penspaperandcoffee:

Resumes are possibly the hardest things you’ll ever write. Who knew one little page could be so problematic? Here are some of my tips on writing an effective resume: 

1. The purpose of a resume is to get you an interview NOT a job!
2. Formatting is HUGE! 
1. You will want to use 1-inch margins all around (if you have a lot to fit use 0.5 margins all around).
2. Do NOT use Microsoft word templates. Recruiters can spot these a mile away and most of them don’t scan well.
3. Use bullet points instead of long block paragraphs.
4. 12 pt Times New Roman is always a safe bet.
5. Centered at the top should be your name in all caps with your city, state, zipcode | phone number | email underneath (this is for U.S.). 
6. All your dates should be aligned to the right side of the document.
7. Your sections should be in bold and should be: education, related academic experience (if applicable), work experience, volunteer experience, acknowledgements, skills. You can rearrange these sections depending on which you think are stronger. 
3. Content is IMPORTANT 
1. Use parallelism in your bullets. For example they should all begin with action verbs (think: managed, conducted, analyzed, derived, and so on). 
2. Use similar wording to what they used in the job description. If in the job description they mention analytical skills 3 times your resume better say “developed analytical skills by…” somewhere.
3. A good way to structure your bullet points is to start with what you did, followed by how you did it and ending with why you did it.
4. If you don’t have much work experience you can totally use projects you have done in courses that directly relate to the job or internship you are applying to.
5. CUSTOMIZE YOUR RESUME TO EACH JOB YOU APPLY TO!! 
4. Printed Resumes
1. Use nicer quality paper (think slightly heavier paper or paper with a higher cotton percentage). 
2. Make sure the paper is not wrinkled or has any kind of damage to it. 
5. NO TYPOS
1. Recruiters receive many more resumes than they care to look at. Do NOT get tossed in the trash pile because of a simple typo. Read and reread your resume to make sure it is error free! 

If you want someone to give a quick once over to your resume feel free to send it my way!