Okay, so you have a resume..but its ONLY half a page long! How does that work experience section look?
It may very well be what your lacking.
Your skill set, and work experience are the bulk of any resume. SO, here’s an easier way to kind of explain what we’re looking for.
Resumes should be less of an account or report and more of a tale!
Yes, that’s right, your experience and skills should flow like a story.
It’s not just meaningless tasks from a past job, it’s ALL your accomplishments, and we want the hiring manager to instantly see your expertise.
I mean you’re a pretty big deal, right?
Well maybe you don’t have that much experience.. Or you’re not good at writing.
Don’t fret just yet, I’m going to help you out with that.
So what experience should be on your resume?
Well, not ALL your experience goes on a resume.
You want the skills and experience you have relating to the job you’re applying for.
You defiantly don’t want to put that time you were a babysitter on there or any job you held over 17 years ago.
So what jobs should you not exclude then?
- Don’t exclude any work experience that will leave a huge hole or gap in your resume.
- If it relates to the job, put it on there!
- If it shows some of your greatest most unique skills, it’s a demand.
If you have no work experience…
Then you want to put all your
- Major Roles in Student Organizations
- Unpaid Internships
- Volunteer Work
Either way, hiring managers want to know you can do the job they need you to do..and YOU CAN do the job!
Let’s show them how kickass you are!
What about the format?
- Start with the most recent job you had.
- Make the title stand out! (We really want to catch their eye here)
- Under that use bullet points to highlight all your skills and duties. (ATLEAST 3)
- Consistency
Consistency. That’s a big one. You want to stand out easily to a hiring manager! To do that show them your responsible, organized and professional.
Keep the format the same all the way through!
Also, tenses.
So many people make this mistake. I mean I used to even make this error back when I first started writing. If it’s your past job remember to use past tense. Vice versa. If it’s your current job use present tense.
Don’t forget to spice it up!
Some of us get so bored writing our own resumes we never even notice when it starts looking like this:
In charge of this.
In charge of that.
In charge of all of this…
And this too.
Before you know it, you snoozing half way down the page.
So is the hiring manager..
That’s why we have ACTION WORDS
Action words take hold of attention, jump out at you on a page. It keeps things interesting instead of that repetition we just read.
Here’s a few examples:
Accounting Position
- Balanced
- Launched
- Secured
Leadership Position
- Manage
- Supervise
- Approve
Marketing
- Generated
- Researched
- Developed
Overall
You need to really prove your worth it to the hiring manager and the experience could be the difference between getting the interview.
You need to prove that hiring you is worth it and you will be valuable to the company.
If you apply these tips, and I sure hope you do, then you will be on your way to the job of your dreams.