At the Fall Career Fair next week you are going to need a resume. You will probably find a company that will want to give YOU an internship or a job. The first thing they might ask you for is your resume. If you don’t have your resume updated, don’t panic. I have some tips on how you can show your already impressive accomplishments.
Your resume gives you 30 seconds to grab the reviewer’s attention and get into the yes pile. You might be thinking: “That sounds impossible!”
It’s not impossible. There are actually a few easy steps that you can take that will place your resume in the YES pile.
STEP 1: Create a list of all relevant coursework, projects, work/volunteer experiences, and organizations in which you have participated. All of these things add significant value to your resume.
STEP 2: Identify the important skills, achievements, and interests that you want to highlight on your resume.
STEP 3: Develop descriptive phrases for your experiences. Qualify and Quantify what you accomplished on a daily basis. Develop statements like these for your course projects also. Start these phrases with strong action verbs.
STEP 4: Put your resume into an organized format. Keep your formatting clear and consistent throughout the document. Your font can be between 10.5 and 12pt. and margins can be between .5 and 1 inch.
STEP 5: Upload your resume to UMBCworks for review. Then come to drop-in hours or schedule an appointment with your career adviser.
Here are some additional Do’s and Don’t’s of resume writing:
Do:
- Tailor your resume for each position you are applying for.
- Use specific words and phrases from the job description that you are applying for.
- List the most important and related experiences first and when items are dated list them in reverse chronological order.
- Expand on professional, volunteer, research, and classroom experiences to show your transferable skills.
Don’t:
- Use templates and tables
- Over-generalize your skill set
- Mislead employers about your skills, GPA, or abilities
- Utilize long or general objective statements
- Go over two pages (The second page will most likely not be read by the employer).
The resume is not the only thing employers at the Fall Career Fair will be looking for. Here are some tips for Job Fair Etiquette.
My last tip to prepare for this Career Fair is to start researching the employers who will be in attendance now. You can find the list at the bottom of the page HERE. Identify what skills you have that these companies need and make sure those skills are highlighted on your resume.
The Career Center has a lot more tips to resume writing. Check out the UMBC Career Guide for resume tips specific to UMBC students! If you are having trouble with starting your resume, have additional questions, or want to get your resume approved the Career Center has drop-in hours from 2 – 4pm Monday – Friday at the Career Center in Math/Psych 212, and 6 – 8pm Tuesday and Wednesday in the Library at the Writing Center.
