Going to the Career Fair is only half of what you need to do to land a job or an internship. The other half is being prepared to impress your prospective employer, and that starts with having a clear, well-written, and well-ordered resume. To help students prepare their resumes for the Fair, the experts at BilWrite offer the following tips:
1. Emphasize positives and accomplishments, and do not draw attention to weaknesses.
2. Emphasize what you've done recently (not what you did in high school) and any skills that you think make you special or different from others who might be competing for the same type of position.
3. Make sure there is a clear focus toward the job or position you are seeking. Any reader should be able to tell what you are looking for and what you are qualified for.
4. Use a variety of "action vocabulary." Make every word count: avoid "did," "made," and "worked" and use more active and descriptive vocabulary like "performed," "created," and "coordinated."
5. Give extra attention to layout and visual presentation of information. Look at examples of resumes and experiment to find a style you're comfortable with. Be consistent with overall layout and use different font sizes and styles to highlight information.
6. Proofread very carefully - and have another trustworthy set of eyes read it too. Some employers will throw away a resume if they see one spelling error.
7. Come to BilWrite to get more help! One-on-one assistance is available by appointment this week by calling BilWrite at ext. 2652/3/4 or stopping by room B-01 in the A-Block of the Faculty of Science building.
