It's one of the biggest things that college freshman tend to push to the back burner: writing a resume.

You may be thinking, "I'm only 18/19 years old, why the heck do I need to worry about my resume right now?" Well, there are many reasons! One is that over time, people forget their accomplishments. Even if it's just a membership to an organization you were in for a semester or a small community service project, it's still something that could impress a potential future employer!

Check out a few of these tips that I've picked up over the past several years:

1. Format your resume to appeal to your employer.

There are many different forms of resumes, and certain formats are better suited to a position than others. For instance, professional/doctoral fields such as engineering, medical, veterinary, and dental expect a cleanly formatted CV (curriculum vitae) with minimal distractions from the important information. This type of resume focuses on education, research, and publications you've done throughout your undergraduate and doctoral studies.

Fields such as marketing and business management require more of a classic resume that focuses on education and experience in that field.

On the more artistic side, employers who are hiring for visual arts and graphic design positions are more interested in what you're capable of as a creator. Here is one of my favorite examples of that I've come across.

2. Proper grammar is crucial!

Proofread, proofread, then proofread again. Get your friends to proofread, get your teachers to proofread, get your parents to proofread, get your pastor to proofread. Punctuation and proper grammar is everything; grammatical errors are the first thing that an employer will notice on your resume that'll get your hard work tossed into the trash.

Grammar points to your education and attention to detail, and if you can't be bothered to turn in a perfectly edited resume, how can you be trusted to perform to the standards of someone's company?

3. No need to be self-congratulatory.

There shouldn't be a "goals" or "summary" section of your resume where you talk highly of yourself. Keep these things strictly to the cover letter, where you let the employer know why you would fit the position.

Again, your resume should highlight your education, employment history, and memberships/achievements/community service. Even these points shouldn't be elaborated on in your resume; if the interviewer has questions about something that you listed, I promise, you'll be asked about it.

4. Your references should be separate from your resume.

One thing people don’t realize is that your references should be on a separate page from your resume. You should have a minimum of 3 references, and you should have permission from your references before you put them on this page. This page should have the same heading as your resume to keep the format consistent.

5. NO. SENTENCES.

None. Nada. Negative.

On average, an employer looks at a resume for a total of 6 seconds. All it takes is six seconds to get tired of reading all of the sentences on your resume and to move onto the next one. Keep the information short and concise, focusing on your contact information, education, previous employments, and memberships/achievements/community service.

Out of everything I've learned as an undergraduate studying to eventually go to medical school, I believe that perfecting your resume is probably one of the most important things that freshman prioritize the least. So, what are you waiting for? Get started!