Summer is sadly coming to an end and fall is just around the corner. Many large organizations start their recruiting for full-time positions and internships during the fall semester, so it’s not too early to begin updating your resume. As a reminder, the Fall Career and Internship Fair is on Thursday, September 15, 2011 from 4:30pm – 8:00pm at the Kohl Center. Check out the ‘Events’ tab on BuckyNet to see what organizations are attending the fair and what positions they are recruiting for.
Updating your resume can feel a bit daunting, but try not to let it overwhelm you. Start by adding your summer experiences to your resume: job, internship, volun
teer experience, etc. Make sure that you use consistent formatting to match the other experiences already listed on your resume.
Next add descriptive lines to your new experiences. Start each descriptive line with an action verb, such as manage, initiate, or develop. Descriptive lines should be just as the name suggests, descriptive. In each descriptive line you should be specific, quantify when possible, and include not only what you did, but why. Below are some examples of how to create effective descriptive lines. I consider the last example the ‘best’ because it is specific – blog posts on career-related topics, quantifies how often the task was completed – weekly, and explains why the task was completed - to provide students an easily accessible online career resource.
Good Example: Wrote blog posts
Better Example: Wrote weekly blog posts on career-related topics
Best: Wrote weekly blog posts on career-related topics such as resumes, cover letters, and job searching, in order to provide students an easily accessible online career resource
After adding your summer experiences, make sure to update all the other areas of your resume. The infamous UW-Madison August move in/move out might have resulted in a change in your address. In addition, update your GPA to reflect your most recent cumulative or major GPA. Go through your entire resume to make sure the dates of your other experiences are correct. Double check that your formatting is consistent. Lastly, take a few minutes to make sure your spelling and grammar are correct. Some employers are big sticklers on spelling and will put a resume in the ‘no’ pile for one spelling or grammatical error.
You can set up a resume review appointment with a career services staff member by logging into your BuckyNet account and clicking ‘Request an Appointment’ on the right hand side of the screen. Check out this Career Spots video for more information about resumes.
