Stand Out From the Crowd

Your resume is often an employer's first impression of you. You want to showcase your education, skills, and experience in the best way possible! We have compiled tips and tricks from mentors across the country to give you the insider knowledge in order to make an impact. 

Nail the Basics

Don't forget the simple stuff! These basic formatting and grammatical tips create a foundation for you to showcase your accomplishments.

Formatting

Dos and Dont's from Harvard

Your resume should fit on one page. It should consist of three sections after your heading:

  • Education
  • Experience
  • Personal (or skills and achievements)

Font and margins should be consistent throughout.

Good font options:

  • Times New Roman
  • Arial
  • Cambria

(Marriott Business Career Center, 2015)

Dos

  • Make your resume easy to read and follow! Balance white space.
  • Use consistent spacing, underlining, italics, and Capitalization.
  • Avoid information gaps.
  • Ensure it will translate properly if converted to another format, i.e. pdf.

Dont's

  • Use personal pronouns such as 'I' or "We'.
  • List references.
  • Include your age or gender.
  • Include a photo of yourself.
  • Use abbreviations.
  • Downplay your accomplishments and skills!

(Harvard, 2024)

Spelling and Grammar

It is important to ensure there are no grammatical or spelling errors in a resume! Sometimes these small things can be overlooked, but a simple mistake can cost you an opportunity. Always run your resume through a spell-checking program before you submit.

Action Words

Action verbs can allow you to more aptly describe and showcase your achievements in previous roles and experiences! 

Leadership Action Words
  • Handled
  • Contracted
  • Spearheaded
  • Planned
  • Mastered
  • Evaluated

Communication Action Words
  • Addressed
  • Arbitrated
  • Corresponded
  • Moderated
  • Recruited
  • Verbalized

Research Action Words
  • Clarified
  • Collected
  • Surveyed
  • Identified
  • Summarized
  • Inspected
  • Extracted

Creative Action Words
  • Conceived
  • Introduced
  • Revised
  • Instituted
  • Revitalized
  • Conceptualized
  • Founded

(Harvard, 2024)

Be Yourself

  • Avoid 'stretching the truth' or adding untrue details- it is very easy for employers to fact-check!
  • In your 'about me' section, feel free to showcase some of your personality- just keep it professional.
  • If appropriate, provide samples of your work to give a taste of your capabilities!

Unsure how to stand out with no experience?

This video, made by Zach Star, is aimed specifically at college students who need help building an impressive resume with little or no job experience!

Need a visual aid? Here is a sample resume from Harvard University!

(Harvard, 2024)

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