include anything relevant to the position you want. If you hope to land a writing internship, definitely mention your editor experience at your school’s paper. If you’re applying for a position at your school’s biology lab, nobody cares about your part-time barista experience.
How Can I Beef Up My Resume?
You need experience to put on your resume to find jobs so you can get experience…sound familiar? If your professional experience equals zero, then volunteer experience, part-time jobs and internships come in handy. Keep in mind that part-time jobs may feel like a waste of time since you’re not gunning to become a fast food server for the rest of your life, but the skills you gain (like time management) actually attract employers like college students flock to free food.
How do I Format My resume?
Avoid fancy fonts and stick to a simple one that’s easy to read. Your contact info goes at the top, in a slightly larger font (think size 14–16 or so), while the body follows your typical font size of 12. You want to include a second page only if you can fill that entire page. Otherwise, cut down your resume to one page. A longer resume doesn’t necessarily look better, so don’t include fluff to make yourself seem more impressive. Your English teacher never appreciated long run-on sentences included only to meet the page requirement (curse those 10 page papers), and your employer feels the same way too.
What’s the Difference Between a Resume and a Cover Letter?
Think of a resume as a list of your accomplishments and experiences. In a cover letter you’ll talk about yourself and why you’re qualified for the job. Use it as a chance to show off your kick ass writing skills.
For more information about cover letters check out: The Anatomy of a Cover Letter
Top 3 Resume Mistakes
1. Typos
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Your resume needs to scream professional and skilled, so any typos equal red flags that show you don’t care enough to spell check. Spoiler: They’ll throw your resume out with yesterday’s empty Starbucks cup. Most word processing programs spell check automatically, so you have no excuse. Reread, reread and, most importantly of all, reread your resume before sending it anywhere.
2. Too colorful
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Remember how fun it was to play with WordArt in elementary school? Save that for creating wacky invitations for your next party. Real adults don’t use crazy fonts and neon colors to jazz up their documents. Bottom line: Comic Sans is never ok.
3. Too Vague
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Although you don’t want to go into too much detail, not enough detail will hurt you too. You worked hard as managing editor of your school paper, so why not talk it up a little? Instead of writing “edited articles,” say, “edited weekly articles while leading a team of writers.” See how that sounds much better? Best of all, you didn’t lie. If it sounds boring to you, an employer will definitely agree.
Top 3 Resume Twitter Handles
1. Resume Strategists: @ResumeStratgsts
Don’t panic too hard about perfecting your resume; Resume Strategists can help. With insider tips on LinkedIn, what employers look for or how social media affects your job search, they have a gold mine of information.
2. Resume Writing: @ResumeResource
@ResumeResource doubles as the ultimate resume guide. You’ll probably never know everything about resumes, like the difference between medical and administrative resumes, but you can start here. With high-stakes competition for jobs, it certainly doesn’t hurt to know a bit more to get you ahead of the game.
3. Erin Kennedy, CPRW: @ErinKennedyCPRW
Kennedy writes resumes professionally and offers tips on the best fonts, how to slay at your next interview and how to prepare for job fairs. With a simple follow, you’ll gain access to these insider tips that will totally help you land your dream job.
Need more resume tips?
How to Slay Your Resumé as a Writer
10 Clubs That Will Make Your Resume Flawless
15 Ways to Pimp Your Resume Senior Year
7 Killer Resume Bloopers
Survival Guide: Resumes
Want more information on resumes? Read on for all resume articles.
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