So you want a job? And you know exactly what position you want in the company of your dreams? How do you get a company to hire you instead of someone else?
That key that brings your name to the forefront can reside in one or two little sheets of paper, your resume.
The University of Memphis Career and Employment Services can help you write the resume that will get you to the top.
The first step to writing a good resume is brainstorming, according to Clay Woemmel, the assistant director of Career and Employment Services.
While brainstorming, a student lists what he or she has done that would be of interest to an employer. These things should include internships, related employment, any honors earned, leadership positions, skills, military service and volunteering.
“Employers always want to see what you’ve done,” Woemmel said. “Include anything that is relevant.”
The most relevant information needs to be placed on the top of the resume, and the entire resume needs to be limited to one page.
Contact information should be located on the top of the page and should include a full name and address, telephone number with area code and e-mail address.
“More and more, employers want to contact potential employees by email, so if a student has an e-mail address, it should definitely be included,” Woemmel said.
The objective should be next on the page. This should change for every resume, making it specific for the position and company, and it should be employer-focused. An objective should show a company what you have to offer them and you want it to catch their attention.
“The objective is the key thing,” Woemmel said. “This is the first thing and you want to make a strong first impression.”
Education comes next with the full name of your degree or potential degree and any concentrations coming first.
“It’s really important to check your transcript or TigerLan for the official name of your degree,” Woemmel said. “Everything needs to match if the company requests your transcripts.”
Include when you graduated or expect to graduate, the name of your school and its location. Also include GPA, relevant coursework and any other relevant skills you may have.
Experience is the next important area of information. Here, you should list your paid work experience and co-ops. List your job title, the name of the company, its location and the dates you were employed there.
Under this information, you should list the things that were done at this job. Bullet points are the most effective way of listing this information, according to Woemmel.
“Start with action verbs and show the company that you are an active person who will get things done,” he said. “Focus on leadership and responsibilities and show growth.”
For example, instead of listing “supervised employees,” you would list “supervised staff of ten.”
Experience should be listed in reverse chronological order, going back no more than ten years.
Other things that should be included in a resume are relevant professional memberships, activities, honors and licensure.
“I would say in this day and age that computer skills should be on every resume,” Woemmel said. “You would be hard pressed to find a job that doesn’t need them. Its something almost every employer looks for.”
Proof reading is important for every resume as well.
“Your resume makes the first impression,” Woemmel said. “These people haven’t met you, so your resume is how they get to know you. So always proof read. And then get someone else to proof read it also. There should be no errors.
“The way in which your resume is presented is equally important as what information you put in.”
Finally, anytime you send a resume, you should include a cover letter that makes the communication more personal. Address the letter to a specific person with their correct title.
“Your resume is much more likely to be read and taken care of if it is addressed to a specific person,” Woemmel said.
