Focus on Your Resume

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We are on our third day of the 10 Days of Career Services and today’s theme is Focus on Your Resume.  All of today’s events will be focusing on getting your resume completed.  There are several amazing events happening today to help you achieve this goal.  Today from 9:00-11:30 a.m. in 116 Ag. Hall there will be a Walk-in Resume Review where you can walk in at anytime during that day and get your resume critiqued by CALS Career Services or a CALS Ambassador.  There will also be a workshop titled Building an Effective Resume at 1408 Genetics starting at 5 p.m.  All of these events will be in order to help you create an amazing resume.

I know “hate” is a strong word, but everyone hates writing their resume.  Especially when you have never written one before.  I remember the first time I attempted a resume.  It was way back in middle school and I was making a resume so I could apply for the high school student council.  It was also a required assignment for a class, but that made doing a resume even worse knowing that it was an assignment.

Anyway, it was the most butchering and racking event I have ever put my brain through in my life.  Who could remember the date, or the year for that matter, I had joined 4-H.  I sat and sat for hours working on this, constantly asking my mom when I joined this, what offices I had here.  It was hopeless.  I did learn something though from this event, sorry, catastrophe.

I learned it is best to start your resume early. It is the best answer to this problem.  It is much easier to start your resume as soon as you come to college.  Jot down when you started a club.  The events you were involved in.  Eventually you will end up with a one-page, pristine resume that everyone can gawk at.  Don’t wait until the week before an interview to decide to write a resume.  If you wait that long you may not be able to have your resume critiqued by CALS Career Services or anyone, for that matter.

Ever since that day my resume has been a breeze.  I have consistently updated my resume every year.   My resume has grown to be better and better every year and has improved in quality and, in a sense, has “aged” with me as well. It is now a one-page piece of who I am.   It explains the organizations and employment that matters the most to my profession.  It explains what I have done in my life that stands out to an employer.

Now that we have you convinced you need to write a resume, lets get on to how to write a resume.  Before beginning writing your resume there is one important rule every resume should live by.

This rule is ,” everything has to gain its place on your resume.” How much important information you have for your resume is a very important factor when it comes to writing your resume.    Meaning everything on your resume needs to have a place and a reason for being put on your resume.  Every square inch of your resume is “real estate.”  Things like high school information, interests, and hobbies are examples that do not earn a spot on your college resume.

You should know who you are interviewing for and the pertinent information they would need.  If you have a lot of information and are interviewing for an economics position, you should try and tailor your resume to that employer.  Information that pertains to the position should earn its place before something that does not pertain to the position.  CALS Career Services sent out an email once asking employers what they like to see in a resume.  I will never forget one employer saying they hate two page resumes.  It was not because the person did not like reading or they didn’t like trying to keep the two pages together.  It was actually because the person felt that you should be tailor your resume to the position you are applying to.  Putting only the most important information on your resume.

The information under your experiences on your resume should be information that makes you stand out. You should not explain your lab experience as, “Washed flasks, test tubes, and other lab equipment.” But rather as, “Issued results to scholarly journals and got published.”  Washing the dishes does not make you stand out (do you know haw many lab assistants wash dishes, too many to count).  Show the employer you are different and show them your style and how amazing you are, not how normal you may be.

You should try and get your resume down to one page.  You can do this by playing with the margins, making the header and footer smaller, making your nameplate information smaller or moving it to one line, and several other things.  You should only make your resume two pages if the experiences that earn a place do not fit onto one page. By no means is having a two page resume better or worse.  When going to two pages you should also notice that the information should at least be passing the halfway point of the second page.

To give you insight into resumes that are two pages, people who have had three or more jobs or internships that pertain to their position, have had several leadership experiences in organizations, maybe have volunteered or studied abroad, etc are examples of people with two page resumes.  A lot of students can accomplish this by their senior year in college.

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These are all important things to consider when writing a resume.  For more in depth information on creating your resume come into 116 Ag. Hall and grab a resume handout located in our handout section to the right when you come in the glass doors.

Also, just as a reminder, when you get your resume completed you might as well post it on BuckyNet right away so employers can see it.