Whether your goal is to get a summer job or to begin a professional career, your résumé will be the key to landing that big interview. Before panic sets in, know that Fresno State has a new way to help.

Career Services has just brought an online résumé-writing package called the “OptimalResume Builder� to its Web site. It is a free service for current students that Director of Career Services Rita Bocchinfuso-Cohen said will allow them to create the perfect résumé.

“You can easily and quickly write a professional résumé and you can save it three different ways, including as a Web site or a word document,� Bocchinfuso-Cohen said. “You will be given a URL address for your résumé that you can distribute to employers or put on your business card. OptimalResume also gives examples of how to list things in your résumé as you are actually writing it. You can also change the entire look of the résumé with just one click.�

Many students rely on Microsoft Word’s résumé templates, which is a mistake, according to Bocchinfuso-Cohen. “Most of the résumés students have are Word templates and all of these violate basic résumé writing rules,� she said.

The end result is that students may be selling themselves short to employers. “I see students all the time that have great GPAs and work experience, but their résumés just aren’t selling them enough,� Bocchinfuso-Cohen said.

Just one overwhelming look at the résumé-writing section in a bookstore demonstrates the need for solid advice. “There is a lot of conflicting information about résumés because there are no definite answers other than checking your grammar, making it easy to read and ensuring that it is well-formatted,� Bocchinfuso-Cohen said.

There are some universal tips that work well for most, such as keeping the length at one to two pages, depending upon your work experience. “Your résumé isn’t meant to be a re-hashing of everything there is to know about you, it’s only meant to highlight your most marketable skills,� Bocchinfuso-Cohen said. “Be as concise as possible. New college grads and current students should be able to keep it at one page. If you are going onto a second page, make sure that you’re not just using extraneous information.�

Of course, some students have almost no work experience to put on their résumés, which is a problem that Bocchinfuso-Cohen knows how to solve. “If your résumé doesn’t make it past half of one page, then you should include your campus activities and relevant course work.� Also, if you have a GPA that is higher than a 3.0, it should be listed.

Bocchinfuso-Cohen said that when trying to get to the correct length, students will often change the font and margins of their résumés. Doing so is fine, as long as you don’t make the font smaller than 10 or margins less than half an inch.

Another common error that students make, often as a result of a Word template, is listing their contact information at the bottom of the page. Contact information should always be at the top of the résumé, and in font that is easy to read, Bocchinfuso-Cohen said.

The other problem many students have is that they don’t submit cover letters with their résumés. “You should always send cover letters,� Bocchinfuso-Cohen said. “Many students don’t know that, or they don’t know what to say. Cover letters should be used under all circumstances except for job fairs.�

Some tips for what to include in a cover letter include stating the position desired and highlighting any relevant experience that would qualify the person for the position. However, students should avoid blanketing every potential employer with the same cover letter. “You have to customize them for each job,� Bocchinfuso-Cohen said. “There is nothing easier to spot than a standard letter.�

Students will have the opportunity to speak with a career counselor at the “Résumé Doctor� event in the Free Speech Area today between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The “résumé doctors� will be available to give résumés a quick “check-up.�

Tuesday brings more career help with the Internship and Career Expo 2007 at the Save Mart Center from 12:30 to 6 p.m. Before heading to the event, students can stop by OptimalResume’s Web site at http://csufresno.optimalresume.com/ to ensure that their résumés put them on the right paths to success.