CREDIT: FANSHAWE CAREER SERVICES
October's Resumania event was a success as 20 students received help with their resumes.

Your resume is often the first thing an employer looks at when considering whether or not to give you an interview. Whether you're looking for a part-time job during school, a career for after graduation or you're looking ahead to April and thinking about your summer job search, Resumania on November 20 can spruce up your resume and launch it to the top of the pile.

Two staff members from Fanshawe's Career Services department — Darby Anderson, cooperative education consultant, and Larissa Campbell, student services specialist — gave resume advice to around 20 students at the first Resumania event in October. "We needed to try something a little bit new and bring our services to the students, rather than always having them come here to us," Campbell said.

The second Resumania event takes place on November 20 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the area outside the Oasis restaurant in SC building. It is free for all students — all they have to do is bring their resume, whether it's printed on a piece of paper or on a USB drive. According to Anderson, it is easier if students bring a hard copy of their resume so the Career Services staff can write down their suggestions directly on the sheet of paper.

"It's really a good way to get some quick feedback on your resume," Campbell said. "We spend about 10 to 15 minutes with each student who comes up — it's drop-in, so whatever fits their schedule. We give a bit of feedback and we can tell them if they need more service or if they maybe should take advantage of some of the other services that we offer out of our office, or maybe they're on the right track already."

Anderson explained that this time of year, many students are looking for resume advice before they apply to seasonal or part-time jobs. "Come January/February, students are already starting to prepare for summer jobs — or at least they should be."

At Resumania, Campbell and Anderson will give students a sheet on resume tips, and then glance over each resume to see how the tips relate to the student's particular case. They give advice that is tailored to each student's situation.

"The most important (things for a resume) would be that it's targeted to whatever job they're trying to look for and that they're highlighting their skills," explained Campbell. In addition, the resume should be clearly laid out. "You always want to look to make sure that it is easy to read, that it's easy to find the important information. There's not one specific way that a resume should look, because it's unique to each person, but it needs to be easy to read with the stuff the employer needs to see standing out the most."

Before you come to Resumania for advice, make sure you've updated your resume. "Students want feedback on their resume, but they might not even have Fanshawe on their resume — they're using their high school resume," chuckled Campbell. "If they can get it as up to date as possible, then they're going to get the most valuable feedback."

This will be the second Resumania event Career Services has hosted, and Campbell said that as long as students are interested, they hope to host the event on a monthly basis.

"Student should come to Resumania just to make sure that they're on the right track when they're applying for jobs, whether they're part-time or full-time ... they want to make sure they're handing out the best possible product, because that will increase their chances of finding the work they want," said Campbell.

If you can't make it Resumania on November 20, you can head to Career Services in D1063 to make an appointment with Campbell or the career services consultant specific to your school of study. For a full list of consultants and their contact information, check out tinyurl.com/fan-csc2012. For more information about Career Services, check them out on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/FanshaweCS and on Twitter @FanshaweCS.