When you think of a resume, what comes to mind? A neatly formatted list of your education, relevant work experience, and professional skills? Volunteering your time and effort in order to put a great experience on your resume? You banging your head on the table wondering why you ever started writing a resume in the first place? If you agree with the last statement, you are definitely not alone!
Most students are confused as to how much work experience, volunteer work, and leadership roles they should put on their resume. For physical and occupational therapy students like yourselves, the MOST important experiences to place on your resume are those from your clinicals and fieldwork. Follow these few tips to take your resume from decent to excellent:
Be specific
Provide a detailed description of the type of work you did. What setting were you in? If it was a hospital, how many beds were there? What specific skills did you obtain while you were there? These types of questions are what employers will be asking as they scan through your resume; if the information is already on there, they will be pleasantly surprised and won’t have to ask you. Take notes during your clinical experience and write down specific instances of when your client had a breakthrough, or you tried a new technique that you hadn’t tried before. You may think you’ll remember it all, but taking notes is a good way to be absolutely sure that you will.
Be honest
This is an obvious point, but be as straight-forward as possible when it comes to your resume. If an applicant is lying about something, there is a good chance that the employer will find out upon hiring. You are all awesome, smart, active individuals in graduate school–be honest and proud about your accomplishments and you’ll have nothing to worry about!
Page length
Page length is often a cause of debate among resume writers. The rule of thumb is that entry level applicants and those who have less professional experience should keep their resume to one page; however, candidates with more experience and a longer list of accomplishments can extend their resume into two pages. If you do write two pages, make sure that your resume is printed front-and-back rather than on two separate pages so you are sure that your resume does not get separated.
Do your research
If you’re applying for a specific job, research the company first! What are its values? What is the mission statement? You wouldn’t want to go into a test with no knowledge of the material, so do your homework on the company you are looking to work for. Are some of your experiences more applicable than others for the job? Use them! Not only will researching help with your resume, you will already have a solid idea about the company if you secure an interview. If you aren’t applying for a specific company, browse around on company websites that are of interest to you and check out what kind of experiences are valued.
Miscellaneous
Don’t include references on your resume. Those can be addressed during an interview. Print your resume on high-quality paper. We know you’re classy, make your resume feel that way too! PROOFREAD! Twenty times, if you need to!
If any of these resume tips helped, even just a little bit, then I have done my job. I wish you the best of luck in the rest of your professional endeavors and let’s make a pact to put the fun back into resume writing!
Chelsea Ermer is working as the Student Outreach intern for Aureus Medical Group. She is a senior at University of Nebraska-Lincoln pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Chelsea expects to graduate in May 2014.