Recruiting Director Shares Resume tips Part II

Brad Karsh, founder and president of JobBound  has 14 “shocking resume confessions” that you need to know in order to get a better perspective of your resume.

“Confessions of a Recruiting Director: The Insider’s Guide to Landing your First Job” is a book chapter I am going to condense and recap for you so you can format your resume’s content in the most influential way possible. To get the first 7 resume tips from my first blog, connect to the link at the end of this post.

# 8. Your experience section should not just include internships and work.

Most students think if they don’t get paid to do it, that it can’t go in this section. But if it was a meaningful experience such as volunteering, extracurricular or student club leadership, include it. Some people will include these topics in a separate section such as “Extracurricular / other experience” but if your “experience” section doesn’t pertain to the job than it shouldn’t be above or separate from your separated section . It just doesn’t make sense.

You want to list anywhere from four to six experiences that could fall into any category of work: job, internship, volunteer or leadership. Include a few bullet points under each and avoid using “Assisted” or “responsible for” at the beginning of any bullet point. Be specific and use strong verbs like “managed, edited, created, planned, developed, etc.” Another side note is make sure your points are specific and include numbers and results.

#9. A little personality on your resume is a good thing.

If you include an interest section, note that adding a personal interest or hobby can spark conversation in an interview, but don’t overdue it. It should show that you are not only experienced in the field but also a well-rounded individual.

#10. Your resume needs to be different and distance based on education, activities, and the job you’re pursuing.

For some students their education is stellar, but for others it could be a great leadership position or undergraduate research. A well-written resume is worth the time and effort.

#11. 50 percent of resumes are bad or unreadable, and another 49 percent aren’t as good as they could be.

You wouldn’t take a final without studying, right? The same goes for apply for a job. Be prepared and make sure you’ve really perfected the art of selling yourself on paper. If you need help, try going to the career center at your school.  Half the resumes Karsh read are tossed into the trash in about five seconds. Don’t be one of them.

#12. Almost all students write job description resumes instead of accomplishment resumes.

Students simply describe what they did on their job, as opposed to telling the recruiting director what they actually accomplished. typically you should think about: What you specifically accomplished, what made your experience unique and what you and only you can put on the resume.

#13. If what’s written on your resume can also be written by another person with that job, then you haven’t done yourself justice.

When thinking about what to put under the descriptions, you want to focus on two key areas: scope and results.

Scope: How big was the project you worked on? How many  press releases did you write? How many people received the newsletter you edited? How many people attended the event you planned on campus?

Results: What publications picked up your press release? How many donations did you get from your newsletter? Was it the largest campus event in your organization’s history?

#14. Great resumes are infused with facts, figures, and numbers.

This plays off of number 13. It makes a world of a difference to the recruiter to know exactly what you did and exactly why you’re uniquely qualified for the job.

 

So there is the second half of the condensed knowledge of a recruiting director. To see the first seven tips jump over to the first blog.

 

7 Resume Tips from a Recruiting Director

Ever wonder what a recruiting director is thinking when they look at your resume?

This blog is a recap of a book chapter on college resumes by Brad Karsh, founder and president of JobBound. The chapter is “Confessions of a Recruiting Director: The Insider’s Guide to Landing your First Job.”

He has 14 “shocking resume confessions” that you need to know in order to get a better perspective of your resume.

#1 50 percent of resumes submitted for jobs are never read. By anyone. Ever.

The reason is simply because of time and money. Reading resumes is only a fraction of what recruiters do, and only takes up about 10 percent of their time.

 

#2 They only spend about 15 seconds looking at your resume

They are looking for someone who goes to a good school, has excellent grades, is involved in activities, has shown leadership and has relevant internships or jobs.

 

#3 There isn’t a single entry on your resume that will guarantee you a job or prevent you from getting one.

Recruiters are looking for “the package” and take a holistic view at your resume. Just because you had a good internship doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get an internship.

 

#4 No matter how strong the candidate, poorly written resumes get tossed in the trash.

There are four main sections on students resumes: Personal Info, Education, Experience, Activities/Interests. If you live on campus and you want to include both addresses, you can format that easily by left aligning one under your name and right aligning the other.

 

#5 Companies do not want to hire ‘studboy@yahoo.com’ or ‘babe-a-licious4@msn.com’

This one is pretty straight forward. Use a professional email with your name included. Also make sure your voice mail is professional as well. Everything is taken into account as a recruiter and this is a major turn off.

 

#6 Summaries, Profiles and objectives are just wasted space.

“They want to focus on what you’ve actually accomplished as opposed to reading why you think your great.” Usually objective statements are broad vague statements about why your a good candidate looking to “grow and develop with a dynamic company.” But those words mean nothing to a recruiter, they are desensitized to that considering they see the same generic sentences on many resumes.  Remember they’re only looking at your resume for 15 seconds and it should only have one page so why waste valuable space?

This section also talks about what to put in the education section. Karsh states that the following should be in this section: School name and location, graduation month and year, degree, major/minor/concentration, Deans list/academic honors, GPA Foreign Study.

He says there is no need to state other schools if you are a transfer; just the one you are getting your degree from. It’s optional for Juniors and below to also include their high school but not a necessity. As far as GPA if it’s 3.2 or above, include your GPA. If your Major GPA is better, than that one can be used in replace or along side your Overall. Finally, round your GPA, you don’t need to write is out to the ten thousandths place.

 

#7 What you think is relevant and what a recruiting director thinks is relevant are two different things.

Do not list the course work you’ve taken. If you are in the major, recruiters expect you to have a strong general knowledge of the subject. No need to include that you took Theory and Practice of Marketing. The only time to list relevant coursework is if your major doesn’t match up to the field you want to pursue.

 

For more tips on Resume building, visit How to Give your Resume a Facelift.

Preparations for Spain, un trabajo en progreso

I’m one step closer to my dream! Did you ever wonder what preparations go into studying abroad?

Now that I’ve been accepted into the program I must apply to the actual university and get into the school. I turned in my official transcripts and am in the works of completing the form to turn into the director of exchange programs so he can send them overseas.

I have two information sessions I will be attending in next month: Finance & Financial Aid and Health & Wellness. I’m sure both will be very informative and will answer many questions I will be able to relay to you readers.

The first week in April my registration date for summer and fall classes open up. This summer I will be taking Advanced Conversation, which is a class taught in Spanish to increase my fluidity in the language. Currently I’m in Spanish IV and have an A so I’m not too worried about the class. As for the fall courses I’m going to have to look through the catalog that Oviedo will offer. Once I find a course that I am interested in there, I have to find a class with a similar syllabus here at USF and get it approved by that specific department head. Once all my classes have been individually approved I have to get my academic adviser to sign off on my curriculum as a whole.

It’s a long process but well worth it. I will keep you updated on the process! I’m still in shock that I’m actually going to Spain, it hasn’t fully sinked in yet but I’m so excited for the journey!