With summer around the corner, students everywhere should have one thing in mind—internships. Whether you are getting paid or receiving college credit it is something that will get you a leg-up on your future competition.
But how can you do that? What will make you stand out in the crowd and get you that internship? As redundant as the topic may seem, resumes are the true breadwinners.
Director of the Center for Career and Professional Development Nancy Hutchison shares a few professional tips that are sure to get you noticed.
“The resume is essentially reflecting you,” Hutchison said. “You want it to be an easy read and highlight the truth about you.” Though it seems that most resumes can go on for years, ideally your resume should be one page. You want to offer employers enough to be interested and enough to want to know more.
“Most employers thoroughly look for someone who demonstrates leadership skills,” Hutchison said. Leadership is always an important detail that most employers are looking for. If there are any errors in plain view, most employers will toss your application to the side.
“I can not emphasize enough how important proofreading is,” Hutchison said. “It is essential because it shows employers that you cared.” It is suggested that you have at least three other people review your resume.
A resume is also about appearance. Unless you are going out for a graphic design internship or job, there is no need for a fancy font.
“The font size should not be smaller than a 10-point font,” Hutchison said. “If you mess with the font it often prints illegibly.”
If styling your resume is very important, you can add a little color—to the paper not the font. “Your paper can be standard weight,” Hutchison said. “A pale cream colored, white, gray or subdued blue is nice as well.”
You want your resume to be professional. Unless you are applying for an internship at a flower shop, keep it classy. “A resume must be conservative,” Hutchison said.
The resume should be styled chronologically. What is most recent is the most important. Your resume should include your name, contact, education and GPA at the top. When you place your education, it should only have your post-secondary school(s). High school at this point in your life is irrelevant unless you are applying for a teaching position in that district.
“Objectives are also becoming popular again,” Hutchison said. An objective on a resume can be figured out by speaking with career specialist such as Nancy in the Center for Career and Professional Development Office located in Grace Hall.
Because a resume is telling a story, it is important for you to be able to articulate what is there when you get to an interview. “In the career office, we find that students have so many experiences but are unable to tell a story,” Hutchison said.
Properly articulating what is written speaks volumes for your skills and your work. “You must be able to demonstrate that this is what I did and this is how I did it,” Hutchison said. In articulating what is on your resume well, you are able to present to your future employer that you have transferable skills such as verbal andcommunication skills. You can also demonstrate other skills with your stories, such as leadership and teamwork.
Lies are something you never want to put on your resume. But another thing that should stay off of your resume are references. “Never put references on a resume,” Hutchison said. Unless references are asked for, it is not necessary for you to place them on there. Hutchison explains that if it is something you think they will want, place an asterisk stating ‘references upon request’.
References do come in handy because they are a testimony to the work that you claim you can do. However, you must make sure that your references have an updated resume for you. You never know what questions may rise from your potential employer, and if they can’t speak upon that it sends up more red flags.
You also want to make sure that your references are okay with you using them. Never use someone as a reference without asking first. Once you have the okay double check their information. You want to include their name, title, email and phone number.
Another element that adds to your resume is the cover letter. Most students tend to shy away from cover letters because they don’t know how to write them. “You can always tweak the cover letter to fit the job,” Hutchison said. However, it is certainly more simple than it seems. The cover letter is a time where you can give a little of what you will offer in an interview. “The second paragraph more specifically, is where you can toot your horn and brag a little,” Hutchison said.
You can really give the employer talking points and it will allow for an easier dialogue in the interview.
The most important thing you have to do is do your research. You don’t want to apply for a position that you know nothing about. If you want to know more about what employers are looking for, both in person and on paper, make an appointment with the Center for Career and Professional Development offices. “If you want a job you have to work for it,” Hutchison said.
