Resume Tips for a New College Grad

Colleges all across the country have these little tiny offices that claim to help create an award winning resume and land you that perfect job upon graduation. However, if your were like me weeks before I graduated, you were way to consumed with everything else going on in life to go to the career development office for resume tips. So you graduated and need a job, now what? Well first things first, you need a resume. The easiest and most efficient resume for a post-graduate college student with limited experience is a functional resume.

Functional resumes rely on strategically grouping key skills into different categories to demonstrate a candidate's qualifications and expertise for a particular job. This skills-based focus allows you to emphasize your strengths and soft-pedal a flawed or absent employment record (i.e. working part-time at the GAP, Burger King, and a bank all in two years).

Creating a functional resume is simple yet tends to be very time consuming. It is beneficial in the sense that it directs the reader to exactly what you want them to notice, your skills that qualify you for the job you are applying for and utilizes un-paid work experience to your advantage. This type of resume consists of four distinct parts: contact information, skills, education, and work experience. Listed below is how to create a resume that will stand out from the pack and get you that job you worked so hard in school for.

Step 1: Outline everything you've done in college. This includes all classes, all extracurricular activities, community service projects, and part-time jobs. Eliminate high school items because they serve no reference to your abilities in a self-motivated world.

Step 2: Group like tasks/ skills. This means if in your history class you routinely lead the class in discussions and was on the debate team, lump these skills all under communication skills.

Step 3: Determine what the job is looking for. Please, please, please do not create a resume for a job without knowing what job you are looking to apply for. Focus your resume to highlight the skills needed to be an outstanding candidate.

Step 4: Proofread, proofread, and then proofread more. I can't tell you how many resumes I've received that had simple misspelled words such as company's name. Treat your resume as a pre-interview. What boss wants to hire someone who doesn't take the time to proofread their own work?

Step 5: Send it off and wait for that interview. You've done all you can to create an award-winning resume.

Now remember, you have ten seconds. That's right, ten seconds is the amount of time your resume will be given to make a first impression so focus on a goal, identify your skills, and review your experiences.