5 Ways to Improve Your Resume & CV

When applying for a job or an internship as a university student or recent graduate, your resume is what will make a first impression on any potential organisation or company. It is an important tool to “market” yourself for opportunities and to be invited for an interview. Making minor adjustments and improvements to your resume can lead to you standing out from other applicants. With more than a decades worth of experience in international education by reviewing thousands of applications from young people all over the world who have applied for our all-inclusive internship programs in Colombia, we are sharing 5 lesser-known tips & tricks to improve your resume & CV.

1) Most recent experience must come first

Prioritize your most recent professional roles and experience and use reverse-chronological order. It will be easier for any recruiter to assess what current experience and qualifications you have and can help your profile stand out. Believe it or not, some people do list their experience from start to finish with their latest experience at the end – this is a mistake that should be avoided. Reverse-chronological order is best to improve your resume.

2) Use one font

There is no need to try and make things stand out by using different fonts for different things on your resume. It makes it more difficult to read and it will be unclear to any potential employer as to why certain things are being highlighted and other things not so much. Instead, you can make text bold or italicise your text, to highlight specifics across your resume. This could be job titles, names of companies, educational institutions or specific sections of your resume such as “Education” or “Professional Experience” or “Language Skills”.

3) Show specific strengths, achievements & transferable skills

Highlight why you did a good job or achieved something in each role or experience you've had so far, this could be professional, academic or extra curricular. We all know what a receptionist, bartender, waiter and leaders of societies on campus do. So, you need to avoid generic summaries with no context or, what we like to term "output". You must highlight what soft and hard skills were needed, acquired and used in the role, if any achievements were made, use quantative language, and make clear what is transferrable to the role you are applying for. Below are two examples of what a potential hiring manager would want to see when assessing experience & skills. Notice, that they both start with strong action verbs, demonstrate transferable skills, quantify achievements or workflow, and show a level of self-reflection about what you were actually doing and why your job was important: Receptionist, Mary's Medical Clinic (Jan 2026 - May 2026)

• Managed a high volume of client interactions, efficiently routing 100+ daily calls while delivering exceptional customer service.

• Streamlined workflows by scheduling client appointments via specialized software and directly resolved public inquiries.

Bartender, Joe's (May 2025 - December 2025)

• Thrived under pressure in a fast-paced, high-volume environment, collaborating with team members to manage orders during peak hours.

• Executed cash & card payments accurately using POS software and provided excellent service to a diverse clientele, including families and corporate events.
  

Using "Position, Name of Company (Dates)" is the gold standard for resume formatting. Of course, always be accurate and honest on your resume. If you are invited to an interview, you will be expected to expand upon what you have in your resume.

4) Keep your Resume concise

Your resume should never really be anything more than 1 page, especially if you are still at university or a recent graduate. As a common rule, anything that does not add value or help “market” you to a potential employer, should be removed. Only essential information should be included. Anything that would be needed to be expanded upon, can be discussed during an interview.

5) Adapt your Resume to the job description

If you can spend a little bit of time doing this, the place you are applying to could see that you’ve done your research and also invested your time in your application, rather than casting a wide net and applying to anything & everything. This can be achieved by indicating the specific soft and hard skills you have acquired from prior experience and linking them to what is mentioned in the job description.

Intern Colombia provides first-class all-inclusive international internships across Colombia linked to a wide range of 24 academic disciplines & career fields, combined with an authentic cultural immersion experience.

We believe that everybody who takes part in our internship programs will gain invaluable employment and life skills & fall in love with Colombia, one person at a time. If you are interested in learning more, please contact our team or complete our online application form.

This blog post was written & published by Intern Colombia