I feel like I have started over in new jobs THREE times now, so I would say my experience level is very good for this scenario.
Right now, you must assess where you're at. Did you just finish college? Still searching for a job or looking for something new with the economy picking up? Well alright, you need help with your resume, no doubt. Biggest points: What have you been doing in college other than taking classes? Everyone takes classes and gets grades, so that isn't anything special to brag about, especially if it was a prerequisite for your degree. Were you in any clubs? Have any internships? Do any volunteer work? Maybe you were even in a fraternity or sorority? All of that adds points. More importantly, how do you sell yourself and your experiences?
Here is how to sell yourself and your accomplishments: talk about your strengths, what you learned, and phrase it in such a way that shows that you've gained useful skills. For example, in my internships, I was a leader in many ways; for my resume, I would comment: "I led multi-disciplinary and cross-functional teams, to help build better communication for the teams I worked on to achieve a common goal with our project." Think about action words; DO NOT say, "I worked at some job, helped with stuff, made a few good things happen."
We will just assume that you did more than make "a few good things happen"...
Take a step back and think about what the person doing the hiring is really looking for. Normally, the job description tells you plenty of information; you need to utilize it, but DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. If you repeat back exactly what was written in the job description, it could backfire pretty nastily, so reword it and add more power to your self-description.
Another aspect of intelligent resume writing - NO LYING! Make sure you're honest about your resume and yourself. This could come back around to bite you in the end. Recruiters will have background checks and will call your references, so be aware of what you step into.
The most important and intelligent choice in making a good resume is consulting with others. Talking to your parents, advisor, former or current coworkers or anyone with hiring or writing experience can help you add clarity and strength to your resume. The most dull and uninteresting resumes are written by the applicant him/herself, and it shows, right up until the point that your resume is dropped into the trash-bin.
A resume is not something to overlook, it is the gateway into the professional world. If you don't get the attention of a recruiter or hiring department, you will never get an interview, and how the heck can you get a job without an interview?
Good luck; feel free to throw your questions out and thanks for reading!
