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This blog post was written by Bianca Elizabeth Ortega, our Campus Ambassador from Belmont University. Bianca is majoring in Music Business and Marketing.

When preparing your résumé to apply for jobs and internships, there are several essential steps you need to take before you should even consider your résumé ready to send out to potential employers. There is always room for additional enhancement and creative flair (depending on the industry you are hoping to work in), but the following guidelines should be fulfilled regardless.

Include a Permanent, Professional E-Mail Address
As a college student, you’re likely to have been issued a university e-mail address for use through your college’s intranet. While these e-mail addresses are typically full-function e-mail addresses, many universities deactivate these e-mail addresses shortly after your graduation. Therefore, it’s possible that potential employers may not be able to contact you later on if you’ve only included your university e-mail address on your résumé. It’s important that you create a separate, permanent e-mail address with a professional username, so that your e-mail address will continue to be a means of contact past your college years. Don’t use an old e-mail address with the immature and unprofessional username you came up with in middle school.

Always Keep Your Mailing Address Up To Date

While in college, it’s not likely that you’ll have the same mailing address for too long, so always update your mailing address every time you move to a new dorm, apartment, etc. When you go home for the summer, make sure to update your address as well.

Use Action Verbs and Proper Verb Tense When Describing Your Job Positions

When writing descriptions for each of your current and past job positions, utilize action verbs to create meaningful statements that demonstrate your involvement and tasks. Boston College has a great list of action verbs available on their website, and you can view those HERE. In addition to using powerful action verbs, it’s also important to change the tense of the verb to past tense for previously held positions and present tense for your current positions. It doesn’t make sense to describe a past position like you are currently holding it, and the same goes for present positions.

Keep Your Resume Short and Sweet

Your resume should be 1-2 pages long, so be sure to keep all of your information concise. Use a font ranging from 10-14 pt. and utilize clean formatting that makes it easy for the employer to read. For each job description, you should have about three bullet points, each with a powerful sentence describing your job position. I typically have 3-4 jobs listed on my resume, followed by my activities and honors. You should always include an objective that should be tailored for each job you’re applying for, and if you’ve held a variety of positions, you can choose and change the positions listed on your r résumé, depending on the job you’re applying for.

Save Your Résumé as a PDF File

When you’re ready to save your résumé and send it off to potential employers, it’s essential that you save your résumé as a PDF file. Unless the employer requests a different file format, you should always send a PDF, because it will maintain all of the formatting and design features of your résumé. Nothing is worse than a potential employer opening up a résumé to find a jumble of text with no formatted layout or spacing. Steer clear of the option on applications to paste your résumé into text boxes, because the formatting will not be maintained. Always utilize the option of uploading an actual résumé file.

There are many additional ways to enhance and personalize your résumé, but these are five great ways to make sure your résumé is up to industry standards and is presentable for employers.

This blog is written by Jessica, our ambassador from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

As first semester is winding down, all that seems to be on my mind lately is when to start applying for REAL jobs. The thought beginning the application process seems quite daunting.

We are all in the same boat. We all want to be ahead of the game and I’m sure we would all like to secure a job before graduation. So that got me thinking… When IS the right time to apply for jobs? Should you start a whole semester early, or wait until a month before your graduation date?

I’ve asked many professionals about this and the responses are always mixed. Some say that you should apply as soon as possible, while some say that you should begin to apply after you graduate. Through the foggy opinions, a few sound words of advice stuck out to me. I hope they help you if you are graduating soon!

If you are planning on graduating in May…

Make a target list of companies. Look and see what jobs are open around you and start keeping your eye on those companies. If a job happens to be open now, apply for it! Sometimes the hiring process can takes months to complete and there’s no sense missing out on a dream opportunity.

Start attending networking events in your field. If you are a PR major, locate your closest Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) chapter and get to know professionals. The more relationships you have, the better your chances will be of being referred to for a job. If you are in marketing, look for a Sales and Marketing Professionals (SMP) group in your area. For journalism, consider contacting someone at your nearest Society for Professional Journalists (SPJ).

Define your dream job. If you have your heart set on a certain company and they don’t have any jobs open currently, start perusing them. They may have something open in time for when you graduate. The best thing to do first is to email someone from the department you are interested and introduce yourself. Always send a resume, too! Once they respond, see if you could set up a job shadow or an informational interview. This helps get your foot in the door, even if you aren’t interviewing for a job there. After the job shadow, they will have a more personal relationship with you and, chances are, you will be at the top of their list when a job opens up.

Consider your salary requirements. This is often something that companies want to know before they hire someone. Since you have a few months before you graduate, start researching average salaries in your area so that you know what you’re worth. Remember—it’s ok to negotiate! Just don’ t get too crazy.

Lastly, always keep in mind that the InternQueen has a ton of connections! If you are interested in a certain city or state, don’t hesitate to contact one of the Intern Queen Campus Ambassadors. We’re everywhere, and if we don’t have the connections ourselves, we’ll find someone who does! Visit the Intern Queen’s Facebook page for our contact info.

Erica Moss is the community manager for the Masters Degree in Nursing program at Georgetown University. She adores photography, Mexican food and her English bulldog, Mona.

A couple of years after I graduated college, I found myself working a part-time job from home, and while that sounds somewhat glamorous, it wasn’t, and my dissatisfaction led me to start seeking opportunities elsewhere.

At the same time, I had really started ramping up my presence on Twitter, and I had formed a lot of great connections on the site. I was talking to other professionals in my field, looking for job opportunities and reading up on all of the latest industry trends.

Then one day I saw a tweet from a gentleman I had built a great rapport with and who worked for a local company. He made a witty remark about his employees, something very simple, and I decided to interject with an innocent comment, something along the lines of: “Have you ever thought about adding to that great team of yours?” I took a chance, but I really never thought anything would come out of it.

He tweets back: “Actually, I have. Why, are you looking?”

And just like that, we started a dialogue. A dialogue that I almost assuredly never would have had without the awesome tool that is Twitter. I explained to him the situation, and he asked to see my LinkedIn profile; he must’ve decided that I had the right experience for the job, because he asked me to send him a copy of my resume, which he then forwarded to the person who would, ultimately, be making the hiring decision. Two days later, I was sitting in a conference room at the company’s offices, answering questions about my background, where I was going, and how I might fit into the team dynamic.

They were proposing a full-time internship with benefits, with the possibility of the position becoming permanent down the road. It wasn’t ideal for a college graduate, but it was very appealing at the time, given my lack of enthusiasm for my current gig. They ended up offering me the position a day later, and while I turned it down in favor of a full-time job offer at another company, I’m still incredibly grateful for the experience because it illustrates just how powerful the relationships you foster on the site can be.

Now, I’m not implying that this strategy will work for every person in every situation, but I do think that, more and more, internship and job seekers will have to think outside of the box in order to land that dream gig.

Needless to say, I love when naysayers ask, “Can you really get a job using Twitter?” because it means I get to tell that story and confidently say yes, you can.

This blog is written by Jessica, our ambassador from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

This week, I am so excited because I am leaving for the Public Relations
Student Society of America’s (PRSSA) National Conference on Thursday, October
13, 2011. If you are unaware, PRSSA is the largest pre-professional group for
public relations students in the world. There are about 10,000 student members
nationwide who belong to about 285 university chapters.

My school, the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, has a small chapter with
about 25 members in it. This year, we have 10 students attending the conference
that will be held in Orlando Fla. Before I leave, however, there are many things that
I need to keep in mind. PRSSA National Conference is a great place to network, learn
and grow as a pre-professional. Below are some tips that I learned after attending
last year’s conference for those who are attending this year’s PRSSA conference or
any other type of professional networking conference.

Make business cards. Even if you don’t have an internship or if you haven’t
declared your major, it is still really important to make professional business
cards and bring them with you. Make sure that they are generic. You don’t want
to necessarily put your internship employer or current job on your business cards
because you don’t want to brand yourself with a company that is considered
temporary. My best advice is to put your name and basic contact info, along with
your “title”, which in my case is “Public Relations Student”.

Connect with people on social media. One of the easiest things to do when
you meet people at a conference is to get their name and twitter handle. That being
said, make sure you have yours on your business cards! Staying in contact with
people via Twitter and LinkedIn will undoubtedly help you when you are looking for
jobs down the road.

Bring copies of your resume. This is often the thing that most people forget
to do. Although you may never take your resume out of it’s folder, it is a good idea
to bring it because you never know if you’ll meet someone who is hiring or may
be hiring in the near future. This is especially important to remember if you are a
senior who will soon be graduating. Typically, I bring 5 copies and assume that the
hotel I am staying at will have a copy machine if I need it.

Travel light. The thing that shocked me the most out of the conferences that
I attended last year was the lack of free time that was provided during the few days
that I was there. Typically conferences are 2 to 5 days long, and the days normally
start at 8 a.m. and often don’t end until 5 p.m. So, you won’t have a lot of time to sift
through a huge bag for an outfit and you definitely won’t have much time to repack
everything on the last day. Because of this, I usually just bring a carry on-sized bag
and a small backpack. That way, I can control the amount of clothing that I pack!

Have you attended a professional conference in the past? If so, do you have
any other tips that you think are important to remember? Are any of you planning
to attend PRSSA National conference? Leave a comment below: I would love to meet
up sometime when I am there!