The Sage Corps HQ team has reviewed more than 10,000 resumes from program applicants and we’ve worked with dozens of alumni to polish their one-pagers. We see leadership experience that blows us away. We see really meaningful, transferable skills highlighted, but we also see the same issues – not-so-great kind of issues – over and over and over again
Top schools, impressive GPAs, relevant coursework —all good.
But more often than not, the issues come up in the Experience section. Don’t worry; these common blunders have easy fixes and MUST be fixed before sending your resume to another potential employer.
Problem #1: Verbs
Invited. Selected. Introduced. Accepted. Participated. Ok, fine, but definitely not “wow” worthy. It’s great to get invited to join, be selected out of many, be introduced to new concepts, or accepted into a competitive program. What is way more important is what you actually contributed. So, don’t ditch the list above – but make sure to follow up with much more meaningful, active verbs such as:
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Analyzed
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Pitched
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Achieved
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Exceeded
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Devised (a solution to…)
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Streamlined
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Implemented
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Designed
Problem #2: Metrics
There is no better way to show your value than to include key metrics on your resume. Don’t go crazy, but a few carefully placed pieces of data will make a huge difference. Some great examples, right from the resumes of our own Sage Corps alumni.
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Achieved 140% increase in web traffic by analyzing…
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Increased customer base by 500% by driving B2B and B2C sales…
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Managed a $45,000 budget over the course of the summer that included a variety of social and cultural events
Problem #3: You’re Thinking Like a Student
You’ll also want to be sure that your resume is polished to make your first impression to an employer the best it can be. This may mean proofreading it multiple times and having a parent or professor look it over as well. Edit out unnecessary details. The Interests section that LOTS of students include is usually fluff. INTERESTS: Reading, traveling, coding, eating burgers. Yes, we’ve seen it all. Unless you’ve authored a book or climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, don’t include. If one of your genuine interests is coding, there will be plenty of evidence on the rest of your resume. And, because this is the last section that an employer sees, it may leave a bland impression.
Now, it’s your turn. Try to incorporate these tips to improve your resume, then follow up with an advisor at your university’s career center. Even better, reach out to a professional in your chosen field for feedback —it would be a great opening line for a LinkedIn connection invitation.
Do you have any resume tips for fellow college students and recent graduates? Let us know in the comment section below!
