Getting a job in today’s competitive market can be challenging. The good news is that while you’re still in college you have the opportunity to focus on gaining experience that will help your resume stand out from other applicants. Recruiters often received hundreds of resumes for a single position. It’s important to catch their eye quickly to increase your chances of getting an interview. Here are a few tips for how to make strengthen your resume.
Formatting
Make sure that your resume is aesthetically pleasing. Formatting your resume in an organized and clean manner is important. Especially if you are applying for any type of role that calls for organizational, art, design, writing, email communication, an unorganized presentation is a deal breaker.
Experience
Graduating from college, while often necessary to secure entry level positions, is no longer enough to help you stand out from the crowd. While it’s important to get good grades, even more important is to have relevant eye catching experience. International experience, like study or interning abroad, is valuable and quickly catches a recruiter’s eye when presented well on your resume.
One way to call attention to your international experience is to boldly indicate the location where your educational or work experience took place.
Additionally, any sports or extra curricular activities may also be worth listing. Often, these highlight relevant soft skills like teamwork, leadership, or discipline.
Be concise and impactful
Your resume is your opportunity to concisely sell yourself. Your objective is to secure an interview. In order to make that happen, you want to make sure that your resume is tailored to the role you’re seeking as concisely as possible. Be sure to include key words listed in the job description that you’re applying for; also, keep your resume to one page long.
When listing each internship or work experience, add bullet points that emphasize how you added value to the company with your achievements at the company. For example:
- Consistently met or exceeded my monthly sales quota.
- Increased the efficiency of the company’s order processing procedures by innovating a new method
- Improved the visibility of the company’s website by
- Named most valuable employee of the month multiple times based on my performance.
Skills
The skills section should highlight any required or preferred skills listed in the job description that you have. Some examples include foreign language, computer software, programming, social media, design, etc. Which skills you list depend on what you’re applying for. Keep it relevant and don’t miss the opportunity to highlight the any skills that you know the employer is seeking. Soft skills are also important to include, especially if the job you’re applying for requires them. Example of soft skills include teamwork, ability to multitask, work ethic, digital literacy, leadership, critical thinking, problem solving, intercultural skills, and adaptability. Studying or interning abroad show responsibility, adaptability, intercultural skills and sometimes also language skills.
