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For the next few weeks I will be doing a series for recent grads called Getting a Job. I want to cover things that are imperative to know going forward after graduation. Chances are you didn’t learn these things in school, and/or your career development center at school sucked.
The Resume: A 10 step crash course
1. One Full Page. Hopefully you’ve had some good internship opportunities during your time in college that you can put on your resume, but you still don’t have enough experience to merit your resume being over 1 page. If you’ve got over a page, you’ve got too much fluff (BS), if your under a page it looks like you have no experience. If you are under a page, be sure to add relevant school projects as experience. If you’re over a page, most recruiters won’t turn the page, plus staples snag the other resumes in the pile which makes your 2 pager annoying to begin with.
2. Bullet Points. No one wants to read a paragraph about you, so help make recruiters jobs easier. Think of bullet points as catchy headlines. You want them to jump off the page and make the reader get the idea, but also want to learn more (by calling you in for an interview).
3. Strong Action Verbs. Start your bullet points with an action verb, not “I.” When you say “Developed a comprehensive database to ensure…” the “I” is assumed, and Developed jumps off the page. In the example, “Developed” is a strong action verb, it says that you are proactive, yes, it could have used “Made” instead of developed , but Made is too passive. Use words like Monitored, Created, Examined, Coordinated, Collaborated, Maintained, and Managed.
4. Formatting. There are many ways to do this, and arguably none is better than the other as long as it looks good. Below is my preference.
Name
Contact Info (can be on separate lines, or same, depends on space)
TITLE (Education, Experience,…)
COMPANY/SHOOL Location
Title/Role/Major Date -Date
5. GPA. As a general rule of thumb, if you made above a 3.0, put it on your resume. If not, don’t.
6. Affiliations. Chances are you were involved in organizations on campus and you volunteered. Include them, it looks great on a resume, that IS why you initially did them right?
7. Other/Interests. This is where you need to humanize yourself. If you made a 4.0 at Harvard and were super involved on campus, that’s great, but on paper you’re an overachiever without people skills that I don’t want to hire. However, if you tell me that you are an action sports junkie, or an accomplished ballet dancer that makes you a more interesting person that I would want to work with. Plus it provides great ice breaker conversation in interviews.
8. References. Don’t include this section on your resume, and especially don’t put “Available upon request,” that’s just stupid. If it’s not on there, and they want them, they will ask for them anyway. And if they are on there it’s rude to your references because you never know when or if to give them a heads up that a call is coming. Have a separate page that lists references when you go in for the interview. If they ask for it, you can provide it and give a heads up to your references.
9. Contact Info. You’re an adult. cooln3rd1986 isn’t going to cut it anymore. Try to get your name or initials from an e-mail service. If not, consider buying your name or last name as a domain and setting up free e-mail like Joe@yourelastname.com/.net/.us It is very simple to purchase (I prefer GoDaddy.com, be frugal there are always coupon codes for them, and avoid any extras, you just need the domain). Then read about Google Apps and sign up for free e-mail using your domain!
10. Edit Edit Edit. Your resume will always be a work in progress. Before you apply for jobs, send it out to as many (qualified) people as possible and ask them to critique it, not to pass it on. If no one says anything, that does not mean it’s good. Tell them to nit pick and be mean, but remember not everyone provides good advice, so don’t feel obligated to accept it all. You can even send it to me and I will be honest ( daniel at this domain.com). As a bonus, by doing this and asking for advice, you are building your network and can send it back to them and ask them for more help in finding a job!
I hope you found this crash course helpful, obviously I did not include everything, so if you have additional pointers please leave them. My resume is always a work in progress too!
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8 RESPONSES TO "RESUMES 101: A TEN STEP CRASH COURSE FOR RECENT GRADS"
Great list, especially # 9
If you are a new grad, I would also suggest you use your college/university e-mail address, just because you are able to link your name to the school before opening your e-mail.
Add-on to the list
10-second glance: Do it & see what pops-up. Since most HR will take less than that to filter resume.
Customize: Customize your resume with each applications of the post or company. There one-size fits all just does work. Although don't just copy the points or the title of the role, since it's quite obvious.
Good list, though I disagree with #7. Personal interests seem misplaced on a professional resume, and many lists I've read about resume writing say to leave it out.
I would also be wary of listing affiliations. General honor societies and maybe something like student government would be good, but for instance, I would leave off greek affiliations. You don't know the hiring manager. It's best to avoid anything that might lead to preconceived notions.
Thanks Ian. Keep the ideas coming!
As a note to other readers, "Created" in #3 should read developed, I'll see if I can get them to change it on this copy.
And "NAME" should be centered, with contact info centered under it...
Anna,
I can understand your concerns, however I think most people in the different professinoal clubs & Greek system would agree that membership in these can open great doors. For instance, I'm proud of the fact that I was in the Greek system, just like I'm proud of the fact that I'm an Eagle Scout, both of them are on my resume because they both mean a lot to me, and I will always give back to them. Plus, on the chance that your resume gets in front of someone in your Faternity or Sorority, it gives you a major leg up.
Also, this is aimed at recent grads. As you gain more experience the experience is much more important than affiliations. Now that I've spent a year in my job, I have another affiliation to add because I'm a member of the Association of Financial Professionals. But that's on my resume too.
And for the record, I'm embarassed that my spellcheck didn't catch "SHOOL"
As a former recruiter, I just have a point to add.
-Leave off the fancy colors and designs, or, god forbid, personal photos. Make the type the main focus, and use a normal font. I recruited designers, and many of the applicants were discarded immediately because of terribly "designed" resumes.
I think #9 of the above list is terribly overlooked. I can't tell you how many "gothkchic900" or "420guy" resumes I used to get. It just looks so unprofessional.
Also, I used to search for high level Art Directors and such, and they could keep their resume to one page, and still look fantastic. You want to leave something to talk about in the interview!
Great article!
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As a career coach and speaker who writes resumes professionally, my number one tip is to consider hiring someone to write your resume! The fact is, there is much more to writing a great resume than 10 tips!
You can read all about resume writing. I share a lot of advice on my blog: http://keppiecareers.wordpress.com/category/resume-advice/, but your situation is unique. Unless you have the time, expertise, energy and inclination to keep up with the market, learn about new technology and approaches and stay plugged in, you may be doing yourself a disservice by writing your own resume.
In my experience, even people who think their resume is pretty good often miss the main point: to market targeted skills and accomplishments to a potential employer. Most resumes I see read like laundry lists of “stuff.” You probably aren’t surprised to learn that “stuff” doesn’t do much to promote your skills and accomplishments.
Many job seekers don’t stop to consider how much money a less-than-optimal resume costs them. Consider, if you are unemployed or under-employed, how much money do you lose for every day that you are not earning what you are worth? If your resume isn’t top-notch, you may not appear qualified for the salary that you deserve.
A professionally written resume will help shorten your job search and may qualify you for a higher-paying position. Your return on investment should pay off substantially!
Do you cut your own hair? Most people hire an expert because they want to be sure to look their best. The same goes for your resume. You can be a DIY-er, but you’ll never know how much better off you’d be if you hired an expert to do the work you aren’t trained to do.
@ Miriam. Yes, resume writing is more than just 10 steps, hence "Crash Course"
Also, you've just given me a good topic to blog about. Thank you.
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