5 Mistakes Students Make When Creating a Resume

By Kayleigh Del Moral

I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but eventually the wonderful life of a college student must come to an end. As a Graduate Assistant at the Career Services Center at my university, I have looked over hundreds of resumes. So whether you’re applying for your next part time job or preparing yourself for “the real world,” (dun dun dun) take a look at the 5 most common mistakes that I see students making on their resumes.

1. 1-2 Pages means ONE page for YOU. As a traditional student you will likely only have minimal experience in the field you are applying for. Don’t go on and on about your 20+ different part-time jobs. A resume by no means needs to include EVERYTHING you’ve ever participated in, just the things relevant to the job you are applying for. If an employer has a lot of applicant’s chances are slim that they will even flip to a second page. Fit it all on one, I swear it can be done. Play with the margins, delete unnecessary white space, and/ or format your resume into columns so that the entire page gets used.
2. Transferable skills people!! Maybe the fast food industry is your only job experience. That may not be directly related to your career aspirations but I bet you can find some transferable skills that are. Highlight on things like communication, working as a team, acting as a leader, organization, ect. ect. Don’t just tell the employer that you took people’s food orders; spice it up some more!
3. Prove your skills rather than listing your skills. I often see lists of skills that people say they have on resumes. Sure anyone can say they have those skills, but don’t you think it is more believable when you can prove it? Instead of listing out skills, incorporate those skills in your experience descriptions.
4. Have others look over it! Just because you’ve read your resume 100 times doesn’t mean you’re not overlooking a mistake. Take advantage of your school’s career services center, ask your parents to look over it, your friends, roommates, maybe even someone you know that has experience hiring new employees. Most likely everyone will have a different opinion about formatting, but from there you can decide how you want your resume to look.
5. A resume should change EVERY time you apply for a new job. If you want to have the best chance at getting the job, there is no such thing as a generic resume. At the very least your objective statement should change to specify the name of the company and the title of the positon you are seeking. Out of all your experiences pick the ones most relevant to the job you are applying for. I recommend having a resume with everything you have ever participated in, starting in college, saved on your computer. From there you can pick and choose what works best for each resume.

The one difficult thing about resumes is that there are few rules set in stone. Like I said earlier most people you show it to will have different opinions on different aspects of a resume. The most important thing to keep in mind is: Does your resume prove you are the best candidate? Good luck with any future job searching endeavors.

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