by Emily Barrale, Associate Director
Creating a resume can be an intimidating process. It’s hard to know how to highlight your skills and strengths in a way that makes you stand out. Your descriptions of your jobs/internships/extracurriculars experiences are the best way to show off what you would bring to a role.
Start by focusing on what you’ve done in each experience. What skills did you use? What were your accomplishments? What were the outcomes related to your work? Start your sentence with a strong action verb (created, managed, researched); we have a whole list of examples on our website. Next, try to add a little more detail about the scope of your role. Adding quantifiable details is a great way to provide context to your experience. For example: how many people attended that event? How many students did you teach or tutor? How much did that social media campaign increase engagement? Finally, always pay attention to the job description. One of the best ways to stand out as a candidate is to highlight the skills and qualifications they’re looking for on your resume through your experiences.
Here are a few examples of how to flesh-out details on your resume, to help illustrate why this is so effective:
Alpaca Groomer’s Club, Member
- Coordinated social events for the Alpaca Groomer’s Club.
Alpaca Groomer’s Club, Member
- Coordinated 4 events, each with 25+ attendees. Managed pre-event logistics, including securing venue, food, and alpaca-themed decorations. Maintained a fun experience for attendees while staying under budget.
The Teacup Factory, Waitstaff
- Waited tables/served food. Handled customer complaints.
The Teacup Factory, Waitstaff
- Managed the largest serving section while ensuring prompt and accurate food delivery. Received positive feedback for remaining calm and friendly while finding fast resolutions to challenging customer complaints.
Jester Inventory Co., Intern
- I processed inventory in Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word.
Jester Inventory Co., Intern
- Created an excel spreadsheet to streamline inventory calculations and tracking which were previously done manually, increasing productivity and cutting down on the number of errors made by 25%.
Showing your skills and strengths, rather than just telling them, will help you stand out as a candidate.
If you’re struggling with cover letters or resumes, or if you just want a second pair of eyes to look them over, you can submit them for review and we’ll be happy to help.