4 Resume Writing Tips for Your Internship Hunt

4 Resume Writing Tips for Your Internship Hunt (Image via Pixabay.com) 1. Choose an appropriate format. When employers are viewing your resume, they want to see something that is well structured and well organized. Many employers, in fact, only spend a few seconds scanning everything on that piece of paper before deciding whether or not the candidate is worth their time. You don’t want poor formatting or organization to be the reason your resume doesn’t move on to the next round. With that being said, you will certainly be doing potential employers a favor by formatting your resume properly. Organize subheadings in an appropriate and logical manner. Of course, not every resume is organized in exactly the same way, so you have a bit of freedom here. You’ll just want to make sure that you arrange your subheadings (e.g. “education,” “work experience,” etc.) in a way that makes sense, according to what you’ve listed. You may also want to draw attention to the subheadings by putting them in bold so that it’s easy for employers to notice. Under each subheading, you can then list out in bullets the different points you wish to make. 2. Make the most of your limited space. As mentioned above, employers usually don’t spend a lot of time scrutinizing resumes, so it’s best to keep yours as succinct as possible. That means including things that are relevant to the internships for which you’re applying. For example, if you’re hunting for a business internship, you probably don’t need to include the fact that you won your middle school spelling bee. Make a list of all your important accomplishments, volunteer and work experience, and whatever else seems relevant. From that list, choose what is most applicable to the industry you’re looking into and arrange those items under the appropriate headings. According to acme.org, which offers some pretty helpful advice on how to craft an effective resume, identifying accomplishments and not just job descriptions is also important. Specifically, if you list past jobs as part of your work experience, you want to focus more on explaining what you did and what you learned, rather than on simply providing a description of your job position. The best way to do this is to first provide a brief job description, then list out your accomplishments and what you did or learned while on the job. Doing so will show potential employers that you got something out of your work experience, and that you have gained valuable transferable skills that will be useful in your future endeavors. 3. Gear the style of your resume writing towards the specific industry. To make the content of your writing more effective, you want to make it as applicable as possible to the industry you’re delving into. Thebalance.com suggests that writing a custom resume is well worth the effort, especially if you happen to be applying for a position that suits your qualifications and experience. By including more information in your resume that is relevant to the particular job you’re applying for, you can show employers that you’re dedicated and willing to put in a great deal of effort to land an interview. Certainly, writing a custom resume for a specific internship position will leave a much greater impression than submitting a generic resume. (Image via pixabay.com) 4. Proofread. While this is one of the last steps you take, you certainly don’t want to overlook it. Make sure to proofread your resume for any simple grammatical or spelling mistakes. Read it aloud to yourself, have others proofread it for you… Do whatever you can to ensure it’s in perfect condition, so that you can be confident about finally sending it out after all the hard work you’ve done.