New Graduate Resumes That Get Jobs

Entering the job market as a new graduate can be quite daunting…

But the right resume can make all the difference.

To stand out in the extremely competitive modern job market, you need more than just a document with your qualifications on it.

You need a document that captures attention, elicits curiosity, and piques the hungry interest of potential employers.

Skip the Overwhelm: Get the Right Template

Resume writing is an intricate process with endless rules. You need to proofread meticulously; one typo and your resume will be trashed. Miss just one of the rules, and it can cost you the job.

And there are many, MANY rules…

Should your name be 18 pt or 16 pt? (Answer: 18 pt) (Your name is the most important element of your resume and should start at 18 pt).

What about the font size of your headings? (Answer: 12 to 14 pt) (Headings should be 12 to 14 pt for clarity, with consistent font throughout).

What about the dates, where do you put them – left or right? (Answer: Right) (Dates on the left overemphasize the timeline; you want the job to take more attention, keep the date on the right source).

Each detail, from font size to alignment, from margin size, to the action words you pick; every aspect of the resume can and does impact how your resume is perceived, and getting any of them wrong could cause you to get tossed into the pile of trashed applicants.

And make no mistake: These are just a few of the hundreds of rules you need to follow. Mastering every aspect of resume writing isn’t just time consuming… It’s practically equivalent to earning a PhD on the subject.

Meaning… Learning all the details is a losing game for professionals. You have more important things to do.

Instead of trying to master every detail, focus on meeting the critical standards that employers expect. Then, once you’ve developed the ability to differentiate between a terrible resume and a passable one, the most effective strategy is to use a proven template and customize it to your experience.

We provide our students with a specific resume template derived from eye-tracking studies on recruiters, which we highly recommend. For those seeking a free option, Google Docs offers adequate templates to get started.

Now that you understand the “why” behind our approach… We won’t dive into every detail of resume visualization here. Instead, we’ll focus on the core elements that make a new graduate resume stand out.

But to get there, let’s first clear the air on what resumes are for…

A Resume Can Never Get You a Job

Before we dive into the specifics of resume writing, let’s get one thing straight: The purpose of a resume is NOT to get you a job. Its sole function is to get you an interview.

Trying to craft a resume that directly gets you a job is a fool’s errand. It’s akin to using a screwdriver to paint your walls or attempting to commute to work on a washing machine. The resume is just a tool – nothing more.

Use the right tool for the right job! Understand that your resume’s job is to get you through the door and into a conversation with a potential employer. For more on this concept, see The Real Purpose of a Resume.

Resumes Are Full of Lies

And while we’re on the subject, a word of caution…

The urge to misrepresent or lie on your resume can be tempting, especially when you’re just starting out. But we strongly advise against it.

Misleading or falsifying information not only jeopardizes your integrity but also your career prospects. Even if you don’t care about the moral part of the equation, you should care about the fact that any new graduate job you can get by lying on a resume is NOT worth risking your reputation.

In other words, all morality aside… The juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

Regardless of this fact, the prevalence of resume deceit is alarming. For instance, articles like 5 Executives Who Lied on Their Resume (and Got Caught) or 17 Successful Executives Who Have Lied on Their Résumés illustrate that everyone, including high-level professionals are not immune to the temptation. Fortunately, they get caught and punished.

How Exactly Do People Lie on Resumes?

A 2014 poll by CareerBuilder found that 58% of hiring managers caught applicants exaggerating or falsifying details about their roles, skills, or achievements. The extent of misleading information is staggering:

• 80% of resumes contain misleading information
• 20% present fraudulent degrees
• 30% include altered employment dates
• 40% feature inflated salary claims
• 30% provide inaccurate job descriptions
• 27% list falsified references

In the past, getting away with such deceptions was easier. Today, however, transparency is much higher, especially in academic and professional environments. For example, a study found that 78% of academic vitae contained unverifiable or inaccurate information, with 56% of these listing publications that were either unverifiable or misrepresented.

Why Are We Telling You About Lying on Resumes?

All this talk about lying on resumes is not to insinuate that you’re going to lie on your resume. Far from it.

It is merely meant to warn you that innocent mistakes on a resume can appear as if it were a lie and damage your reputation.

For instance, new graduates may mistakenly enter the wrong dates, or provide inaccurate job descriptions on their first resume – not realizing that this new resume opens them up to future liability.

Yes, even with a poorly written and inaccurate resume, could be considered misleading. Using such a resume, you may even be able to get that Entry Level Marketing Coordinator position. But a few years down the road, when you want to become the VP of Marketing, that poorly written and now flagged resume can haunt and disqualify you.

This is the most important point: As a new graduate, the resume you are writing is not just a resume for your next job. In our hyper-connected and forever tracked world, it happens to also be a resume for all of your future jobs.

Pick your words wisely…

(Pro tip: You may want to look into our work on “sanitizing your online presence” as well as ”professional privacy” to limit these kinds of liabilities.)

As a final point: We advise against lying not only because it’s ethically wrong but also because the techniques we teach render deceit completely unnecessary. Your focus should be on leveraging effective methods that do not pose a risk to your reputation such as The Language of Value – no embellishments required.

What Employers Say They Are Looking For

When it comes to evaluating resumes, employers often highlight specific attributes they want to see. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, nearly 90% of employers are looking for evidence of a candidate’s problem-solving abilities. Additionally, almost 80% seek candidates with strong teamwork skills.

Beyond these key attributes, at least two-thirds of employers report they are also looking for:

• A strong work ethic
• Written and verbal communication skills
• Analytical/quantitative skills
• Flexibility/adaptability
• Technical skills

Here’s the full list:

Internship experience is often considered a decisive factor when choosing between two equally qualified candidates. Incidentally, GPA, once a major screening tool, is now considered less critical. Down 35% from five years ago, only 38% of employers plan to use GPA as a selection factor.

(Pro Tip: Many hiring managers and HR professionals have poor GPAs themselves, which can lead to discomfort if they see a higher GPA on your resume. Conversely, displaying a low GPA does not bring you any benefit, but it can hurt you. For guidance on how to use your GPA to your advantage, consult Launch Your Career.)

What Employers Actually Respond To In Resumes

What employers say they want is one thing… What they respond to is something completely different.

When hiring managers review resumes, they use cognitive shortcuts – mental shortcuts that help them make quick decisions without deep analysis. This means they often rely on superficial cues and make snap judgements rather than digging into the details.

Cognitive Shortcut Example for Teamwork

For example, let’s say you’re trying to advertise you are good at “ability to work in a team”…

And let’s say you describe yourself as a “great team player.” Well done! You just got your resume trashed because you used a cliched buzzword that fails to convey any value.

Or let’s say, you know not to use cliches. So you claimed you are “excellent at teamwork”. But that doesn’t work either…

This is because, after stating “excellent at teamwork”, if you don’t provide specific examples of your collaborative achievements, your claim is just a meaningless platitude.

But here’s the catch: even if you do provide specific examples on your resume, hiring managers don’t have the time or inclination to read every detail carefully. They are processing resumes quickly, which means they often only scan for key phrases or patterns that stand out.

They are not reading. Not in the way you think of reading… Their brain is mostly turned off. Yours is one of the 700 resumes they will read that day. They won’t understand it or read between the lines…

Therefore, to be effective, you need to present your examples in a way that aligns with their cognitive shortcuts. This means using precise language formations that resonate with their unspoken expectations. This technique is known as the Language of Value. (Learn how to use this approach in Launch Your Career.)

While we can’t go into all the details here, when you use the Language of Value, you learn how to effectively and persuasively say “excellent at teamwork” by generating statements like: “Coordinated a cross-functional team to launch a global connectivity feature 2 weeks early, boosting customer engagement by 37% and sales by 24%.”

The key, or the nuance is: the specific words you pick, the order of the words, and the specific examples you provide matter. And they matter a lot.

If it was just about picking action words and giving numerical accomplishments, everyone would get a 7 figure salary…

The details matter, because employers respond to those details.

Effective New Graduate Resume Outline

Now that you understand the context in which we are writing your resume and the challenges we have to overcome, let’s give you a simple, five step process that you can follow to create a resume that is optimized to get you an interview.

1. Know Your Target

Before you start writing a single word on your resume, research the companies and industries you’re targeting.

Understand what they value most – whether it’s technical skills, problem-solving abilities, or cultural fit. You MUST write your resume to reflect these priorities. Generic resumes don’t get noticed; customized resumes do.

Focus Areas:

• Industry Keywords: Incorporate industry-specific terms and skills. This helps your resume pass through Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and catches the eye of hiring managers.
• Company Values: Align your resume with the company’s mission and values. If innovation is key for them, highlight your creative projects or problem-solving experiences. (Be sure to use the Language of Value, especially when reflecting values so that you give them specific, tangible, value based qualifications, rather than suck-up platitudes.)

2. Quantify Your Achievements

Employers are looking for impact, not just activity or busy work. Wherever possible, quantify your achievements – and yes, this applies to everything you’ve done in school.

Numbers provide context and credibility. Use them.

Examples:

• “Increased sales by 20% during my internship at XYZ Company” is more powerful than “Assisted in sales efforts.”
• “Led a team of 5 in a project for our ABC Club that resulted in a 15% efficiency improvement” shows leadership and measurable results.

3. Emphasize Core Competencies

Even if you’re light on work experience, you can still showcase your skills. Focus on the Five Core Skills and Seven High Value Disciplines that are crucial across industries.

You can highlight experiences from internships, projects, or even extracurricular activities where you developed these competencies. Your lacking professional experience is less relevant – or goes unnoticed – when you express these core competencies in a way that matches employer expectations, especially when you buffer them with numbers.

(Pro tip: For more info, check out our article on Five Core Skills and Seven High Value Disciplines.)

4. Showcase ALL Relevant Experience

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that only paid work experience counts.

Yes, it is true that unpaid work is not taken as seriously. And yes, unpaid internships are worse than no internship; they are borderline abuse that might harm your future employment. (Nace 2014)

Yet… Internships, volunteer work, academic projects, and even part-time jobs can still be used to demonstrate valuable skills.

Position every bit of your experience in a way that aligns with the job you’re applying for.

Tips:

• Use Action Verbs: Start bullet points with strong verbs like “led,” “developed,” “managed,” or “engineered.” (Or course, The Language of Value should be utilized to pick the specific words.)
• Focus on Results: Even in non-professional experiences, try to highlight what you accomplished (results), not just what you did (work).

5. Get Feedback and Revise

A great resume is rarely created in one draft. Seek feedback from mentors, career advisors, or professionals in your target industry.

In fact, make sure your resume is read by at least one expert – not some recruiter or HR person, but a professional who has had the kind of position you are applying for.

Conclusion

By focusing on what employers truly value, quantifying your achievements, and presenting your experience in a clear, professional format, you’ll increase your chances of getting a good job, and perhaps even a high-value job as a new graduate.

We admit.. It’s not easy for new graduates these days.

And we won’t insult your intelligence by suggesting “we’ve all been there”, because the current economic, cultural, technological and geopolitical situation is quite novel.

But we can tell you, with absolute 100% certainty, that there is a practical and proven solution to every one of the career related difficulties you’ll encounter.

These are real problems, but they are all problems with solutions.

Help is available…