Resumes. While it can be daunting to attempt to fit all of your achievements quickly onto one page, it is an important first impression to a potential employer. This is a document that should be personally tailored to highlight your education, experiences, and skills. When creating your resume, it is important to note that it will be quickly scanned, not read. Studies have shown that between 10 and 20 seconds is the amount of time you have to convince a prospective employer to keep reading.

Want to make your resume stand out from the rest? Regardless if you are creating a resume from scratch or just updating your current one, make sure you know what you should do and what you should avoid.

Customize the resume and cover letter every time.

Highlight skills, achievements, and what you learned from your past experiences that will help you grow and fit into this new position. Use this space to discuss things that are relevant to every job you apply for.

Keep it to one page with a few exceptions.

Employers want to be able to quickly see all of your experiences and achievements in one glance. This is just as much an exercise on brevity for you. There are exceptions to the one-page rule, however. If you are applying for a teaching position, applying for a Ph.D. program, or have at least 10 years of full-time experience, all of these scenarios require resumes longer than one page.

Present a professional appearance.

Check for typos, and formatting errors, and only include professional contact information. Avoid emails such as Happy123Jack@email.com or SassyJill@email.edu. While these emails may have a level of sentiment to you, they lack professionalism in the eyes of an employer.

Include your education.

For employers, it’s important to include your educational pursuits with the official name of your degree and the full name of the college. Be sure to also note the dates between which you studied and include your GPA if it is over 3.0.

Lay out your skills.

Include both hard skills and soft skills. List the software, machinery, and technologies that you’re proficient in and are relevant to the job. Note your proficiency level and the length of time you have used each one.

Proofread, proofread, proofread.

Before you send in a resume, read through it with a fine tooth comb. Typos, formatting errors, or grammatical/punctuation mistakes show potential employers you do not have an eye for detail.

 

Want more in-depth information about the guidelines to crafting a resume? Visit the UGA Career Center website for a full list of resume guidelines.