Refresh your resume just in time for summer

Helpful tips on how to make your resume, online user profile or job application shine

By Brittany Kerfoot

Looking for a great hourly summer job to help finance your trips to the amusement park or outlet shopping spree? Well, you’re not alone. The good news is, you don’t need a fancy resume stating all of your accolades—you know, your stint as captain of your high school equestrian team and debate club champion? However, you should take a look at these tips for creating online profiles and filling out those tedious but necessary job applications. No sample resumes or templates here, just straightforward tips and advice on how to make your application stand out in a crowd.

The user profile

When you use a website such as SnagAJob.com, you will be prompted to create a user profile; this is a quick and easy process comprising your past work experience, special skills, availability and interests. Unlike a resume, which is often tailored to the specific job to which you are applying, user profiles can be used again and again for multiple job searches.

The paper application

You know what I’m talking about—the generic two or three page questionnaire found usually at the job site of your choice. Plain and simple.

As an hourly job seeker, these are the two main mediums through which you will be applying to become anything from a trendy fashionista in retail to a soda-slinging, tip-collecting waitress at the deli down the street. Don’t worry so much about studying sample resumes or resume templates as an hourly job seeker. So now that you know what you’ll be using to showcase your extensive work experience and stellar special skills, let’s go over how to make your application shine, sans typos and incorrect grammar.

The Tips

• Don't leave anything out
Even if you think your summer job as a zookeeper has nothing to do with your desired position of secretary at a real estate office, include it in your profile anyway. Employers want to work with well-rounded people, and your ability to stay focused in a zoo — either with real monkeys and elephants or just a barrage of ringing phones and coffee orders – may put you a cut above the rest.

Also, avoid jotting down notes or phrases in place of full, detailed descriptions. While your BFF Jill may be able to decipher your shorthand, don’t assume an employer can, too. Show how polished and professional you are by double-checking your work, grammar and all.

• Be Honest
Let’s face it: Filling your resume with fluff is not the stealthiest way to impress a hiring manager. If it wasn’t in your job description during your employment, it’s not cool to create a job title or duty just to make yourself look good. And chances are high that when your facts are checked, you’ll be totally exposed (and totally embarrassed). The moral of the story? Remember what mom always said: Be yourself. It’s the best way for an employer to truly determine if you’re the right fit for the job.

• Stay Current
Each time you volunteer, learn something new, or even move from your ranch-style home in suburbia to a swanky new loft downtown, update your resumes or user profiles. If your phone number or email address change and you don’t keep your contact info current, how will an employer be able to contact you and give you offers for summer jobs you’ve been waiting for? Make sure that there are no excuses for a missed opportunity.

To sum up, don’t worry your pretty little head over resume formalities and instead just follow the aforementioned tips on how to present a polished, accurate profile of yourself as a responsible applicant ready to dive in on a challenge. Good luck with your summer job search!

About the author
Brittany Kerfoot is a copywriter for SnagAJob.com
SnagAJob.com is America's largest hourly job website, featuring more than 100,000 jobs in industries including: restaurant, retail, hospitality, healthcare and more.