What my resume needs before I graduate?

Question

I have been working since I was 16 (I'm 20 now) so I already have a resume. However, being the oldest child in my family, I am a little confused about what I should try and add to it before I graduate university to ensure that I have a good chance at getting a relatively good job.

I'm a liberal arts major, so this even even more important for me! So far I volunteer on a crisis hotline, have a summer internship, am studying abroad for a semester, have been a teaching assistant, and I am going to be a writing/statistics tutor. (My GPA is very good, too, in case you were wondering- I also go to a major state university). Any suggestions?

My GPA is 3.6 as an English major.

Answer 1

Besides setting all margins to 1", the most important criteria for setting up a professional resume besides relevant text, is "scanability." Here are some helpful tips:

1. Place just below your identification header [your hame, address, phone, email address] any Conditional Warning Statement such as "Confidential Resume,"Do Not Contact Current Employer," etc.
2. Always fill-in an Objectives category [just below the Conditional Warning Statement] and make sure that he Objective will contribute to the profitability of your future employer;
3. Select a mono-type font such as Helvetica, Arial, Courier or Times Roman; do not select any cursive handwriting styles which cannot scanned;
4. Keep font sizes within a range of 10 to 12 pts.;
5. Avoid styling text with a justified alignment, keep it flushed left;
6. Instead of using tabs to set up blocked text entries, generate a table and use the column and row settings accordingly;
7. Do not place an i.d. picture anywhere on the resume, this is a major taboo due to discrimination issues;
8. Do not place any graphic text [saved as .gifs] onto the resume since it may be overlooked during the scanning phase;
9. List at the very end of the resume your interests which should include travel experiences, language skills, social interactions such as golf, team sports, tennis, etc.

In conclusion, the above helpful hints were designed to allow ease of scanning of your resume into PDF which can then be text captured for seach purposes by your potential employer. Failure to conform the resume to appropriate fonts and styles as outlined above will result in rejection of the resume simply due to the inability of the scanning device to properly index relevant resume entries.

Good luck!

Answer 2

The most important feature that will be listed on your resume is your degree. So I would list that and the anticipate graduation date. You should list all relevant experiences that pertain to the job you are applying for. A good cover letter can detail experiences you have had and the resume should be used for actual working jobs.

Answer 3

[ Check www.hotjobs.com for format. ]
You sound like a good hire to me! What is your major?
What type of job are you looking for? What is your experience in this area?
Be sure to include all start/stop dates for education, jobs, and volunteer work. [ Keep a record, and a copy of all your resumes throughout your career - update yearly ].
Include that GPA [ what exactly is very good? ]