Resume Essentials: Gather the Data
By Tara Goodfellow, MBA
On a regular basis, clients tell me they wish they had kept track of their accomplishments along the way. This comes from CEO's, upper level sales managers, directors, and professionals spanning several industries. Things seem routine when you're doing them daily as part of your job. It's when you're looking for a new one that it becomes challenging to recall all the fantastic improvements you made for the company. So, start gathering the data and details now!
Keep education and employment related data in a format that's comfortable for you. It can be in a file folder, excel application, or on your phone. What exactly is meant by data?
· Education. You'll need your correct degree listed,
college name, town, and graduation date. That's
pretty basic, but you can also consider listing your
GPA (if it's strong, of course), major GPA, honors,
awards, recognitions, and activities which are
education related.
· Courses. Please don't list every course you've
taken since your first semester. Do keep a list of
major related course titles so you can highlight them
should a job requisition mention that skill/field of
study is required or strongly desired.
· Internships. You'll need the employer's name, city,
state, and dates (month/year to month/year). For
some, internships are required. For others, it's
optional and not always appealing since many are
unpaid. Consider it. It can strongly enhance your
experience section as an internship shows valuable
skills such as teamwork, responsibility, and hands on
field experience. It can be a struggle to gain
experience and often your competition has it. So, do
what it takes, ask for feedback, and a job
description.
· Part time employment. You'll need the company's
name, your official title, city, state, and dates of
employment. Students are sometimes advised to
leave off non-industry related work experience. I
agree with this statement only if you have a solid
amount of industry related work experience.
However, if you don't, list it. It shows many of
those transferrable skills that employers are looking
for. It absolutely requires strong time management
skills to juggle working part time and attending
college full time! Be sure to make note of any
promotions or additional responsibilities you earn
along the way.
· High School. Once you graduate college, remove
your high school information and related activities.
To present a resume while you're in college, say for
a part time job, some high school information is
okay. It should be impressive and relevant though.
Didn't realize you've accomplished so much, did you? Next month we'll detail a suggested format for your resume. However, you'll save yourself a lot of time by keeping track of related accomplishments during your college years instead of having to search for job descriptions, course titles, and dates once you're in need of a full time job as a college graduate.