Resume tips every college student needs
Your resume is often the first impression you make on an employer and plays a crucial role in landing an interview. Typically, employers only spend 10-30 seconds scanning it, so it’s important to produce an effective resume that is easy to read, highlights relevant experience and grabs their attention.
Here are a few tips and best practices to help you create a strong, strategic resume.
Keep it simple
Tailoring your resume for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) is a great way to increase your chances of making it past the initial screening stage. Most companies and organizations use an ATS to manage the volume of applicants, often reducing the number of candidates by 70%.
Follow these guidelines to ensure your resume is compatible with ATS:
- Avoid using columns, text boxes, colors and graphics.
- When it comes to fonts, limit yourself to three font sizes and one font style.
- Pull keywords from the job posting or the mission and values of the organization and incorporate them in your resume.
As a student, you have access to Quinncia—an online AI tool that provides free personalized feedback on your resume. Quinncia’s in-depth recommendations can help your resume pass through an ATS.
Keep it relevant
Use your resume to show employers why you’re qualified for the job. Remember, not all experience has to come from formal employment. For example, include foundational skills—like communication, teamwork and leadership—you gained through class projects or volunteering when it’s relevant to the job description.
Start your resume bullets with what you accomplished and answer one or more of the following:
- How did you do it?
- Why did you do it?
- For what purpose?
- Quantify information whenever possible.
Whether you have no experience at all or you are wanting something else to round out your skills, Career Services offers a variety of opportunities that take from 20 minutes to multiple semesters to complete and will help you add professional experience to your resume.
Keep it active
Always start bulleted statements with past-tense, active verbs and delete words like “a,” “and” and “the.” You want to paint a vivid picture of your skills in action that is short and to the point. A few action verbs that stick out to employers include "developed,” “enhanced," "created," “analyzed,” "managed” and "mentored.” For more examples, review this list of action verbs to use on your resume.
Keep it going
Career Services offers several career fairs and industry events throughout the year. Here are a few of the upcoming events where you can improve and showcase your resume:
Use to register for these events and others as well as sign up for one-on-one sessions with employers during virtual career fairs. If there are specific employers that you are scheduled to chat with, make a variation of your resume that is tailored to each of them.
Career advisors are available to help you create and edit your resume. Check out this list of more resume tips and schedule an appointment to meet with Career Services so that you’re prepared to apply when opportunities arise.