As graduation approaches for some Sacramento State students, feelings of excitement come near, but the overall fear of the employment world also creeps up. Building a resume is the launch of a career after college.

Here are the best techniques to advertise your experience and skills to potential employers from the Career Center and job seeking Sac State students.

First, when placing a general career objective on a resume, it is best to state, “To obtain a full-time position in the area of…” said Candace McGee, internships and student employment program manager. For a more specific objective, indicate the desired position within the industry and company.

Complete honesty in a resume is most important. McGee said a healthy resume also must be easy to read and free of any spelling or grammatical errors.

The first half of the resume should demonstrate and promote one’s skills, education, qualifications, work experience and any current projects, McGee said. Related coursework to a student’s discipline may be included under education experience.

Utilizing templates to start writing a resume, like in Microsoft Word documents, is discouraged. They are pre-formatted and difficult to customize, McGee said. Instead, the Career Center highly recommends students start from a blank document.

If applying for jobs outside of one’s degree discipline, the student may focus on transferable skills, which are functional skills learned through any job, experience or volunteer situations.

Employers recognize unique resumes and remember the applicants that stand out.

“The ones that share a little unique part of you [make an impression],” said public relations major Brittany Post.

Other than a resume on paper, “thinking outside the box” when creating a resume shows a creative additional effort to finding a job, such as online or video resumes demonstrating qualifications.

Post said using social media in the public relations field as a web resume, for instance on Instagram allows employers to review the applicant’s experience in a different way, Post said. Personal career profiles and social networks may eventually replace the traditional resume.

A recent study by Office team found that more than one-third of companies believe resumes will be replaced by profiles on social networks. By the next decade, resumes will be less prevalent and a job candidate’s online presence will serve as a resume, at a diversity of companies, according to Forbes.

LinkedIn, a growing online source for job seekers and professionals, is a must-have, as it can be frequently updated.

A LinkedIn profile is an opportunity to “build a positive online presence for yourself,” according to the Guardian. As the world’s largest professional network outlet, LinkedIn allows users, including college students, to develop contacts.

It is a good idea to get started on LinkedIn and update activities, achievements, grades, involvement in organizations, passions, interests and career goals.

Resume samples for various majors are available at the Career Center’s website. Career Center advisers also offer resume critiques.

Elizabeth DeCicco can be reached at [email protected]