Microsoft Resume Template

Five Fabulous Resume Tips for College Grads (or Anybody)

Fluffy clouds. Chirping birds. Green trees. Colorful flowers. It's springtime! All of these things bring thoughts of joy and serenity to most people, but to you, dear college senior, it is usually a hectic time, full of final exams, decisions to be made, Graduation Day, and looking for a job. Sure, the job search is a major thing on your to-do list, but having fun, studying, and exams usually take the top spots as the months wind down and Graduation Day nears.

In all the preparation for Graduation day, you've probably forgotten about the most important tool needed to land that perfect job. The resume. This handy little tool is the key to getting your foot in the door just to speak to someone. And you forgot? Don't you know that the resume is your calling card and it can make or break your chance of getting an interview to have a chance at a job that is being sought after by hundreds of other graduates.

Never fear my dear college senior, here are five tips to making the best impression with your resume.

1. Maximize your experiences.
Whether you helped out at your dad's office for the summer or planted trees for the local Arbor Day foundation, those experiences adds up to know-how. Think about all of the skills you used on each task and list them. Use lots of adjectives and please use the active voice.

2. Toot your own horn.
Did you increase sales by 50% (you go girl, er guy!)? Did enrollment jump from 350 to 1,000 because of you (you are incredible!)? Did you increase the efficiency of the sundae-making procedure (so industrious, aren't 'cha?)? If you changed the way your company or organization did something, say so. Employers like to see initiative in potential employees, so by all means toot your own horn. Just make sure that it's the truth. Which brings me to the next point.

3. Be honest.
It is now standard practice for employees to do a background checks on a person's credentials, credit, and references so be sure that all of the information on your resume is accurate. Even if a background check is not done at the time of hire, one could be done in the future and your job could be terminated if you were dishonest on your resume.

4. Make it pretty.
Okay it doesn't have to be pretty but it does have to be neat. As a recent graduate you want to keep your resume to one page, one and a half at most (K.I.S.S. Keep It Short Sweetie). The format, how it's arranged on the paper, should be easy to read. Leave plenty of white space so the eye (of your prospective employer) doesn't get tired. Use white or ivory, executive-type paper. If you are e-mailing your resume, keep it simple. Don't use bullets, lines, etc. because it will more than likely not be formatted correctly in the recipient's e-mail reader. Copy and paste the resume into the body of the e-mail because most people are leery of opening anything with attachments because of computer viruses.

5. List your skills.
This may seem obvious, but too many times people only list their hard skills such as computer software or hardware knowledge. It's good to list soft skills as well such as written and oral communications skills, initiative, organizational skills, and being a team player. These skills are all highly sought after and they could make the difference in whether you are hired or not.

Spring is here. The birds are chirping. Graduation Day has come and gone and now you are faced with the start of your career. Your resume is your calling card, so use it as the first tool in your arsenal of getting a job. Remember the 5 tips list above: 1. Maximize your experiences. 2. Toot your own horn. 3. Be honest. 4. Make it pretty. 5. List your skills. Next time we will talk about negotiating your salary. Ciao.

Samantha Gregory-Applewhite is a technical writer by day and a freelance article and busines writer/speaker/personal coach by night. She has 10 years experience writing resumes and coaching individuals in the resume writing process. Her business is Applewhite Communications http://www.applewhitecommunications.com and her writing website is Applewhite Spaces http://www.samanthagregory.blogspot.com. She lives and plays in Huntsville, Alabama with her husband Odel and her two children Lexi and AJ. Reading, traveling, internet surfing, and spending time with family friends is her passion.

MORE ARTICLES:

Expanding Your Resume: The Curriculum Vitae
By their very definition, resumes are supposed to be brief summaries of your skills and abilities: short, but attention-grabbing. A great resume uses keywords and catch phrases to highlight your accomplishments and abilities and if done well, is your ticket to getting you at least as far as an interview.

Talent Technology Announces General Availability of Resume Mirror Search Enterprise
Conceptual search technology gains momentum in the industry by helping recruiters find qualified candidates quickly.

A Resume for Disaster.. How Not to Land a Work at Home Job
After running a successful telecommuting site for over 8 years and an employment agency before that, I still get that one question over and over. "Why have I not been able to land a work at home job?" My first answer is always the same. "Let's look at your resume."

Your Resume Format - What Is The First Thing You Need To Do?
The first thing you need to do before you write your resume is learn how to format it. Just as if you were cooking a new dish you would follow a recipe, so too should you follow a specific format when you type your resume.

Resume Formats ... The Hidden Pitfalls
Deciding on a resume format is the first major decision to be made when creating your resume. The overall look of your resume depends on the resume format, font and outline you choose.

Resurrecting the Perfect Resume, Part One
Is your resume dead?  Don't be so quick to say, "No way!"  Of the hundreds of resumes I've seen written by job seekers of all backgrounds and educational levels, easily 95% qualify to be labelled as dead-but-not-yet-buried.  A dead resume lacks a clear structure or chronology, does not present or quantify achievements, fails to offer a "big picture" of what you would bring to the employer and is impersonal rather than expressive.

Facelift for Resumes Offers Hope for Job Seekers, says Resume Writing Service
Professional Pixie Dust from Resume Writing Service Can Help You Land a Job

Free Resume Examples: Use Them, But Dont
There are lots of free resume examples (or free resume samples) on the web.Try searching for "free resume example" at Google and take a look at the almost 5 million pages that come back (the less restrictive "resume example" gives you 7 million pages, if you've got more time on your hands).

Resume Posting: Tips for Jobseekers
Recruiting firms, like most businesses today, must embrace technology in order to prosper. Part of modern recruiting is understanding the value and benefit of internet job boards.

Free Resume Template: The ONLY One Youll Ever Need
WARNING: This article is likely to make you mad.In fact, I'm pretty sure it will.

Beat the Crowd with Winning Resume Cover Letters
Far too many people underestimate the importance of resume cover letters. In a sense, a well written cover letter works like an agent on your behalf.

Your Resume Education Section: Top or Bottom?
If you are in school, just graduated, or have been out of school for less than three years, your education information should be at the top. After three years, it needs to go on the bottom. And the longer you are out of school, the shorter your education section should become. If for some reason in the three plus years you have been out of school, you have not accumulated a lot of impressive work experience to outshine your educational background, you may consider keeping your education section at the top for a couple more years; but it would be more prudent, of course, to consider garnering more work experience to strengthen the overall effect of your resume. After you've been out of school for ten years, no one is going to care about what...

Writing An Engineering Resume That Gets Attention
You?re talented and experienced, so any old resume should be able to secure that dream job you?re after, right Wrong

Newspaper Publisher Secures Top Resume/Job-Search Expert for Career Column
Highly credentialed career expert, Teena Rose, becomes columnist for Ohio Publishing Company.