Have you recently graduated college, or are you about to? Then it is likely that you don’t have a job lined up for you just yet. Larry Polhill understands like no other that it can be difficult to find a new job. The previous Director of the SEC (securities and exchange commission) struggled to find a new job, for instance. Someone who worked as president of investors for the APFC is not guaranteed to be able to obtain a similar position of senior management either. So if people with that much experience struggle, what are you to do fresh out of college? Polhill believes it is all down to writing a fantastic resume.
What Makes a Great Resume According to Larry Polhill?
Writing a great resume starts by writing something generic. Make a bulleted list of your education and classes you took, and any work you did with responsibilities. Speak about your skills set obtained with volunteer jobs, community activities, and at home work. This is just about drawing a picture of yourself. Next, you need to find jobs to apply for. Look at their essential and desirable requirements in the person specification and tick those off against your generic list. Use job boards and company websites to find the jobs that are right for you. Once you find a job to apply for, return to your generic resume and start to tweak it. Make sure that the skills you have listed in there that the employer is actually looking for, are highlighted and emphasized.
What employers tend to do, is have a tick box with their essential and desirable criteria. They take each resume and application they receive, and literally tick those things off. Only those with the most ticks (and ticks in all the essential criteria) will get a closer look. This is why it is so important to write a customized resume for each application. Remember that an employer wants someone who can get to work straight away, with as little training as possible. In other words, you have to demonstrate that you already have the skills they need.
However, it can be tempted to tell a few white lies on a resume that make it look as if you really match all the essential and desirable criteria. Because they are white lies, you may feel as if they are harmless. They are not. You will get found out, and word will get about. This means that the little white lie you told may just haunt you forever, stopping you from getting jobs that you are more than qualified for.
A final thing to remember is that you should never lose hope. As a student, you are likely saddled with a huge amount of student debt. You have spent four years studying, and you can’t find work to reflect that. However, a job will come along sooner or later. Be honest on your resume, be tenacious, and keep trying. It may take some time, but you will get there.
