Resumes that Land the Job

As graduation gets closer, the idea of a finding a j-o-b becomes more realistic each day. Some of you may be experiencing a flash of fear and excitement as you prepare for finding an ideal internship or job, which includes perfecting your resume. Each year, the Outside the Book team here at Eisbrenner Public Relations reviews a ton of resumes, and we’ve definitely seen our share of outstanding resumes, as well as some that are not quite up to par. While resume writing can be tricky, I’m here to offer a few tips and tricks to help you create a stellar resume that could land you an internship or job!

The first thing to remember is each resume should be tailored to the position you’re applying for. Employers want to see how your experience is relevant to the duties you’ll perform in that position and how you’ll benefit their company. At Eisbrenner PR, the first thing we look for on a resume is experience. I’d recommend listing your experiences first (i.e. above skills, volunteer work, etc.), and by experience, I mean internships or jobs you’ve had that would complement the work we do, not the waitressing job you had last summer. However, use your past waitressing or pizza delivery job as talking points during an interview to demonstrate that you gained skills that are relevant to the company you’re interviewing with. For example, you can mention you have great communications skills, excellent customer service experience, the ability to multi-task, etc. It’s also attractive to an employer when you provide metrics that demonstrate success during your past experiences, such as writing a press release and noting the amount of coverage that resulted from your efforts. We LOVE to see stuff like that!

After reviewing plenty of resumes, I’ve outlined below what Eisbrenner PR likes to see (or doesn’t like to see) on resumes:

One-pager: If you have enough experience to fill more than one page, do your best to remove past experiences that aren’t as relevant so you can keep the length to one page.

Use bullet points: Under each job listed, use bullets to quickly elaborate on the activities you performed and any achievements you made. Use key words, including “managed,” “lead,” “revamped,” “organized,” “increased,” etc.

Keep it professional: Please, please don’t include pictures and/or animations (i.e. swirls, fairies, glitter, etc.). Unless you’re applying for a graphic design/artistic position, it’s unnecessary to jazz up your resume.

Remove hobbies: Remove any hobbies unless you’re confident your personal hobbies will have a positive impact on the job you’re applying for. It’s great that you love to bake, but tell your friends, not future employers.

Tell us who you work(ed) with: Mentioning that you’ve had experience working directly with managers, CEOs and presidents illustrates that you’ve established trust with previous employers and demonstrates that you’re capable of handling challenging and important projects.

Highlight skills: Again, this depends on the position you’re applying for, but call attention to the skills you have that will directly benefit the work that you’d contribute.

Format: Pay close attention to formatting and consistency, and make sure spacing is accurate.

Proof read: After focusing hard on your resume for a few hours put it down and come back to it later when you have a fresh set of eyes. Then ask someone to have another set of eyes to make sure it’s error-free!

If you feel panicked – relax! Following basic resume guidelines is a great place to start. If you already have the experience, the hard part is over, now you just have to organize and highlight that experience using the tips above. Remember that taking the extra step to update your resume and make sure it looks as professional as possible might be the factor that gets you the job. When in doubt, ask for feedback. Our Outside the Book team would be happy to help guide you in the right direction.

Good luck!

Kara Yadach, assistant account executive