Revision Resume recently attended a local college job fair, where we provided students with free at-a-glance resume critiques. In reviewing 25+ resumes over the 3-hour event, Carrie and Laura noticed a few trends, leading us to decide we should create a blog that educates all college students on 3 ways to improve their resumes.
Reword Your Objective on Your College Resume
In 2024, most job seekers do not include an objective on their resume, and our advice is to use an executive summary instead. However, college students are an exception to this rule.
Why?
Often, students are seeking an internship or co-op that must occur during a certain time period. Therefore, having an objective is acceptable so the available time frame can be specified.
However, we still suggest you be careful with how you word your objective. Companies are looking to hire someone that can help them. They are not actually hiring with the goal of helping you. They have a business need. So, word your objective statement to demonstrate what skills you will bring that aid them in achieving their goals. Let's look at two examples:
College Resume Objective 1:
Currently seeking a summer internship starting in May 2025 to grow skills in business analytics field. Looking for a deadline-driven environment requiring problem-solving skills.
College Resume Objective 2:
Business Analytics student with strong problem-solving and time management skills. Experienced in financial analysis and data evaluation, excelling in deadline-driven environments. Available to intern starting in May 2025.
Which objective is better suited to go at the top of your resume, and be the first thing the hiring manager sees? Will the person reading your resume be looking to help you or are they hiring because they need someone with your skills and qualifications?
We recommend wording your objective similar to the 2nd example. It provides a hook for the hiring manager, because they instantly see the candidate's strengths. Plus, at the end it clearly states the candidate's availability.
Keep Your Resume to 1 Page, BUT .....
Every resume we reviewed was 1 page in length. This is ideal for a current college student or recent grad, and is what hiring managers are expecting. However, many college students tried to fit too much content on that 1 page. They used very small font or had non-existent margins. Here are some general rules you should follow:
Use font that is 10-12 point. Don't go smaller just to fit more on the page.
Use bullets to make your resume easier to skim and read. You may be able to fit more content in using a paragraph format, but hiring managers have 100s of resumes to read, and they don't want to dig into paragraph after paragraph. We suggest keeping your bullets to 2 lines maximum.
Use a margin of 0.5 inches on all sides of the paper. You can use a bigger margin, if you prefer, but don't go smaller than 0.5 inches.
White space on a resume is beneficial. Please don't try to jam everything on 1 page by reducing the font size or margins too much! Make the document appealing and inviting to read.
Just can't fit everything you want to within those parameters? Here are 3 options if you can't fit everything on 1 page while following the above general rules:
Cut Some Resume Content
This is our top suggestion! Really consider if everything you have listed is relevant to the job you are seeking.
Do you need all of your class projects, or could you eliminate a couple?
What about your relevant classes list? Could you make it just 1 line instead of 2?
Pick and choose the most important things to keep on your resume, and delete anything that isn't directly related to the job you are seeking.
You may want to have multiple versions of your resume. For example, maybe a certain class project pertains to some of the jobs you apply to, but not others.
Review Your Overall Resume Formatting
You may be able to buy yourself some space by adjusting your overall formatting:
How many lines does your contact information take? Can it be condensed?
Are you using multiple lines for your job title, company name, and job dates? Could that be condensed into 1 line?
Do you have any lines that only have 1 word on them? For example do you bullets go one full line and then 1 word on the 2nd line? If so, see if you can condense the bullet so it is only 1 line and doesn't have a "widow" word.
Consider a 2-Page Resume
Although most students only need 1 page, you may be the exception. If you have lots of work experience or relevant projects, it may make sense to have a 2-page resume.
Be sure that if you decide to utilize a 2nd page, you use the entire page. Resume pages that don't go all the way to the bottom are not acceptable. Change the font and margins to ensure you fill the entire 2nd page.
Double-Check Your Overall Resume Formatting
Print your resume out and take an overall look. We found that some resumes, while well-written, were not formatting cleanly.
We suggest justifying your text so it aligns on both the left and right side of the pages.
Check that your bullets are consistent, even within different sections of your resume.
Do you have periods at the end of each bullet or not? We suggest choosing one method and then making sure you are consistent throughout the resume.
Use bolding for the different section titles, job titles, and work dates. Avoid bolding within bullets, as that can make the page appear too busy.
Verify your spacing and indentations are consistent.
Need Help?
Revision Resume is here to provide you the assistance you need. We want you to be confident when you submit your resume. Our service options include at-a-glance and thorough resume critiques. Email us at info@revisionresume.com to see how we can help you!
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