I’m so glad you are here. Scoops Up is here to keep career development at the top of your mind this summer. Like the perfect sundae starts with a solid base, your career journey begins with a strong resume.
Summer may not be my favorite season (fall is), but it’s the best time of year to access local homemade ice cream. I love to spend time with my best friend and Zia Sophia going to different ice cream shops across New England to try the local flavors. A local campus favorite (and open year-round) is Richardson’s Farm. I insist you try Death by Chocolate and Campfire S’mores if you haven’t already. It doesn’t hurt that they have large serving sizes!
I suppose I should dive into the sprinkle pool that are resumes, given that it’s today’s topic. Scoop 2 is all about updating your resume. Here are a few tips from my colleagues and me to get you where you are headed.
Let’s Get to the Scoop: Resume Basics
- Spend 15-20 minutes every few months updating your resume. This will reduce the time needed to apply to positions in the future. (Advice from Dr. Carlson – Chair & Associate Professor, Civil Engineering)
- Choose a layout that fits your field—what works for graphic design won’t work for accounting. Merrimack has sample templates to get you started. (Advice from Audrey Byerley – Assistant Director of Career Development & Outcomes)
- Use a professional email—this could be your Merrimack email or a personal account with some formulation of your name. Mack@merrimack.edu or Merri1947@gmail.com are quality examples. (Advice from Daruenie Andujar M’19 – Senior Academic Advisor)
- Always save your resume with your name in the file name. Example: Merri Mack Resume May 2025. I can’t count the number of times I’ve received a “My Resume” or “Resume 4.24” without knowing who it belongs to before opening it. (Advice from Ellen Boyle M’20 M’24 – Assistant Director of Marketing & Student Outreach)
Shannon’s Extra Tips
- Stay away from templates that include your photo unless you’re going into performing arts. You also need to be aware of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) compliance when applying to large companies.
- Keep a running resume of every position you’ve ever worked with your quality bullet points and use it as a baseline for future resume submissions.
- Don’t include your references or the line “references available upon request.” This is now assumed and doesn’t need to take up space.
- Know when to remove older information. Simply put, the newer the information is, the better. As students, you may have limited experiences to add until later in your college career, which is okay and expected. If you have on-campus positions, volunteer or leadership roles that showcase how you are more actively building and utilizing your skills, those should take priority over older experiences from high school. When in doubt, keep high school things listed if you aren’t filling an entire page with college experiences.
Stronger bullet points = stronger story
- Your resume has one job: to get you to the interview. You’ve got 7 seconds to catch attention — so every word should count. Did you “provide customer service and maintain a cash register,” or did you “balance customer service and register operations while managing long lines during peak hours with speed and professionalism”? Did you “assist clients with banking transactions,” or did you “assist clients with account inquiries, promote banking services, and resolve issues to enhance customer satisfaction and retention”?
- Add in relevant numbers when possible such as “increased Instagram followers by 1,000 people in the first 30 days, resulting in 10% higher engagement.”
- The extras stand out. Remembering this is your highlight reel, we want to make sure we tell the most important things in an easy-to-read format. Club/organization involvement and leadership should be there! Some create a leadership and involvement section on their resume, while others will list involvement under education. Examples may include “Activities: Psychology Club and Student Government Association” or “Leadership: President of Psychology Club.” Whether you played varsity or club sports, being a student-athlete shows teamwork, discipline and time management.
One final takeaway I have for you is to always have someone else look over your resume for proofreading and clarity. AI tools are a great way to receive instant feedback, but you need to make sure you still meet the needs of the human audience.
If you need more guidance, we have a collection of resume resources available on our virtual career center. And don’t forget—we’re here for you all summer long. Whether you’re brainstorming your next steps, refreshing your resume or just want to chat about your career plans (or your favorite ice cream flavor), the career development team is just a message away.
