Corona Smith
Whether you’re looking for your first internship or applying to postgraduate jobs, resumes are a vital part of the job search. They ensure that your skills and experiences are visible to recruiters, allowing you to showcase why you would be the perfect fit for a certain role. Here are some universal resume tips that can help you make sure that you stand out as an applicant.
1. Templates
Using templates can help you structure your resume effectively. This ensures that recruiters and computer programs can easily identify all of your skills and qualifications. Canva is my personal favorite, but you can also find useful ones at the UCLA Career Center or resume templates provided by professional organizations/clubs on campus. I recommend looking through the list of templates until you find a clean, organized one that seems like it would be a good fit for the number of skills and experiences that you want to note.
2. Prioritize Hard Skills
While soft skills are obviously essential, it is best to emphasize your relevant hard skills that resonate with the job requirements. Ensuring that your technical expertise matches what they are looking for on the job description will make you a much stronger candidate.
3. Tailor Your Experiences
Avoid the temptation to include every experience on your resume. Instead, focus on the experiences that are most applicable to the type of roles that you are currently applying to. I recommend having a master document with every experience and skill that you could possibly list, then pulling relevant roles out after you have read the job description.
4. Create Concise Bullet Points
Recruiters often skim resumes, so make sure that the bullet points describing your skills are clear, readable and concise. Start each bullet point with a strong action verb, incorporate relevant skills from the job description, and frame your achievements rather than just listing duties. Remember to quantify your accomplishments for impact/growth metrics e.g. percentages, etc. for greater impact on the recruiter! It can also be important to showcase how the company benefited from your contributions. I recommend 3 bullet points for each experience so that some experiences don’t feel over-emphasized while others seem neglected.
5. Use Powerful Words
Enhance the impact of your skill description by incorporating powerful action verbs. Here are two resources listing words that might be helpful during the resume-writing process.
6. Leverage V-Mock for Optimization
Take advantage of tools like V-Mock to optimize your resume. This platform provides feedback on your resume, helping you refine parts that could be more effective. For example, V-Mock can identify skill gaps, content suggestions, and rate the readability of your resume.
Using these tips can help ensure that your resume paints you in the best possible light. However, it's also important to remember that the best way to succeed in writing is to edit! Create multiple iterations and see which works best. We wish you the best of luck in your career search and hope these tips gave you all some useful ideas to implement into your own resume!
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