Five Resume Tips for College Students

Hey guys, Moeng UY here, President and co-founder of The Student Development Company. Every year we receive applications and resumes from hundreds of college students applying for our summer internship program.  Today, I’m going to share with you my top five resume tips to help you avoid some of the mistakes that we see.

All right, the first resume tip deals with the length of your resume.  It’s a common question – how long should my resume be? I’m here to tell you try to keep your resume to one page.  The person reading through the resumes isn’t going to want to take the time to look through multiple pages of your resume.  Make sure you keep your resume short and sweet, keep your resume to one page. The second tip deals with your contact information.  Make sure you clearly state your contact information at the top of your resume.  Make sure you have a mailing address, a current phone number (usually a cell phone number) as well as a current email address.  A common mistake that we see is putting both your permanent information where your parents live as well as your current information.  There’s no reason to put down your parents’ address or especially your parents’ phone number, it’s only going to cause confusion.  What I suggest is right at the center top of your resume; put all of your contact information.  You’ll be all set to go. The third tip deals with make sure you put everything in chronological order.  When describing your past work experiences, for example.  Start with your most recent or current job followed by your previous jobs in order of when you had them.  Also remember to use the correct tense.  Anytime you’re talking about something that you’ve done in the past you want to make sure you put everything in past tense.  When you’re discussing a work experience that you’re currently doing you want make sure you use the present tense. The fourth tip is to be specific.  Use numbers when appropriate.  For example, if last summer you had an internship with a marketing agency and one of your projects was to try to drive more traffic to one of the customer’s websites, talk about that.  Explain how you were able to do that.  Even give the numbers.  What percentages were you able to drive more traffic to their website? The fifth tip is to avoid what I like to call the no shit stuff.  For example, References available upon request. No shit! I know that if I want your references, you’re going to provide them for me or else you’re not going to be considered for the job.  So avoid little things like that that are really just used to take up space. If you’re honest and you follow these tips, you’re going to have no problem getting the attention of employers and getting the job that you want.  Again, my name is Moeng UY.  I wish you nothing but the best of luck! I’d love to hear any comments that you might have and I encourage you to check out our website www.angkorhr.blogspot.com for more useful tips and also to check out our information.  Thanks for taking the time, have a great day!