Career Basics 101: The Resume for Interns

We all need one at one point or another. Your resume is your paper version of you, and sometimes it can be hard to format. Working with your resume piece by piece can help you to highlight your accomplishments to stand out for the pack.  It's the first meeting point a potential employer has of you, and we all know how first impressions are crucial. Like the pros say, “Mix it up as much as possible”. Standing out on paper is your first way to get your foot in the door, or advance yourself in your current position. 

How to Stand Out on Paper

So, how do you stand out? Well, it comes down to the industry and what they look for. You could have all the experience in the world, but a cookie cutter resume may not get you to the hiring manager because you copied and pasted into a template. Take a risk or two and see what it looks like. Sometimes a fresh layout can help you to stand out from the stacks of resumes hiring managers get.

When I was in undergrad I tailored my resume to fit the industry when I was searching for. When I was applying for an internship in PR, I would highlight my freelance writing experience and my blogs at the top of my resume. I showcased the work I had done at the top of my resume so they could look at that first, and see my writing qualifications. When I was applying for my first internship in Marketing I highlighted my classes, since I was new to the industry. Showing I was studying current marketing trends helped me to stand out to employers. I wanted to get hands on experience in the industry and learn more, that’s why I used my class work to get me in the door.

The Template

As for the template, there are thousands of different ways to format your resume. What is important to keep in mind is font, flow, and structure. Make sure you’re not using a font that’s hard to read, or one that’s so small you need a magnifying glass to see. Stick with the good ol’ faithful’s like Times New Roman, Garamond, or Arial for legibility. When it comes to flow of the resume use common sense. Does it make sense for a student to put their education at the bottom of their resume? Most likely not. Use your best judgement when creating a flow of your resume. Make sure it’s not choppy and double, triple, and quadruple check it’s in chronological order. Lastly the structure. It may seem that flow and structure are the same thing, but they do differ. Sometimes you may need to use a top and bottom boarder to separate your sections for structure. Make sure the arrangement as well isn’t too busy. Keep it organized with spacing and make sure it’s not too tight. Just because you have a whole page doesn’t mean you need to fill each and every inch.

Advice from Peers

Back in undergrad I asked a few friends what they though and about their experience with resume writing and I have a few tips to keep in mind for interns.

“Your GPA isn’t everything.”  -  Meaning it’s a number, it’s not you. It highlights your academic accomplishments, it is not your entire essence.

“When in doubt don’t include it.”   -  If a job, or volunteer position, or even an award doesn’t make sense on your resume don’t include it. You could be asked about it and it could end up hurting your resume.

“Don’t just brag. There is a difference between listing your accomplishments and bragging on paper.” - Just listing jobs upon jobs, and awards after awards isn’t the same as highlighting your experiences. Pick and choose wisely.

“Your resume should have a personality.”   -  Professionalism sometimes makes things seem boring, but it does’t need to be. Use standout buzz words and even pick up a thesaurus for synonyms of commonly used resume words.

As a student, you are experimenting with your job opportunities and your resume. Your peers can be a great second look for you if you need help. You never know, a second, or third set of eyes could help boost your resume.

Resume Tips from the Experts 

In undergrad I worked part-time at my school in our Center for Career Development, and I interviewed Christine Podber one of the career counselors about how college students should arrange their resumes. Here are some of her key takeaways:

"Tailor your resume" - Your resume is your first impression you get to make to the employer. Tailor your resume to standout with your skills to get their attention.

"Don't put anything on your resume you don't want to talk about" - Meaning if there is a position you had that wasn't the greatest experience, and you didn't do very well at it, don't include it. Anything and everything on your Resume is up for discussion.

"You need to know your resume in and out" - You need to know the details of every aspect of your resume. Anything is up for discussion like we said, you never want to be caught off guard and fumble when someone is asking you about a scholarship for example.

I hope that this was helpful to anyone struggling with the resume writing process. I know it took me a lot of tries to get my resume right, but once I did I saw the results right away in my internship search. Sometimes you have to take a risk in the template, structure, or even content to stand out, but once you do the results can be great!