"Can you review my resume?"

Whether you have asked this question or have been on the receiving end of this question, what happens when you say yes?

Throughout college, I have personally asked this question to countless people and have had my fair share of people asking me this question. Amidst all of this, I have found a couple of integral components every resume should have. Here are some thoughts:

1. Action Verbs

There is usually an action verb preceding every bullet point on a resume. Since a recruiter only has between 20 - 30 seconds to review your resume, these action verbs need to stand out. From a recruiter's perspective, they see many action verbs over and over again. How do you make yourself different? One way would be to choose action verbs that stand out. Examples: "kick-start”, "spearhead”, "mastermind”, and the list goes on. Action verbs are an important part of a resume and need to coincide with the job you apply for to make your bullet points distinct.

Action verb resources: 1, 2

2. Audience

A resume needs to be catered to every specific job and company you apply to. Researching and understanding the position you are applying for and the company culture will help mold your resume to your target audience.

For example, if you are applying for accounting positions, the work experiences listed should be related to tax or audit with a skill set in excel. This is completely different compared to applying to a programmer position. If you’re applying to a programmer position, relevant work experience would be based around building websites or applications, with skill sets in different programming languages (i.e. Java, Python, HTML).

Knowing what company you are applying to and what they are looking for will help you write your resume to display the experiences you have and how they fit with the specific job/company.

3. Bullet Points

Although this point is often overlooked and debated, the bullet points for each section of your resume should be the same amount for each position you list. Example:

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Resume

Work Experience

Position 1

Verb

Verb

Position 2

Verb

Verb

Position 3

Verb

Verb

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This looks more aesthetically pleasing to people who review your resume and makes it easier for them to navigate. Since recruiters and professionals only have a short time, this can make a huge difference.

Another important aspect of bullet points is that they ideally are not more than 1 line. Again, keeping your bullet points crisp and clear gives the reader a better idea of you as a candidate.

4. QR Code

This is not a standard, but it is another method to make your resume distinct. A QR code is a bar code that can be easily created and connected to your LinkedIn profile or an online portfolio. This gives an edge to your resume, showing that you are technologically savvy. It also gives an opportunity to provide more information about yourself if you were not able to fit everything on your 1-page resume.

QR Code generators: 1, 2

5. Quantifiable and Measurable

Lastly, the most important standard of your resume is to make your content quantifiable and measurable. We are all guilty of providing "fluff" in our resumes, but it does not give the reader any of idea of what we have accomplished or know. An example from a resume I reviewed:

Before

"Provided excellent customer service to all clients, ensuring that all problems and requests were resolved with efficiency and favorable outcomes."

From this bullet point, I as a reader am not sure what customer service entailed, what kind of problems or requests were resolved, and how the efficiency or outcomes were measured. To improve this, it could be changed to:

After

"Provided personal interaction with 8 clients about 4 different professional and collegiate events, ensuring 4 projectors and 10 tables were delivered on time and functioning properly."

Keeping the points in your resume as quantifiable and measurable give the reader a better picture of your experiences and what you are capable of.

If you enjoyed this article, see below for the first part of the series and look out for future posts - thanks for reading!

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Series:

Part 1 - Summer

Part 3 - Career Fair