I don’t know why new graduates are being given the following resume advice, but I am here to tell you: Don’t.Do.It.
-Put everything you’ve ever done in school on your resume including individual classes, every activity you have ever participated in, Professor recommendations. At the *top* of your resume, I want to know where you went to school, when you graduated, and what your major is. If you had an overall 3.5+ GPA and want to include it, fine. Other than that, I want to see PROFESSIONAL development. That includes internships, certifications, professional associations you have joined, and relevant volunteer experience. Give me details about your experience: what was the project you worked on? What were the results of your efforts (accomplishments)? Did you learn any industry/job specific tools (ie software pacakges)?
For the sake of little green frogs, PLEASE USE BULLET POINTS, not block paragraphs.
-I am looking for QUANTIFIABLE skills as they relate to how you would do a job. Quantifiable means there is some sort of statistical value to what you are telling me. How long, how much, how many, how often. If you aren’t sure how to quantify it, look at either the job description or the project overview and see if what you did mirrors what was scoped out in the job description.
-Unless you have a few years of *work experience* i.e. you went back to school or had 4 internships, your resume should be one page.
-Don’t overwhelm me with extra-cirricular activities. If you were in a club your freshman year and went to meetings once a month, I don’t care. I’m most interested in the last 1-2 years in activities that show either a focus on your professional industry of choice, leadership activities (and tell me what that entails), or discipline/competitiveness (sports, performance, associations).
-Avoid references to politics and religious activities. *If you went on a mission or other sabbatical, position it in terms of professional development such as an active membership drive for a global non-profit organization. Cold calling, lead generation, SME on the vision, goals, and social objectives of the organization. You can use statistics like "increased local chapter membership by 45% in 18 months."
-If you are going to use a summary statement, keep it *short*. You most likely don’t have enough experience to justify a paragraph. AVOID OBJECTIVES. They are limiting. I recently saw a resume of someone that had been out of school for less than 6 months, had NO work experience, and the objective? "A director level position inside of three years." (Good luck with that.) I represent a global company with 1000 employees. Not only do you not meet the minimum requirements, you are arrogant and have no clue how publicly traded companies *function*. Go try the startup world or better yet, start your own company. I’m looking for someone that is interested in the *opportunity*, content of the position, and is willing to learn as much as s/he can.
-Don’t list useless skills. "Excellent penmanship"? Really? Unless I’m hiring a calligrapher for wedding invitations, this is giving me the impression that you cannot think of anything worthwhile and relevant to put on your resume.
I don’t need or want your references unless I offer you a job. I don’t care that you are looking for a "progressive company that utilizes my organizational skills and offers the opportunity to learn and grow". (Of COURSE that is what you want.) Skip the trite, overused, cliche phrases that tell me nothing I don’t already know. Please. Just…don’t.