Far too many highly qualified, college seniors have mediocre or poor resumes. That’s because they were never taught how to prepare for and construct an impressive resume, one that will attract interest from the most highly sought after employers. The key to a great resume is preparation. So, let’s do that here.

Over the course of a week or two, write out the following information:

a. Describe the job that you seek. Prepare a paragraph that includes the type of job that you seek, the expected job duties and possible job titles. If the job you seek is limited to a specific field or industry, state the field or industry.

b. List the most significant accomplishments, successes and results that you achieved in the classroom and in campus, work and community activities. Strive to list at least ten items. Then, gradually identify the items that are the most impressive and those clearly related to the job you seek or your field of interest.

c. List examples of your leadership skills. Have your ever led a group or a team? Have you served in a supervisory capacity? Were you put in charge of a project? Have you give direction to others? Have you served in a teaching capacity? For each example of your leadership skill, describe the positive outcomes that were achieved.

d. List examples of your communication skills. Have you demonstrated exceptional writing, presentation, debating, persuasion, negotiation, questioning or vocabulary skills? When have you been called upon to use these skills? What was accomplished because of your communication skills?

e. List examples of your people skills. Provide examples of accomplishments that resulted because of your ability to attract, interact with and inspire students, employees, supervisors, professors and campus, work and community leaders.

f. How will you differentiate yourself from other qualified candidates? What is it that will make you and your resume stand out? What is it that you do better than others? Think in terms of more, better, faster, cheaper, higher quality, better service, job-related experience, level of responsibilities held, skills, knowledge, abilities, creativity, references & recommendations, past accomplishments and potential for future success.

g. List your educational information. This includes the name of your college, city and state, your major, year of graduation, overall CUM and GPA in your major.

h. List the courses you’ve taken that are closely related to your major and field of interest.

i. Provide your employment history. Include the name of each employer, city and state, your job title, dates of employment and a sentence or two that describes your most important duties and responsibilities. Include volunteer work, internships, part-time jobs and summer employment. Note all significant accomplishments.

j. List every activity in which you participated. Include clubs, sports, campus and community activities. Record your titles, responsibilities and accomplishments.

k. List any honors, awards and forms of recognition. They can be from campus, work or community activities and involvement.

l. List your computer skills and software used. Make a special note of specialized or job-related software.

m. List any job-related technology and equipment used.

n. List your publications, papers presented or assistance provided to a professor who was working on a book or a paper.

o. List your job-related memberships. Think in terms of clubs, teams and associations.

p. Did you study in another country? Describe the benefits of this experience. Did you gain a language skill?

q. What languages can you read, write and speak? How well?

r. List any job-related research projects. Did professors assign projects that gave you some practical experience? Did you assist a professor, supervisor or community leader on a research project? Note any significant benefits.

Once you have assembled this summary of your college experiences, you are ready to write an outstanding, two page resume. Yes, I said a two page resume. Anyone who tells you to write a one page resume, when you have this much to say, is sending you down the wrong path. Employers want to learn about your capabilities. Your job is to give them what they want.

The first page of your resume is the "sales" page. It is comprised of the information that you provided in (a) through (f) above. At the top of page one, provide your name, full address, phone number and e-mail address. Next, state your objective. If you know what you want, state the position title, job duties and field in which you seek employment. Then, on the remainder of page one, list and describe your most impressive accomplishments, experiences, responsibilities and capabilities.

The second page of your resume is the "information" page. This page is comprised of the information that you assembled in (g) through (r) above. It provides the facts, statistics and details of your entire college learning experience.

These two pages are a concise view you and your capabilities. However, it is up to you to present this information in the most attractive and impressive way possible. When you are successful, the most desirable employers will want to learn more about you. That’s when you’ll be able to tell your friends, "My resume is better than your resume."