So, You Need a Resume . . .

So, You Need a Resume. 

Aurora University's AMA and Delta Mu Delta hosted a resume workshop that revealed the secrets of how a student's resume should look and what content needs to be added upon graduation.

The guest speakers were, Mary Pellico and Kimberly White. Mary and Kimberly are human resource specialists that specialize in helping not only students, but adults, create strong resumes. The twenty minute presentation was insightful and packed full of tips and tricks to take your resume to the next level.

Pieces of a Resume

To start your resume out, give your most current contact information. Your name should be the first thing the employer sees. The font size used needs to be larger than the rest of the document. Next, include your number, email address, and your LinkedIn, or personal website link that highlights your strengths. Somewhere, where you can show why you are you! 

Make sure your email is appropriate. Using your name is usually best. To make a free email specifically for applying to jobs, I recommend using Gmail. On your resume, you will also want to put your objective. When looking for keywords, really read the job description. This will give you keywords the employer is specifically looking for. It tailors your resume and lets the employer know that you are interested in the company and position being applied to.  

Lastly, go ahead and highlight your schooling and activities. If you have an internship, pull that experience out and create a separate section on your resume that highlights the skills you've accomplished while working there. After your schooling is added, go into your experience. If you can show you've held a job while going to school, that's a huge plus and it shows you are responsible and have great time management skills.

Resume Don'ts

A few of the basic resume don'ts Mary and Kimberly went over were extremely important. The most important don't they stressed was falsifying information. If you put false information on your resume and the employer asks about it in an interview, you're not going to be able to wing that one. Another pointer is, to not include personal information or photos. Adding the link to your personal website will be more than enough for the employer. Do not include your salary expectations. This will more than likely be discussed upon your offer! To prepare for the "talk" go to a salary website and look at comparable jobs and salaries. This will make it easier to negotiate pay later in the hiring process. A last don't is don't be repetitive. You're not going to want to say you are great at customer service in ten different ways! 

Resume Do's

Recent college grads should keep their resume to one page, unless there is enough foundation to fill the second page at least 3/4 of the way. Use a font size between 11-14 and select a font that is easy to read and professional. I recommend using a Serif font, such as, Times New Roman. Make your resume in chronological format, starting with the most relevant information at the top. Resumes should be visually appealing. Use bullets, bolding, italics and be creative! When saving, make sure that you save it as firstnamelastname.pdf. Saving your resume in PDF is a must before sending it off to an employer. It's much more professional. 

Wrapping up, creating a resume upon graduation isn't hard if you have the right components. As long as you can get the do's and don'ts down, you're golden. Until next time :)