"If I look at another resume I am going to freak!"

It is no secret that unemployment is up and job openings are down. But, there are still job openings out there. Yes, there are still companies hiring! Although, for any one job opening a company has, I would guess that they get at least 100 applicants for the position.

Even if your resume is submitted online there is still some one who has to sort through the resumes to find the most suitable candidates. After a while the person reviewing resumes must be seeing double and wondering why everyone loves those resume templates on Word.

Although blood, sweat, and tears went into the multiple revisions of your resume, your resume might be viewed by someone who has already read 80 resumes that day. By then one resume is just blending into the next.

How does anyone get a job by just submitting a resume?
Especially when you have no control over the mood or energy level of the person reviewing resumes.

What can you do to get your resume to standout in the crowd?

Here are some true life examples from what I have seen. (These are just examples not ideas. I am in no way suggesting that these are things you should do.)

-Neon colored pink, green, or red paper

-Perfume sprayed paper (I loved the smell of the resume but the resume itself I didn’t care for)

-A before and after picture of yourself on your resume (submitted for a health related position)

-Resume made to look like a scrapbook

-Burned resume around the edges to give a treasure map or old scroll type of look

-Using landscape format

-Using an odd size of paper


If you are going into a creative field then maybe a resume with pictures drawn on it or the edges burned might go over well with the creative minds reviewing your resume. But, for the rest of us burned edges just look like a horrible accident your resume got into.


Again, how does anyone get a job by just submitting a resume?
In this job market the truth is a lot of people don’t.

What to do…

NETWORK!


In this job market I cannot say this word enough to job seekers.

NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK
(Along with submitting your resume)


If a bleary eyed hiring manager is sorting through a stack of 98 resumes and comes across a name they recognize they may think, “Oh yes, I remember this person from the Boise State Career Fair. I will set it aside and review it tomorrow when I am not as tired.”

You have just been saved from going to the round file sitting on the floor. Getting through the next review is up to the quality of your resume and the impression you left on the person when you met them.

Although not always given the opportunity to hand your resume to a person when applying for a job, just meeting someone from the company involved in the hiring process helps. Any face to face meeting and/or personal interaction is going to help regardless of whether or not you were able to hand them your resume. Name recognition is very powerful!

Never pass up an opportunity to attend a networking event either in the community or on-campus. Check with your department and the Career Center for any upcoming networking types of events.