Here’s how to use premier leadership, personal growth and career success to build a great resume.
Twenty years ago, a job seeker would knock on doors, drop off an application and patiently wait by the phone to determine if he or she would move to the next round of consideration. The process today looks incredibly different. Yet, the typical resume has remained the same. How do you break through the clutter and stand out? The National FFA Organization and AgCareers.com have provided some insights into creating a 21st-century resume and landing your college or career dreams.
Maintain the Must-Haves
Many traditional resume-writing rules are being broken, but there are a few basics that transcend the trends.
Use headlines such as Education and Work Experience to allow the employer to organize your experience.
- Organize your resume in the order the events occurred to help reviewers understand a time line.
- Write in bullet points. Since reviewers may read through hundreds of resumes, this lets them read more of your resume in a shorter amount of time.
- Incorporate the soft skills you have developed through your ag experiences, such as leadership, communication, teamwork and more.
- Showcase how you communicate effectively, collaborate with others and solve problems.
Tackle Technology
Incorporating technology into a resume is a recent trend. Many resumes are submitted electronically through career websites or via email, which provides a great opportunity to add hyperlinks. FFA members who have LinkedIn profiles (a type of professional social media network) can link to their profile in the contact information of their resume. Members who keep an online portfolio, maintain a blog or have digital links to newspaper articles of their work can link to these examples.
“I have seen resumes with links to photography portfolios, SAE (supervised agricultural experience) profiles and even QR codes to show examples of work FFA members have created,” says Ashley Collins, the education and marketing manager for AgCareers.com. “Links on resumes really make a resume stand out and allow me to get personally involved in the research on the candidate.”
Rely on Resources
The FFA Resume Generator is a tool any member (student or alumni) can use through FFA.org to get a jump start on creating a great resume. The resume generator will ask questions about your education, work experience and FFA participation. After completing the form, the generator will export your resume in a variety of formats, including a PDF or Microsoft Word document that is ready for immediate use. Once your resume has been generated, share it with other student and alumni members to receive feedback.
Videos, quizzes and other activities can help you learn more about yourself and the opportunities available to you. Finally, you can use this platform to build your own career success and plan for your future career goals.
Still not sure what your future career will be? You can discover 235 career opportunities in agriculture by visiting AgExplorer.com, the career exploration resource from FFA.
