Constructing a resume can be difficult. Well, scratch that, constructing a resume IS difficult. To articulate your accomplishments and professional identity in a way that is positive, clear, and concise is no small feat. The good news is there are people out there who can help you! Getting your resume reviewed by career advisors, industry professionals or even family and friends can really make a world of difference. Here a few ways that a resume review can help you.
1.) How Easy is it to Find Important Information? Is it easy to find your education section and what degrees you’ve earned (or are earning)? Is your Skills section buried at the bottom of your resume? It’s important to ensure that your resume is easy to scan, because employers likely won’t spend time reading every word. According to Dr. John Sullivan of ERE Recruiting, Recruiters will only look at a resume for an average of 5-7 seconds.
2.) Spelling, Grammar & Formatting: Avoiding spelling and grammatical errors in your resume is of tremendous importance since your resume is a professional document. As many times as you read through it, it can be easy to overlook small spelling and grammatical errors. New perspectives and fresh sets of eyes can help to identify errors you’ve simply missed. A resume review can also help with formatting. You might not realize that there are inconsistencies in your resume like different styles or alignments of bullet points or spacing issues between sections. Getting someone to review your resume can help identify issues like these.
3.) You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know: Did you know that you can put your LinkedIn URL on your resume? What about languages you speak or awards you’ve won? Often times you may not be aware of certain content that is appropriate to add to your resume and a review, especially by someone you know well, can help to identify those missing details.
4.) Affirmation and Positive Feedback: Sometimes it’s just good to be reminded that you’ve done a good job and that your professional and academic accomplishments are remarkable. Certainly, critical feedback is also important, but given the time and energy that’s often invested in writing a resume, it can be just as helpful to receive some well-deserved affirmation.
To have your resume reviewed by a Career Advisor here at DU you can make an appointment in Pioneer Careers. If searching for an internship, you may want to bring your resume to Internshipalooza on January 31st to have it reviewed by DU Career Staff, or you can bring it to the Driscoll Bridge on February 7th to get feedback from employers and industry professionals for Resume Review Days! For more information on both events and to register, see the Events section in Pioneer Careers. We hope to see you there!
