Resume Writing

Students & Grads

Tips from the Pros

May

Student And Graduate Resume Writing

6 Things to Include on your Resume as a Current Student or Recent Gradratuate

One of the first steps in making the transition from student to job seeker is to create a professional resume. At first glance it may seem like you don’t have much to put on your resume as a student or recent grad, however if you assess your past experiences you’ll realize you have more relevant experience to highlight on your resume than you think. Employers look to your past performance to predict your success in the future. As a student or recent graduate, jobs aren’t the only way you can demonstrate your prior success. Remember that resume writing is all about highlighting your achievements. Don’t forget to include examples and evidence to further promote your value added skills to hiring managers.

Relevant Coursework:

As a student or recent graduate, employers realize that so far most of your life has been spent in the classroom, learning and studying. It’s beneficial to highlight coursework that is related to the field you’re applying for. This can show employers that you’ve learned relevant material from your studies and that you have thorough knowledge that can be an asset to their company.

Internships:

Of course you’ll want to include any and all student internships you’ve had in the past. It’s always better if you’ve participated in an internship related to the jobs you’re applying for; however having any type of internship can show a level of maturity and responsibility. It also shows that you’ve been exposed to a real working environment and are better prepared to enter the workforce.

Part-time/ Summer Jobs:

Don’t belittle your part-time or seasonal work experience. A job in retail or summer camp may not seem relevant to the field you’re going into, however you learn a great deal of foundational skills by having a part-time job that prepares you for having a full-time position. Employers like to see that you’re mature enough to hold a job and learn some basic skills and work ethic.

Volunteer Work:

Volunteering can also provide valuable skills and promote leadership and cooperation. It’s good to include any volunteering you’ve been part of in the past, as it can also demonstrate maturity, responsibility, team work and cooperation.

Extra-curricular Activities:

Feel free to list relevant extra-curricular activities on your resume. Anything you do on your free time that shows commitment, leadership, team work, etc. You can demonstrate skills you’ve acquired through your extra-curricular activities. For example if you’ve played on a sports team while in school, this can show you’re a team player and able to successfully handle multiple tasks.

Memberships/ Affiliations:

Including relevant memberships and affiliations can help demonstrate your commitment to a particular field of study, issue, or show your success in a certain area if membership is merit-based.

© RedStarResume Publications – http://www.bestresponseresume.com

Amanda Ryan is a Program Development Associate & Senior Resume Writer at RedStarResume. Amanda is a highly skilled resume writing expert and career expert who also specialises in creating, writing and developing career content, working alongside student and graduate job seekers and developing career content for newsletters, partners and career websites.

Need the help of a professional resume writer with expert resume writing skills? Contact the team at RedStarResume!

Tags: career content, graduate resume, internship, professional resume, redstarresume, resume writer, resume writing, student internship, student internships, student resume

Apr

5 Typical Resume Writing Mistakes

By RedStarResume No comments yet

Resume trends and hiring manager’s preferences change quickly these days, so it’s important to keep up with current styles. These are some of the top 5 common resume writing mistakes job seekers make. If you find your resume is following into any of these categories try to change it up!

Resume isn’t reader friendly:

Hiring managers and recruitment agents are going through hundreds of applications for every one position. They don’t have the time or patience to try to decipher a resume that is cluttered, unorganized or difficult to read because of all the different styles and fonts going on. Make sure your resume is reader friendly—meaning it’s structured simply, includes clear headers and not too busy. Believe it or not, a simply typo or grammatical error can get your resume tossed in the trash so look over your resume several times and ask a friend to proofread it for any common mistakes you might have missed.

Not specific to the position you’re applying for:

Nowadays, one size does not fit all when it comes to your resume. Your resume should be modified slightly for each position you apply for, highlighting your most relevant experience related to the position you’re applying to.

Using online resume templates:

If you want a sure way to look like every other job seeker out there, use an online resume template. Online resume templates can be outdated, include complex or difficult to read organizational layout and cause you to lose authenticity.

Doesn’t focus on achievements:

It used to be okay for you to simply list the duties and responsibilities of your previous positions and that was enough to get you an interview. Unfortunately it’s not the case anymore. The competition for jobs is fierce. If you want to stand a chance at getting called in for an interview you need to focus on achievements you accomplished in your previous experience rather than simple responsibilities and activities. In addition, you should include key words from the job description to ensure that the terminology you use matches up with that of employers.

Limiting resume to one page:

I remember when I wrote my first resume, I was told that it should all fit onto one page. Well that trend has changed and it’s now okay to have a resume that’s a few pages long. Don’t go on for too long but it’s better to properly highlight all of your experiences than to condense everything into one page and miss out on including all of your achievements for each relevant position.

© RedStarResume Publications – http://www.bestresponseresume.com

Tags: Hiring managers, job seekers, recruitment agents, resume template, resume templatesResume Writing, Resume trends, resume writing, Resume Writing Mistakes

Mar

The Elevator Speech Marketing Tool

By RedStarResume No comments yet

When you’re on the search for a new job, it’s important to pull out all the stops. The competition for jobs is fierce; in order to stand out amongst the crowd you have to market yourself in the best way possible. For some of us, that doesn’t come as easily as others but creating an “Elevator Speech” concisely stating who you are and your most valuable assets can get you on the right track.

For those of you who haven’t heard of an Elevator Speech, it’s a speech designed to sell an organization or individual’s brand to someone in the amount of time it takes to ride in an elevator with a stranger from the top of the building to the bottom floor. It should be engaging, persuasive and brief so that you could theoretically tell it to anyone you meet for career networking, job fairs, during job interviews if asked to talk about yourself, or in everyday situations where you might meet someone and describe what you do in your professional life.

An Elevator Speech should be:

Brief: This is something short and to the point that you can easily remember. The short version need only be 15 to 30 seconds but you can also create a longer, more in-depth version between 1-2 minutes long.

Persuasive and enthusiastic: If you’re not excited about your “product”, which in this case is yourself, then why should anyone else be? Present yourself confidently and build up the accomplishments you’ve made.

Include:

Your name:

Your recent position or career field:

State your current position or professional title so people can understand what line of work you’re in. If you’re a student or recent grad it’s okay to use that as your position.

A few of your top skills and recent accomplishments:

This is where you really sell yourself. What makes you unique? What makes you an invaluable asset to any company or organization? Talk about what you see as your key skills in the workplace and some successful accomplishments you’ve achieved. You could include a promotion, recognition you received, a new program you implemented, sales goals you reached, and so on. It’s important to be honest about your accomplishments but don’t downplay your work either. Activities we take for granted in a job can usually be seen as valuable experience and achievements.

What you’re looking for:

If you are in the market for a new job or career change, think about how to mention what field or job positions you’re looking for and how you are hoping to apply your previous experiences and skills (your transferable skills) in a new job or industry.

Create a sample Elevator Speech and test it out on friends and family to get some feedback. Make sure your speech really is a self-promotion and convinces individuals and employers of your invaluable competences.

© RedStarResume Publications – http://www.bestresponseresume.com

Need the help of a professional resume writing service? Contact the team at RedStarResume!

Tags: elevator speech, job search, new job, resume writing, resume writing service

Mar

Evil Resume Templates

By RedStarResume No comments yet

I hate resume templates … and here’s why!

Do a simple search in Google for “Resume Templates” and you will soon find that there are literally thousands of templates that you can copy and use. There are even many companies that sell these exact resume templates online. As a resume writing specialist, and someone who has worked alongside multinational companies in relation to hiring and candidate selection, I can tell you that not only can I spot a resume template from a mile away, but more importantly it is the first impression I make about the job candidate based on their template.

In the current competitive job environment I can tell you that it takes a lot more than using a generic resume template found on Google. If you have found and downloaded the template imagine, how many people before you have used the exact same one? Anyone who tells you that a “one size fits all” resume will work for you is wrong and is doing you a massive disfavour.

How should I approach my resume writing?

As a job seeker, you need to promote the skills and achievements that make you unique. As each job seeker is different, there is no formula to follow that will be the same for every person. For example, an entry level candidate or recent graduate will structure their resume completely differently to a senior professional or executive. A graduate with limited work experience needs to highlight their education, university associations, memberships and internships. This type of information needs to appear on page 1 of the resume to capture the reader’s attention as soon as they open your resume. Although you may have worked in retail or hospitality throughout your degree this information while important, is secondary to your educational information.

An executive resume is completely the opposite. Your education is not as important as your work experience. Executive resume writing is highlighting not just your tangible skills but must include your non tangible skills, such as being a good leader and mentor. As past behaviour is the best indicator of how you will perform in the future, the front page of an executive resume needs to emphasise key achievements. When a hiring manager opens up an executive resume you want them to think “look at all the great accomplishments this person has achieved.”

Final thought:

Most people don’t realise that before a hiring manager has opened your resume it has already passed the first stage of the selection process by passing the “Recruiting Software” test. Due to the volume of resumes hiring managers and recruiters can receive; many organisations now use recruiting software to help eliminate and select first round candidates. The problem with software programs is that they often don’t read fancy resume templates. Graphics, tables, boxes, fancy font and colours can actually end up looking like one big mess to a computer program.

My advice is simple. Stay clear of resume templates. Most templates have been around for years and years and have been seen hundreds of times by hiring managers. If you want to stand out from the pack, you need to be unique and this all starts with your resume.

© RedStarResume Publications – http://www.bestresponseresume.com

Do you need help writing a resume?

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Specializing in over 35 Industries! – Turn your resume into an achievement based marketing documents in just 48-72 hours

Tags: executive resume, generic resume template, hiring manager, job environment, job seeker, resume template, Resume Templates, resume writing

Mar

Find A Job In Australia

By RedStarResume No comments yet

Are you currently seeking a job in Australia?

Australia is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and boasts a fantastic Skilled Migration Program:

Are you a highly skilled migrant or an international student looking to find employment opportunities in Australia? Or perhaps you’re an Australian job seeker trying to find a new job?

No matter who you are, if you require a job in Australia this EBook is for you!

The Ultimate Australian Job Search Handbook will give you all the tips that you require to find job success in Australia.

Every job market from around the world is unique, and the Australian job market is no different. In order to find a job in Australia you need to properly prepare yourself for the entire job process. This includes preparing an “Aussie” resume (that targets Australian hiring managers and recruitment agents), establishing your job searching strategies and acing the job interview. This EBook will also help you with every stage of the job interview process including preparing for common interview questions, how to answer those tough interview questions, preparing for phone interviews and even how to dress on the day of your big interview in order to create that first impression.

The purchase of the EBook is your first step to finding your dream job in Australia.

What you will find in this EBook:

Australian Resume Writing

The Australian Job Market

Job Search Tactics

Preparing To Find a Job In Australia

Types of Interview Questions

Job Interviewing Tips & Secrets

How To Answer Tough Job Interview Questions

Networking

Creating A LinkedIn Profile

Australian Recruitment Agents

Mar

What Skills Did I Learn In College

By RedStarResume No comments yet

Graduation loomed in the distance. While I was excited to put my studies behind and finally enter the real world, a kind of dread came over me when I looked at my classmates and realized the strong technical experience the engineers and IT students had. As a liberal arts major, most of my classes were based on reading, researching, analyzing and writing papers. What real skills did I have to convince employers to hire me? How would I portray these skills in my professional resume or cover letter?

As graduation gets closer, a lot of students (especially the liberal arts majors out there) start to feel intimidated and wonder what relevant skills they’ve actually gained from college. You may not realize it, but you’ve learned more skills through your college years than you realize. It’s important to recognize the skills you’ve developed through your college education and be able to communicate it to potential employers.

Let’s think about just some of the skills you’ve probably gained as a student that employers look for in job candidates. Think about the activities done for courses and translate them into skills you’ve acquired. Remember, these are skills on top of the technical skills and other knowledge you’ve gained through your studies. I’m sure you can think of numerous other examples:

Critical Thinking:

Critical thinking involves analyzing information, seeing the big picture and comprehending information. Students use critical thinking skills in many ways during their college years including humanities courses where you’re asked to analyze information or take a particular viewpoint on a topic or piece of work. You also use critical thinking skills in labs and other hands-on courses where you need to analyze the results of your findings.

Communication:

Effective communication skills mean you can write and speak clearly, communicating ideas and information. As a student, you’ve definitely used communication skills reading, speaking up in class lectures and writing papers and reports. Being an effective communicator is one of the essential skills employers seek in job candidates.

Team Player:

Most jobs require at least some collaboration with fellow employees, clients or stakeholders. It’s important to be able to work well with others to achieve a common goal. As a college student, you’ve likely worked with your fellow students on class projects, research assignments, labs, or in extracurricular clubs and sports teams.

Time management and Coordination:

As a student, you’ve likely juggled a lot of different classes and activities all at once during your college career. Maybe you even did it with a full or part-time job. If you’ve made it to graduation, you’ve definitely learned this skill—time management. Employers look for employees who can handle several tasks at once, are able to prioritize their time and get everything done on time.

© RedStarResume Publications – http://www.bestresponseresume.com

Need the help of a professional resume writer with expert resume writing skills? Contact the team at RedStarResume!

Tags: Critical Thinking, expert resume, expert resume writing, expert resume writing skills, redstarresume, resume writer, resume writing, resume writing skills, writing skills

Feb

Student And Graduate Resume Writing

By RedStarResume No comments yet

6 Things to Include on your Resume as a Current Student or Recent Gradratuate

Relevant Coursework:

Internships:

Part-time/ Summer Jobs:

Volunteer Work:

Extra-curricular Activities:

Memberships/ Affiliations:

Including relevant memberships and affiliations can help demonstrate your commitment to a particular field of study, issue, or show your success in a certain area if membership is merit-based.

Need the help of a professional resume writer with expert resume writing skills? Contact the team at RedStarResume!

Tags: career content, graduate resume, internship, professional resume, redstarresume, resume writer, resume writing, student internship, student internships, student resume

Feb

Why Student Internships Are So Important

By RedStarResume No comments yet

Internships can be extremely valuable in gaining experience and getting your foot in the door in a particular industry or company. Whether you engage in an internship while still in school or directly after graduating, internships can help kick-start your career!

Why are internships so important? You might ask.

It’s hard to get the experience you need to make yourself marketable for full-time positions while you’re still in school and haven’t had the opportunity to work in the field. While many internships don’t pay (although you can find some that do), the experience you’ll gain is usually worth it in the long-run. I’ve had several friends who landed important internships during the summer while in school and were able to secure a job with the same company immediately after graduation. For some companies and fields, internships are crucial and companies may take on significant numbers of interns to evaluate their performance and decided whether or not they will hire on candidates once they graduate.

Companies typically prefer to hire internally, and this often includes volunteers and interns. It’s much easier to consider someone for an open position who has already demonstrated their work quality and knows the organization’s structure and culture. Interning with a company or organization you’re interested in working for can help you to get your foot in the door and dramatically increase your opportunities for future positions with them.

Even if you don’t land a position at the company you intern with, your internship can still provide the exposure to the industry that employers like to see when hiring on candidates. It helps employers to train new hires if an employee has at least had some exposure to the types of activities, terms and work that is done in the field. Internships can serve as the stepping stone into full-time positions.

While interning can help you get experience to land a job, it can also help you to determine whether you actually WANT to work in the field. Interning at a company can give you insight to see if you actually like the type of work they do and decide whether you can see yourself pursuing a career in the industry. When you see the daily tasks and responsibilities employees have, it can help to clarify the types of positions that interest you, as well as to see what size of company best suites you. These can all be valuable things to learn before you apply for full-time positions so that you have some idea of what you’re getting into.

Bottom line: find an internship! It will look great on your resume and open doors for you.

Do you have a career related question or require resume writing services? You can contact Amanda directly via the RedStarResume website!

Tags: resume writing, resume writing services, student internship, writing services

Jan

The Ultimate Student and Graduate Job Handbook

By RedStarResume No comments yet

Everything You Need To Transition From College Graduate To Job Seeker:

The Ultimate Student & Graduate Job Handbook is designed for the current college student or recent graduate about to enter the workforce. We understand how daunting this time can be and the pressure associated with finding the right job. Competition for graduate employment is getting tougher each year and the application process is making it harder for a college graduate to get a foot in the door. In fact, major studies from the US, Australia and the UK suggest that graduates now face extremely tougher job markets and economic forecasts than graduates from the previous decade.

The aim of this EBook is to help you with the transitional period from college student to job seeker. We look at the many major issues that college students will go through, and we seek to provide answers based on our experiences. In this EBook you will find information on job searching tips, resume writing advice, using college resources to your advantage, the power of networking and using social media to your advantage.

Once college is finished, real life begins – make sure that you are one step ahead of your competition!

What you will find in this EBook:

Interview Tips, Finding The Right Job, Networking, How Important Are Internships?, Higher Education Vs Job Seeking, Using College Resources, Managing Your Career, Making A Great First Impressions, Resume Writing, Creating A LinkedIn Profile, Cover Letters

Tags: Cover Letters, Creating A LinkedIn Profile, Finding The Right Job, Higher Education Vs Job Seeking, How Important Are Internships?, interview tips, Making A Great First Impressions, Managing Your Career, networking, resume writing, Using College Resources

Dec

Google Can Be Your Best Friend Or Your Worst Enemy When It Comes To Job Searching

By RedStarResume No comments yet

I recently “googled” my name and found an assortment of results come up that I didn’t even realize were out there and visible to the public. Social media sites, registries I created, and websites that I’ve registered on and long forgotten about. When it comes to job searching, employers are now able to see more about our personal lives than ever before through the internet. This can either help or hurt us when it comes to applying for jobs.

It is said that an estimated 2 out of 5 companies search the online profiles of job candidates. As we use more and more social media sites and more tasks are accomplished online, this number is expected to grow. It’s important that we be aware of the fact that our co-workers, bosses and hiring managers are able to see certain things about us that we might not even realize. To be prepared, you should do a little research on your online profile and see which websites, profiles and forums of yours are visible to the public.

You should make sure that the online profile you portray to the public matches the image you want to present to potential employers, co-workers and supervisors. There are a couple of things you can do to help create the image you want to portray through your online profile. To start, you can review your privacy settings on social media sites and limit the types of information that is visible to the public or to members of the site you’re not connected to. Many sites now allow you to customize the people that can see your posts; however some online forums and web reviews are visible to the public so you should be aware of the things you write about that everyone can see.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy social media sites to share pictures and stay connected to family and friends, but be conscious of what you’re putting out there. It is becoming more and more common for individuals to create a personal profile as well as a professional one to categorize what types of information are shared with whom. Creating a separate professional account to social media sites, such as Facebook for example, can be a good idea and a way for you to maintain a professional image while also being able to use these sites for personal enjoyment. It will allow you to share things with family and friends without worrying about your boss seeing it on Monday or a hiring manager getting the wrong impression of you because he doesn’t know about your sarcastic sense of humor or an inside joke you have going with your friends.

On the other hand, your online profile can enhance your chances at a job if it demonstrates the skills and experiences you have that are related to the jobs you’re applying for. For example, if you’re applying for a position as a web developer and your blog page is innovative and dynamic, this may show employers that you have what it takes. In any case, you should make your online profile what you want it to be and not what happens to pop up about you.

Stand Out From The Crowd With A Brand New Professional Resume, Cover Letter and LinkedIn Profile From RedStarResume:

Specializing In Over 35 Industries! – Turn your resume into an achievement based marketing documents in just 48-72 hours

Find A Recruiter: Speak to the experts at RedStarResume and find out how we can put you in touch with a specialist Recruitment Agent

Tags: cover letter, employers, hiring manager, job candidates, job searching, LinkedIn profile, online profile, personal profile, resume writing

Resume Writing

Students & Grads

Tips from the Pros

Student And Graduate Resume Writing

5 Typical Resume Writing Mistakes

The Elevator Speech Marketing Tool

Evil Resume Templates

Find A Job In Australia

What Skills Did I Learn In College

Student And Graduate Resume Writing

Why Student Internships Are So Important

The Ultimate Student and Graduate Job Handbook

Google Can Be Your Best Friend Or Your Worst Enemy When It Comes To Job Searching

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