Author: Stefani Blazevic
After about six years in recruiting both on the agency and corporate side, I have seen my fair share of resumes and have spoken to thousands of candidates, which include students! The advice below is to serve as a guide as you prepare your resume.
Include: Your name (bolded and in bigger text if at all possible), location (if you wish), phone number, email (professional one please) and LinkedIn URL.
Do not include: Sex, marital status or age. This is irrelevant information and a recruiter does not need to know this.
Where “objective” used to go back in the day; which for some reason is still widely used. This is redundant as we know your objective is to get the job.
This can be a catchy few phrases which describe you, your experience, and ultimately what you are passionate about, bonus points for including an accomplishment or two. You can also create this using bullet points. Do not go beyond three to four sentences or alternatively four to five bullet points. It is a bonus if you include a point that shows what you can contribute to the organization if you are selected.
Let’s leave “action” for movie genre’s; please try and refrain from too many action words and adjectives that just take up space on your resume. You want your resume to be authentic. Include your accomplishments in your role and not verbatim duties listed on the original job posting.
Definitely should go on the upper half of your resume if you are a student or one to three years out of college or university. If you are ten years post graduation, this may not be the most important selling point on your resume and you may want to re-think placing it right after your professional experience.
Best to include shortly after your education listing off your most recent experience in chronological order. If you are a student and have completed a co-op placement or rotation of experience (pharmacy grads), I highly recommend to include all of this, as it is professional experience! A must is to include the month and year.
Side note: One of the reasons I was selected for my current role was due to the fact I included a small cupcake catering business I started in University part time, it showcased my entrepreneurial side. Definitely include any side hustles you may have. Hiring managers like to see passion!
In other words, things that make you stand out and most importantly show your passion (I think this is the second time I am mentioning passion, hint, hint)!
They are great although depending on the role you are applying for; you may not need to include them on your resume. If you are applying to twenty jobs per week, that means your previous Managers name and phone number is going out eighty times per month – not sure if your Manager would feel comfortable giving their contact details out that many times per month. Keep it short and sweet: “References upon request”.
During my time I have received resumes that were eight pages (much too lengthy) down to a few lines (much too short) maximum two pages You can play with margins; ensure you are leaving enough room so that it is eligible for printing.
I can’t stress how important this is. A minor error on your resume can send the message to the Hiring Manager that you are not “detail oriented” like you may have stated on your resume. Dates may be incorrect and ultimately they may not match up. You may be disqualifying yourself from the hiring process if you have mistakes on your resume. Ensure you are triple checking your resume and have a friend or family member review it for you too.
When saving your resume, please make sure you are saving it in a professional manner. The best is ”Your Name – Year” or “Your Name – Job Title”. Not something along the lines of “’Resume 000134789” or something completely irrelevant. What you decide to save your resume as; the recruiter will be reading once they open it.
If you are emailing your resume to a recruiter, ensure your email subject line is relevant – similar to the title of the resume that you just saved. Also ensure the email you’re using is professional as this will be used periodically if you are being sent details for an interview confirmation.
Side note: I think pink hair is fabulous!
I hope you have taken a few tips away from this post! It is definitely groundwork for a stellar resume, although it does not capture everything which you may include in a resume.
If you have any questions or comments, please post below!
