How To Make A Resume Stand Out

In short, including keywords and buzzwords in your resume can be helpful, but only when you use them correctly. To do this, keep the following three tips in mind. A resume is a visual document. This means that using a layout that is organised, symmetrical, and allows “resting places” for the eyes with good use of white space, and is not overly text heavy or styled works best. Move beyond the duties. Most recruiters know the general duties related to careers within their specific fields. What really stands out is the impact you had and results you drove within your career. Almost every role has a measurement of success - customer satisfaction, time to complete a task, volume of activity completed, error rate or even internal performance measurement rankings. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, and sometimes a more creative approach, providing it stays within the boundaries of professionalism, could help you get noticed. In some industries like graphic design or film, a creative resume can give you a huge advantage over someone who goes the traditional route. So if you’re handy in the design department and have a great idea for a resume template that will really stand out, then by all means, go for it.

A good place to start would be writing a master list on a word document. It can be easy to initially get caught up in picking a template or CV layout. In fact, you will probably want to change the layout as you start filling in your information. Instead, note down all your experience, skills and education and make sure that you include dates and locations in each category. This is a long process but it will be very useful to have one document with all your information, which you can access at any time. I would also suggest that you update your master list regularly, ensuring that you constantly have a full record of your past work experience. With regard to personal information, make sure that you update any changes of address or phone number. How else will potential employers contact you, Generally in the UK and the US it is not common to include your nationality, gender or a photo of yourself on your resume, as this avoids any potential grounds for unjust discrimination.

Once you’ve drawn up a detailed list of your past experience, create a different document including the information related to the internship you are applying for. Your resume should only be 1-2 pages long, so you cannot mention all of your skills and past experience. If Steve Jobs could fit all of his experience onto only one page, I think that says it all. It will be tedious for employers to read through pages of your life, so only include what is relevant to your position. For example, if you are applying for a journalism internship, you can exclude a job as a sales assistant in favor of writing experience. However, it would be worth mentioning the sales assistant job if you are applying for a Marketing internship. Often people can get carried away when describing their roles in past positions. It is a good idea to include an overall description of tasks and assignments, but there is no need to list everything; you can always go into more detail in the interview. This is the same for skills and extra-curricular activities.

Ensure that you mention current hobbies and not something that you enjoyed 10 years ago. You may wish to include a brief ‘personal statement’ at the beginning of your resume or CV, outlining why you wish to intern abroad in your chosen field, and why you would be suited to the position. This should only be 3-4 lines long. It is important to remember that CVs or resumes are a formal piece of factual information. This is not the place to demonstrate your enthusiasm and opinions. You are simply listing details about yourself, and personality traits will come across in a cover letter or interview. CVs are used as the base for an interview, so you must never lie, as this will become very obvious later on. You can certainly embellish a previous role by adding your title and selecting the more interesting tasks you were assigned to do. However, if you feel that you need to lie then perhaps you are not applying for the right internship. When applying for an international internship, it’s important to mention languages in your set of skills.