Archive for Category: Resume Tips
Top 13 resume tips for college students and young professionals
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Communication Skills Resume Tips on September 6, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Thank you to Brad Karsh of JobBound for alerting me to the fact that September is International Make Over Your Resume Month (seriously!). In honor of this occasion, here are my top 13 resume tips for college students and young professionals, adapted from my book, Getting from College to Career:
1. Be careful with contact info. Every phone number or email address you put on your resume could be used by a potential employer. Make sure you have complete control and 24/7 access to any communication method you list. And make sure that email address is professional!
2. Include an objective statement if it’s not totally clear what kind of job you want. An objective statement gives the person reading your resume an overview of how to read the skills and experience listed below it. Since most people don’t spend a lot of time reading a resume, you’re basically offering them a way to focus their attention on the information you want them to know about you. Don’t assume recruiters will read your resume and find a place for you. It’s your job to show them what you want to do.
3. Tweak your resume for different jobs and industries. It’s very likely that you will be applying for jobs in a variety of different companies and even different industries. Employers can tell when they are seeing a generic resume that is being blasted out to anyone and everyone. It’s fine to have such a resume as a template, but then you need to customize that resume with a different objective statement and different keywords that fit with the individual companies to which you’re sending it. Which leads us to…
4. Include keywords. Not only will online job sites search for keywords on your resume, but so will potential employers. Employers’ eyes are naturally drawn to the words they’re looking for—the brand names, skills, and experience they need. So make sure you give them what they want. You can have the exact experience an employer is seeking, but if it’s not presented on your resume in the words they’re looking for, you’re out of luck.
The best way to find the right words to use is to look at online job listings for the kinds of positions you’re interested in. Then, use some of the prominent words and phrases in those job listings on your resume—in your objective statement and in your experience section, if it’s relevant and true. For instance, instead of “Basic Accounting,” the more descriptive “Balance Sheet Accounting” is better. “Experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign” is much stronger than “Design Experience.”
5. List your GPA only if it’s 3.0 or higher. If your overall GPA is lower than 3.0, but your GPA in your major is over 3.0, then list “Major GPA” on your resume. Feel free to list both, of course, if they both qualify. I know that not listing a GPA at all implies that you had a low one, but that’s okay. Just be prepared to discuss why your grades were less than stellar if the subject comes up in a job interview. And, if you’re still a student, try to boost your grades up above that 3.0 mark—it can make a big difference in your job search.
6. Quantify everything. Make sure your resume is as specific as possible. “Managed a team of camp counselors” is less impressive than “Managed a staff of 12 camp counselors and 5 counselors-in-training.” If your work helped to raise money or profits, that’s super-important as well. Employers love to see resumes with phrases like, “Improved sporting equipment sales in my department by 50% in six months” or “Raised $10,000 through solicitation of alumni donations.”
7. Prioritize. When you list bullet points under each job, internship, or volunteer experience you’ve had, be sure to list the most important task, accomplishment, or responsibility first. It’s highly unlikely that a potential employer is going to read every bullet point under every item on your resume, bust most people will read the first or second bullet point on each list. You don’t have to list accomplishments chronologically; list the most impressive first.
8. List internships, volunteer work, and summer jobs. Just because you didn’t get paid for something doesn’t mean it doesn’t count as real experience. Be honest about what each situation entailed (duties, responsibilities, and time commitment), but definitely include them.
9. Note anything notable. Be sure to list anything about you that is particularly unique, uncommon or memorable. For example, “Founding president of first ever entrepreneurial club at XYZ University” or “youngest person ever promoted to assistant manager at this local high-end jewelry store.”
10. Don’t highlight something on your resume that you despised doing. As you can see, there are many ways to draw a reader’s eye to what you want that person to see on your resume. So avoid these strategies when you don’t want to promote something. In fact, if you’ve had a task or responsibility that you hated and never want to do again as long as you live (like selling vacuums door-to-door or cleaning animal cages), then don’t include it on your resume. You can even leave off an entire job if it’s not relevant to your current job search.
11. Don’t lie, exaggerate, or stretch the truth. This happens way too often, and it’s never a good idea. There are so many reasons not to lie on a resume. First of all, if your lie or truth-stretching gets discovered, you’ll lose a job opportunity with that company forever. Second, if you exaggerate your skills, such as being fluent in Spanish when you really just studied it in high school, your lie will become extremely obvious the day you start your job and you lack the skills you said you had. And finally, any little white lies you put on your resume now can cost you big later in your career. Even if the lie is discovered 20 years in the future, it can tarnish your entire professional reputation. I definitely encourage you to cast your skills and experience in the most positive light, but never, ever take it too far.
12. Keep it to one page. Some people will fight me on this, but I’ve seen senior executives with one-page resumes, so I don’t see any reason why a college student or recent grad’s resume needs more than that. Remember that your resume is a marketing tool and not a transcript or exhaustive laundry list of everything you’ve ever done. By keeping your resume short and sweet, you’re demonstrating that you can edit yourself and sell yourself clearly and concisely—both important skills in the processional world, especially if you want a job related to writing, sales, or marketing.
13. Leave off references. Potential employers will request a list of references if they want one. Don’t waste precious space on your resume with something unnecessary at this point.
I could go on and on, but following the above tips should improve your resume to the point where it represents you in the strongest way possible and differentiates you from other entry-level job seekers.
Finally, remember that a resume is a constant work in progress, so add updates whenever you gain new experience or skills, and keep your eyes and ears open for additional tips and tactics to make your resume a document you’re proud to send as the paper version of you.
Entry-level job seekers need better writing skills
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Communication Skills Cover Letter Advice Professionalism Resume Tips on August 27, 2007 at 4:54 pm
In a recent survey, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas asked executives, “What skill do entry-level job seekers lack the most?” Nearly half of respondents (45%) said that entry-level job seekers need to be better writers. According to an article about the survey in this weekend’s New York Times:
It seems that some young employees are now guilty of the technological equivalent of wearing flip-flops: they are writing company email as if they were texting cellphone messages with their thumbs.
I’ve definitely noticed a lack of proper grammar and etiquette in many emails I’ve received from college students and recent grads. Here are some tips from my book, Getting from College to Career, on emailing like a professional:
- DNUCAPE, or, Do Not Use Cute Acronyms in Professional Emails. You never know whether people are familiar with the same abbreviations that you are.
- Do use proper capitalization and punctuation. my biggest pet peeve when it comes to emails i receive from college students is that everything is in lower case and there is very little punctuation if any at all trust me its not cute its really unprofessional so please dont do it thnx. AND NOTE THAT ALL CAPS MAKES IT LOOK LIKE YOU ARE YELLING.
- Do cool it on the exclamation points! This is another big pet peeve among the older professionals I meet!! Young people email them and use way too many exclamation points!!! One or two in an email is more than enough; otherwise you look really, really young and kind of annoying!!!!
- Do not leave the subject line blank. In today’s overloaded inboxes, most people are likely to overlook or delete any message that looks like spam, so it’s smart to include a helpful subject line. In professional situations, I’m a big fan of action-oriented subject lines, such as “Networking Request from a Young Alum,” “Quick Question,” or “Internship Application Attached.” If a professional receives an email from someone she doesn’t know and there is no subject line, she’s likely to delete it.
- Do not become the boy or girl who cried, “Urgent.” Use the red “high importance” exclamation point sparingly. Sending in your résumé or asking for an informational interview is not urgent to the person receiving such an email.
- Do a quick once-over of important messages, even after you’ve spell-checked. Review the spelling of the recipient’s name, the accuracy of any important numbers you’ve mentioned, and the overall tone of the message. (Your dry sarcasm may come across as rudeness to a busy person reading your message.)
Need help with grammar and style issues? Check out one of my favorite sites: Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing.
Career Q&A: Following up a little late
Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Communication Skills Getting from College to Career Networking Advice Resume Tips on August 14, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Q: I attended a corporate presentation about two weeks ago, where I spoke with someone for a while about a position that really appeals to me. At the end of the conversation, he gave me his business card and told me to send him my resume. At the time my resume wasn’t “ready,” and I didn’t follow up with him just to touch base after the presentation like I know I should have. I would like to get in touch with him about the job, but how do I (or do I not?) acknowledge the two weeks that have passed? I just don’t want to approach this the wrong way, so I’d love to get your suggestions.
A: First of all, I don’t think you need to apologize for the two weeks that have passed, unless he specifically asked you to email him immediately. In the future, it’s better to email right after you meet someone, but don’t beat yourself up over a two-week lag. Just remind this man in the subject line or first sentence of your email where and when you met him and then thank him for suggesting that you should send him your resume.
From the way you describe the situation, it sounds as if he is already impressed with you and will just pass along your resume to the right person. However, I always think it’s a good idea to ask for feedback so he is somewhat invested a bit in your success. You might write something like, “As promised, attached is my resume. I’m very interested in working in your department and I would appreciate any feedback you have about positioning my experience to best suit a role in your group. If you think the resume looks fine, it would be great if you can pass it along to the HR/hiring manager, or let me know what other steps you’d recommend at this point.”
I suggest adding value to the email by reiterating why you’d be an excellent fit for this group based on what you’ve learned about it on your own (presumably over the past two weeks) and what he told you about it during the conversation when you met. Finally, tell him you will keep him posted, and be sure to keep him in the loop about how it all works out.
As always, this advice is just my two cents, so do what feels comfortable to you based on your interaction with this person and your knowledge of your industry and how things work. Good luck!
