About to Graduate? Revise Your Resume!

Washington, D.C. – Today, as college graduations near, jobipedia.org offers advice to students who have not yet secured a job: consider revising and better tailoring your résumé. 

Jobipedia.org Executive Director Michael Z. McGuiness said, “Jobipedia.org has been inundated with questions about résumés.  Résumés are an applicant’s first impression with most companies.  Having a polished, error-free résumé is critical for students entering the workforce.  And, tailoring a résumé for open positions might help it stand out.” 

Questions around résumés have dominated the over 580 questions posted on jobipedia.org, a free career advice website where hiring officials from America’s leading employers answer questions for students and first-time job seekers.  This indicates that students and jobseekers are unsure of how to best market their experiences during this critical period of job seeking prior to college graduation.  And, according to Accenture’s 2013 College Graduate Employment Survey, only a fraction – 16 percent – of graduating students had successfully secured employment at this time last year.

To help with job seeking graduates, here are the top résumé suggestions compiled by the answers of jobipedia.org experts:

• Write your résumé in reverse chronological order (most recent job on top);
• Organize each entry by job title and add three to four bullet points about the key tasks of the job and accomplishments;
• Start each bullet with action words (achieved, coordinated, led);
• Tailor the résumé for each job to highlight the qualifications you possess;
• Use a personal summary message with specifics about you and your abilities at the top of your résumé;
• Highlight other specific accomplishments and achievements in volunteer, campus or extracurricular activities;
• List work experience even if it does not relate to field of study or career choice; working to pay for tuition is impressive to recruiters;
• Make sure the format of the résumé is pleasing to the eye, professional and polished – grammatical errors, typos and inconsistencies in format are unacceptable mistakes; and
• Finally, have a few trusted people review and edit your résumé and be sure to take advantage of the resources of your college career center for added writing and editing assistance.

“For graduating students, finishing college without having a job lined up can be very frustrating.  By following the advice of the jobipedia.org experts, of putting the time into improving and tailoring a résumé, we hope that students will do better at securing their first job after college,” said McGuiness.

For additional advice on résumés or tips on interviews, cover letters, finding a job and more, visit www.jobipedia.org. 

About Jobipedia.org

With over 580 questions received and nearly 2,200 answers given, jobipedia.org brings together career service professionals and top tier recruiters to help first-time jobseekers and recent graduates get hired and succeed in the first steps of their professional careers. Jobipedia.org provides a free, secure website where candidates can ask questions and quickly receive the most honest, useful and timely information from hiring experts at some of America’s largest companies, all members of the HR Policy Association.

 About HR Policy Association

HR Policy Association is the lead organization representing chief human resource officers of major employers.  The Association consists of more than 360 of the largest corporations doing business in the United States and globally, and these employers are represented in the organization by their most senior human resource executive.  Collectively, their companies employ more than 11 million employees in the United States, nearly nine percent of the private sector workforce, and 20 million employees worldwide.  They have a combined market capitalization of more than $8 trillion.  These senior corporate officers participate in the Association because of their commitment to improving the direction of human resource policy. 

Their objective is to use the combined power of the membership to act as a positive influence to better public policy, the HR marketplace, and the human resource profession.  For more information visit www.hrpolicy.org.