As the Campus Relations Manager for IT-oLogy, it is my job to visit different colleges and universities and talk with students about careers in the IT profession. I find that many times students are completely clueless on what employers are looking for in their resume. Let’s face it, if all an employer see’s is your resume, it should be quite impressive, right? RIGHT! Let’s say you make it to the interview – what next? Hopefully this post will help you with misconceptions and concerns regarding resume writing and interviewing tips.
Writing your resume – 5 simple rules
Your resume is a direct reflection of you and no one else. Make sure you treat it this way.
- 1-TEMPLATES: If you decide to use a template, make sure to individualize it some. Recruiters see thousands (literally thousands) of resumes so you need to make yours stands out! So, how do you do this? For an ideal resume, create your own template but keep it simple.
- 2-FONT:Chose fonts such as Calibri, Times New Roman, Book Antigua or Arial. These fonts are all professional and appeal to mostly everyone. FONT SIZES: Your name should always be the highlight of your resume. 18 MAX for your name and 10-12 for your contact information.
- 3-WORD PLACEMENT:
Name
Address, Phone Number, Email Address (make sure your email address is professional. EX. [email protected] DO NOT use emails such as [email protected]. Also, the number listed on your resume should be YOUR number and no one else’s. If you have to use someone else’s phone number make sure that person knows you are looking for a job. It is very aggravating for a recruiter to call and speak with someone and the person either hang up the phone or say “WE DON’T WANT ANY!” This will NOT get you your dream job!
Objective OR Skills (Objective: Should be a brief explanation of what type of job you are looking for. Skills is a good way to showcase a summary of your experience. Bullet point areas where you’ve had significant experience. EX. Publisher, Dreamweaver, Drupal. Also, experience doesn’t include JUST work history. If you’ve had a significant class list it as well! EX. Mainframe 101)
Education (Start with the Highest Education Level. List the full name of the institution, desired/completed degree, graduation/expected graduation date. You can list current GPA only if it exceeds a 3.0.)
Experience (Using the word “Experience” vs. “Work History” or “Work Experience” allows those that don’t have actual work experience to list activities and organizations. Start with the most recent experience. List the full name of the company and the month/year you were employed. Underneath each, have bullet points of your responsibilities/duties. These can either be full sentences or word groupings. Do NOT use both. Make sure your verbiage is either past tense or present depending on the time frame of the bullet point.)
Activities/Honors (If you had work history to list in the above bullet point, this is where you would list any other affiliations you may have. EX. President Honor Society. Just as you did with Experience, list bullet points for each activity to show several details of what you did/do for the club/organization. List any honors you have earned. EX. Life Scholarship Recipient 2009-2011.)
References (Simply write “Available upon request” You do NOT want to go ahead and list your references. Most companies will let you know they need this information during a phone screen. At this time you can let your references know Company “A” may be contacting them. This gives your references a head’s up, which they will appreciate.)
- 4-PERSONAL INFORMATION: Do NOT list any personal information on your resume. This includes age, marital status, etc. Your resume should be professional and ONLY include items that showcase your professional/educational experience, NOT your personal history.
- 5-REVIEW:Make sure to do spell check! A mispelled word can automatically eliminate you from consideration! Also, have a peer review your final work. Another opinion is exactly what you need to make sure you didn’t miss anything.
In conclusion, make sure you spend time on your resume! Just like anything else, if you take five minutes creating the resume…it will look like a five minute resume. Your resume is a collection of everything you’ve accomplished and you should take the time to showcase that! As always, if you’re looking for more information visit the internet. Simply google “Resume tips” or “Resume Examples” and you will come across tons of other advice. Feel free to email me with additional questions at, [email protected]
So you have the perfect resume…Now what? Come back next week for interview tips!