Resume Tips to Remember This Application Season
As the school year winds down, you might be starting to feel the pressure. Whether or not you've secured your summer internship or post-grad job, there is always room for resume updates and improvements. So, let’s talk about a few tips and tricks to glow up your resume, make it stand out, and some common mistakes to avoid.
Let’s be real here, it is hard to get a job. Job hunting can feel like a full-time job itself. Between networking, finding mutual connections, and applying with no response, it’s easy to get discouraged. We can’t control the uncontrollable, but we can control our resumes and how we present ourselves once we secure that interview.
Most employers prefer a clean, well-structured resume. While some creative roles may ask for something informal, a polished, professional resume is the standard across industries. Alongside this, do your best to keep your resume to one page with roughly 3 strong bullet points under each experience and simple headings, such as Work Experience, Education, and Skills/Certifications.
I also want to note the importance of highlighting your impact over just stating your responsibilities. Employers want to see what you have accomplished with those metrics. For example, instead of saying that you “Managed Company X’s Instagram account,” you could say “Increased social media engagement by 45% in 6 months of implementing a new content strategy.”
One of the most important tips I received regarding my resume (which I thought was fine-tuned to the MAX) was to ensure that I included relevant keywords from the job description. You may be thinking “duh,” but this was an area that I didn’t realize was so important. I had the formal resume with strong action verbs and quantifiable metrics…what more could I need? But once I started going into the job descriptions and taking out some of the keywords, creating a slightly different resume for each job I applied to…I saw huge results.
Key Points:
- Keep it Structured, Easy to Read, and Tailored
- Highlight Impact Over Responsibilities
We want to help you impress both recruiters and applicant tracking systems (ATS) with the resume you are submitting. With the right structure and keywords, you can ensure it gets seen. Your resume is truly just one piece of the puzzle in your application journey. And if you need more guidance, remember that in your member portal, you have access to a plethora of guidebooks on topics just like this!