Don’t be fooled by the traditional résumé; when you graduate from college, you shouldn’t have a conventional résumé. Foremost, you have to tailor your résumé to the specific job for which you are applying. It’s important to carefully examine the specific qualifications the employer is looking for and evaluate how you could meet those standards. However, that’s just the beginning—below are some helpful tips for ways to elevate your résumé:

• Don't write a chronological résumé when you've just graduated from college. List your education at the top of the résumé, followed by a section entitled, “Relevant Experience” that details the skills you’ll bring to the table.
  

• Find a job description for your ideal position by using job postings on popular Internet job boards and identify key tasks and terminology used within. Under the “Relevant Experience” section, use your experiences from life and college to mirror the job description and use the same terminology used within the job description. For example, if you're looking for a job in sales, and the job description requests experience with "cold calling," you should list the fundraising calls you made for your fraternity/sorority in college as, "Performed cold calls for fraternity/sorority fundraising efforts." Using the same terminology will tie your experience to the specific skills the employer is looking for in a candidate.
  

• List internships and job experience at the bottom of your résumé and specify if a position was summer employment. If you only held a position for a few months this could raise flags for a potential employer; however, you can allay their concerns if you offer clarification. Next to these entries on your résumé, you should provide a brief explanation in parentheses such as, “Summer/Part-time employment to finance education.”
  

• Highlight extra curricular activities and your role within the organizations to which you belonged. Showing employers that you are able to balance extracurricular activities with academics demonstrates time-management skills. Likewise, if you held leadership positions in any organizations, you should list those to exhibit your leadership abilities.
  

Last, but definitely not least, remember that your résumé is your first impression—spell check your cover letter and résumé thoroughly. Ask a career counselor at your school to go through your résumé to check for grammar and spelling errors. Once you have your base-model résumé complete, it will be easier to adapt the document for other positions in which you may be interested.

-- Heather Mayfield is vice president training and operations for Snelling Staffing Services. Snelling delivers temporary, career and professional staffing solutions to companies, with almost 200 offices throughout the U.S. For more information, visit www.snelling.com.