Resume Review Workshop offers valuable tips for Mercer students

Last Thursday, Bonnie Brucato of Career Services hosted a Resume Workshop, in the Connell Student Center, to show students the necessity of a proper resume for their success. The workshop lasted twenty minutes, but it made a huge impact on the students in attendance.
Each student received several examples of professional resumes, and Ms. Leige walked through each example and gave tips to make a resume just as qualified. Several students were under the impression that resumes were supposed to be extremely long and detailed, but they were quickly proven wrong. Students learned that all resumes should never be longer than one page, instead of using Times New Roman font, one should use Calibri font, and an objective is not necessary. Brucato even said, “I have turned in dozens of resumes, and I have never written an objective.”
When putting together the sections of a resume, one must remember to only include the things that relate to the interested field. The main sections may include: Contact, experience, education, and employment. Some subcategories one may want to include are leadership, volunteer activities, and training. Engineers should use a summary section to include all projects and special research. The only time it is appropriate to include an academic section is if it applies to the field or if you need to take up more space- basically it is not really necessary. If one chooses to include an academic section, only report the grade point average, if it is above a 3.2. If you are struggling to decide what should go on the one page reflection of yourself, keep in mind that the most prestigious of all achievements, on a resume, is an internship.
Even though most students do not begin to work on resumes until senior year, it is beneficial to start on them well in advance. There are many opportunities for students of all ages, and a good resume will help achieve those set goals. Freshman can include information from high school, but starting sophomore year, only university level achievements should be included. Mary Catherine West, an eager freshman, was in attendance. West was upset to find that she had to throw away all of her hard work from high school, but she was eager to attend this event. “I was shocked to find that resumes should only be a page; I always thought that the longer the resume, the better!” West discussed with Ms. Brucato, after the event.
Some of the other main tips included the use of references and templates. Never include the phrase “references upon request” on any part of your resume. Ms. Brucato stated, “that is the one thing that will get someone to dismiss your resume…if references are needed, the company will get them”. Templates are another off limit area when using resumes. Templates are often confusing, and each person needs to make their resume based on their own specialties. If you are specializing in an area, be sure to research specific job descriptions and use that companies wording to develop your resume.
Robbie Wilkins, a second year engineer student, commented, “having a bad resume is asking for trouble. Employers will see you as unprofessional.” With that statement, keep in mind that it is never too early to start preparing for your future. If you are interested in learning more about resume development or learning about how to develop yourself for your future career, stop by Career Services in the Connell Student Center, or look out for the many future events that will be hosted by Career Services.