Four Resume Tips for New College Graduates

By Kevin Donlin

President

Guaranteed Resumes

 

Around this time every year, most college grads start scratching their heads -- almost to the point of baldness -- wondering how in the world to write their first resume. Having struggled myself to write my first resume years ago, I understand your plight! To write a first resume that works, keep these four points in mind ...

1) Act like a professional

The competition for jobs is fierce right now, so you must present yourself in the best possible light.

“The biggest complaint employers make about resumes from new college grads is their use of cutesy or inappropriate email addresses, says Steven Rothberg, President of Minneapolis-based CollegeRecruiter.com ( http://www.CollegeRecruiter.com ), an employment site for job hunting college students and graduates and the employers who want to hire them. “For example, an email address like icarryagun@aol.com isn't going to help your job search. “A close second in terms of things that annoy employers is poorly written resumes, with spelling errors, grammatical errors, passive language and other easily correctable mistakes,” says Rothberg.

2) One page is a good length

You don't have to tell your life story in your first resume. Far from it. “Very few new college graduate resumes should be more than one page long,” says Rothberg. “Any work experience not related to the job you're applying for should be left off. Although it's great that you had a paper route from age 10 to 14, for example, that isn't relevant to an employer considering you for a civil engineering position,” says Rothberg.

Employers will be more interested in your academic credentials and experience you obtained while in school, so focus on that.

3) Stick to the truth

Avoid the temptation to sprinkle your resume with buzzwords and skills you don't actually have. “It annoys hiring managers when they call applicants for an interview, only to find they can't explain what's on their resume,” says Yvonne LaRose a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Certified Personnel Consultant. It's more than annoying to claim more knowledge on your resume than you actually have. It's flat out lying. And it will cost you dearly when an employer finds out -- and they always do.

4) Finding a job is a full-time job

Too many first-time job seekers believe employers will magically find them if they just post their resume to a few job sites. “Posting resumes to high-traffic job sites is just a starting point. New college grads need to use their career service offices. They need to network. In short, they need to regard the process of finding a job as a full-time job,” says Rothberg. This final tip is the most important and the one that takes the longest to learn, in my view. Whether you're a recent graduate or experienced professional, you should never sit back and wait for your next job to find you. Because you may be in for a very long wait.

Kevin Donlin owns and operates Guaranteed Resumes. Since 1995, he has provided resumes, cover letters and online job-search assistance to clients on five continents. He's been interviewed by WCCO and WLTE radio, and KMSP TV, among others. His articles have appeared in the National Business Employment Weekly, Home Office Computing magazine, Twin Cities Employment Weekly, the c|net online magazine and others.

 

To claim your FREE Job Search Kit, “Job Search Secrets Exposed!” (a $25.00 value), visit the Guaranteed Resumes Web site at http://www.gresumes.com .

The above is an excerpt from The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need: How to Find and Get the Job or Internship of Your Dreams, which is available for sale for $19.85 in our bookstore or $27.00 at Amazon.com but for free to those who subscriber to our free career newsletter. This hot new book contains job search secrets of the most experienced, most knowledgeable and most respected career experts. Learn career planning, job hunting tools and tactics, interviewing, cover letter and resume writing (lots of samples!), networking, and how to find an internship. Written by 149 career experts. To receive a free copy, subscribe to our free career newsletter.

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