On the recent Possimpible Episode of How I Met Your Mother, there was great debate about what information is relevant on your resume. For example, two of the characters had things such as Slam Dunk King and Hot Dog Eating Contest Winner. And although I'm sure you travelers are not riding along your Freeway with such foolishness on your resumes it did raise two great questions.

What is relevant information on a resume? And if you don't have one how do you build one?

Students I say visit your career center. At FIDM they have a great resume packet that will walk you through building a resume with skill sets specifically for your major and area of the Industry.

Not a student? Well Microsoft Word has some great templates and there are so many sources on the Internet.

I am in no way the resume expert but here are 5 pointers that I do have and feel free to leave a DIVA Stamp for any tips that you may have to building a great resume.

Okay so 5 tips here we go:

1. Keep it only one(1) page- if you have additional information keep it on a separate sheet in the same format as your resume. Put a little *on the end of your resume stating "Additional experience, references (and/or portfolio/writing samples, etc.) available upon request." If they request it bring it with you
2. If you don't have work experience use school experience- I learned this from my career advisor. My classes at FIDM are very hands on so I put on there the things I am learning such as Pattern making, or Computerize Flat Sketching. In the place of work experience create a section that says Relevant Coursework and then list the things you are learning that are relevant to the position you are applying for.
   
3. Keywords are Key-Some employers search their databases by keywords so try to read the job description and use those same words while still remaining truthful. Some example words such as "motivated" "dedicated" "organized" "time-management"
   
4. Make it memorable at one glance--Let me let you in on a secret---I'm not visually creative. I have seen some resumes that break every rule that business school has ever taught me a resume should look like. Those are also the resumes that stick out in my mind and if I were hiring it would be the one that I would pick up and call. Keep it clean and classy, but at one glance is it memorable? This is how you can tell, put your view at like 25%-50% and if it doesn't catch your eye it wont catch an employers.
   
5. Text isn't just for your phone-Sometimes what looks cute on our computer doesn't always transfer over to other computers the same way. Especially if you are going from Mac to PC. Keep a "text only" format of your resume that doesn't have any of the special fonts, just the important information. This is good for company sites that require you to set up an account before you can apply to jobs for their company.
   

Well that's it. My 5 tips to building your resume. Watch the episode have a laugh and leave a Stamp or two. Have a great week travelers. Happy Travels!

One Step Forward, Just Glance Back. No Fear, Just DIVA!