Resume

Structure your entries like a first person statement but without the “I”, and make each bullet point descriptive and quantifiable. For example: “Designed 6 key advertising print visuals for anti-bullying campaign” Don’t use the same word everytime. Here are 185+ words to pick from.

Take a look at the job responsibilities and see which experiences you have fit the best. General resumes will have irrelevant information that could get yours thrown out if it doesn’t match enough key words and phrases from the job description.

You are not a helper. Even if you were an intern, you were still performing tasks, fulfilling specific goals. “Helped” is such a boring word and takes the power from you when describing actions you did. If you were directly helping someone then you can mention it, but try to use a word like “assist” instead.

You might have heard that you should hide keywords from the job on your page in white to be detected by scanners. That advice is outdated and can actually get your resume thrown out if caught.

We get it, you are very involved and experienced, but you don't want your resume to be too crowded that people don't want (or can’t!) read it. Pick the most important experiences that are relevant for the specific job to include.

Use keywords and phrasing directly from the job postings. Work with the content they give you and mold it around your own experience. If the posting says, “Responsibilities include managing social media accounts, editorial calendar and creating content.” And you’ve had similar roles, tailor it to your experience!

You don’t need an introduction at the top of the resume, it's outdated and takes up space. Any message you need to convey can be done in the cover letter.

You should only be putting “hard” skills that are tangible like software and languages. For example: Photoshop, Muckrack, Figma, Intermediate Spanish. Do not include soft skills like: leadership, teamwork, time management or organized. Using self appointed adjectives are very subjective and are just taking up space. You don’t need to include hard skills that are very bare minimum in 2022, like “Google Docs, Outlook, Slack, English”

They're cringy.

So you’re 5/5 at making Powerpoints and 4/5  at developing C++ code? Are those really comparable?  Instead, you can include terms like “proficient” or “beginner,” which can give a reader a clearer understanding of your level. Here are some more reasons to take rating charts off your resume.

It demonstrates that you can be concise, prioritize things, and have a sense of organization. Some employers may not read the second page.