Job opportunities and internships for college students will likely require the applicant to submit a resume to get a chance to work for the company.

The importance of building a resume correctly is paramount to being hired. According to a 2019 Business News Daily article titled “20 Resume Mistakes Keeping You From Getting a Job (and How to Fix Them),” mistakes on an applicant’s resume will, at the very least, give a bad impression to the employer, if not keeping someone from getting hired.

Kimberly Readlinger, a career counselor at the Office of Career Services, explained that some essentials to include on one’s resume are their contact information, work experience, education and organization membership.

“Don’t wait until you are a senior about to graduate and need a resume,” explained Readlinger. “Building your resume is an ongoing process as you are learning new knowledge and skills throughout your college career.”

Some mistakes students need to watch out for include grammatical errors and misspellings, as well as putting incorrect degree information.

“For example, Bachelor of Arts when it should be a Bachelor of Science,” shared Readlinger. “I always advise students to refer to their catalog or Southeastern’s website to ensure they are writing their degree correctly on their resume.”

For students looking to shorten their resume to one page, there are some methods to help before deleting information from the document.

“A few tips include changing your margins to 0.6 or 0.7 all around, changing your font to 10 or 11 point-font, and instead of your header going down your page, you can create it going across to save space,” shared Readlinger. “Also, don’t use templates as it can be very difficult to adjust your spacing.”

A section listing activities and honors on a resume can help employers understand what skill sets a student has gained through organizations, extracurricular activities and officer positions, according to Readlinger.

When building a resume, students need to put their most important and relevant titles, skills and achievements first.

“You don’t want the most important ones to get lost and not stand out among the others,” said Readlinger. “Always list your most important involvement first on your resume so that it is easier for an employer to notice.”

A cover letter should accompany a resume when applying for a company.

“One of the benefits of a cover letter is that it allows you to expand on information in your resume and how it specifically relates to the position for which you are applying,” shared Readlinger. “It also illustrates your written communication skills. Remember that a cover letter is a document tailored to a specific company or organization. You never want to send a generic cover letter.”

Students looking for further instruction on how to create a resume can look under the “Student & Alumni” tab on the career services page on the university website, and students can also reach out to career services if they need their resume professionally proofread.

“Your resume is the first impression you will make on an employer, so it is very important for you to develop a professional, error-free resume,” said Readlinger. “Career Services offers many online resources to assist you in composing a professional resume. We’re happy to help.”