3 Easy Ways to Build an Awesome Resume

Posted on Thursday, January 26th, 2017

It’s the season to start hunting for summer jobs, and that means it’s time to make your resume great. Even if you already have one, the new year is a great chance to update it and make it shine.

Your resume is the first time a potential employer will see your skills and experience, so it’s very important that it is the best that it can be. Here are three general tips to make your resume stand out in a crowd.

 

Use Keywords

You already know that every resume you submit needs to be tailored to the specific job you’re applying for (right?). You want to draw out the specific experiences and skills you have that apply to the position you want. This shows your potential employer that you’re keen and prepared to work the position they’re hiring for. But did you know that you should be working keywords into your resume, as well?

Employers sometimes get thousands of resumes for one position, and sifting through all those applications by hand is impossible. Often, they’ll run a keyword search to identify which applicants have the specific experience and skills they need. So how do you benefit from this?

Easy. When you find a job posting that interests you, take a few minutes to note what words the employer uses to identify the expectations, responsibilities, and role of the position.

Let’s take a look at the required skills listed on a sample posting for a banquet server:

  • Previous experience in formal banquet or catering environments
  • Strong communication skills are essential
  • Teamwork is essential
  • Food & beverage experience is an asset
  • Exceptional customer service

Now make a list of what keywords you can identify and use in your resume. It might look something like this: server, catering, banquet, communication, teamwork, food and beverage, customer service.

Now use those words in your resume if at all possible. This will help you stand out from the crowd.

 

Brand Your Experience

If you’re just starting out in the working world, there’s a good chance you don’t have much relevant experience in your field. Don’t panic! You have everything you need to make a strong resume.

Retail and Service Jobs

That job at Subway that you worked in high school? Your current part-time position at American Eagle? Believe it or not, you’re getting extremely valuable work experience from those kinds of positions. It’s all about how you brand it.

Let’s say you’ve worked at McDonald’s and you’re applying for a communications job. Think about the activities you did during your time at McDonald’s. You mopped the floor, completed cash transactions, and interacted with customers. Here’s how you can represent that time on your resume:

  • Noted and processed orders from customers
  • Resolved conflicts with customers and co-workers
  • Represented the company’s brand by providing consistent, positive customer service

See? Those are valuable communication experiences!

Guaranteed, some aspect of your retail and service jobs can be applied to a professional resume. It’s a matter of looking for keywords in the job posting, and figuring out how your previous experience matches those keywords.

 

Volunteer and Extracurricular

Did you play on any sport teams in high school? Do you volunteer with the Humane Society? These kinds of activities are great for your resume. They show a degree of initiative and trustworthiness that potential employers love to see.

First, make a list of all the activities you’ve done outside of school and work. What kinds of responsibilities did you have? What sort of events were you involved with? See if you can connect any of these with the skills and experience your potential employers are looking for.

(And check out our post on extracurriculars that look great on your resume!)

Make it Look Great

You’ve got a resume filled with keywords and great content, and your application has made it over the first hurdle to land on the employer’s desk. Now you have another hurdle to overcome: the average hiring manager looks at a resume for only six seconds before deciding whether to keep it. So how do you catch their eye long enough for them to choose yours?

You need to make it look great.

The first step is to read through for typos. Don’t rely on spellcheck. Read it aloud. Get a friend to read it. Proof it, and then proof it again. A typo or misspelled name will land your resume in the trash, no matter how great it is otherwise.

 

You also want to make sure your formatting is consistent and easy to read. Use bold and italics to mark different sections, but try to stay away from underlines (these usually mean it’s a URL, so only use it if you’re linking to your school program or something else relevant).

Check for style, too. Use a consistent and easy-to-read font in size 11 or 12. Don’t use punctuation at the end of bullet points. Spell out acronyms. Don’t use personal pronouns.

The style and visual appearance of your resume may be the key to catching your potential employer’s eye long enough to score an interview.

These three tips should take your resume to the next level and help you stand out to potential employers during your job hunt. Best of luck!

Still struggling to build your resume? If you’re an Algonquin co-op student, your co-op consultant is here to help. Schedule an appointment with them for one-on-one resume guidance!

For more information about co-op at Algonquin College, please visit our website at https://www.algonquincollege.com/coop/, connect with us at coop@algonquincollege.com or call us at 613-727-4723 Ext.7623


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