Liya
What's expected of a college student's or a recent graduate's resume?
Like most people my age, I have a very sad little resume. I dont have the foundation of experience or time to include a long list of impressive accomplishments, work experience and skills. Most of what I have isn't relevant to part time jobs or internships I apply for and I'm still including activities or awards I received toward the end of high school.
I know that employers know I haven't had the time to build up a great rep sheet, so how do they distinguish between kids who've barely applied themselves and kids who have limited opportunities because of their age and lack of experience? Do they want to hear about school clubs and my GPA? Basically, how high or low are the standards set for someone who hasn't really stepped into the real world yet but needs the work experience to make it in the real world? #resume #resume-writing #evaluating-resumes
4 answers
Simeon Snow
Simeon’s Answer
Simeon recommends the following next steps:
Adam Korengold
Adam’s Answer
When push comes to shove, employers are looking for people who have the skills and ability to do the jobs they need done. So your resume needs to show these things, even if you don't have a lot of professional experience. But as you have pointed out, you have activities and an academic record that can show you possess them, despite the fact that you do not have a lot of professional experience yet. Some of the skills and abilities you can show include:
--Deep achievement in your field of study. Did you have a good GPA (3.5 or above)? Did you take honors or graduate courses? Did you write a thesis? Did you receive any other awards or recognition?
--Ability to manage organizations and people. In your activities, did you manage budgets? Did you oversee projects and were you able to complete them on time and well? Did you lead committees? Did you start new projects or new clubs?
--Other professional accomplishments. What jobs did you have in college? What dd you learn from them? Did you develop good customer service skills? Communication skills? Research skills? Did you do something that helped the performance of the place where you worked?
The point is that everyone has to start somewhere, no matter how small. My first job after college was at Starbucks. Even though it was more than twenty years ago, I still have that job on my LinkedIn profile because it taught me a great deal about attention to detail, prioritization, time management, and customer service, and it shows my peers that any job provides valuable experience.
I wish you luck!
Mark Dresner
Mark’s Answer
Recruiters are looking for experiences that differentiate you and make you who you are; they want to understand what shaped you at college in addition to your GPA. Did you take on extracurricular activities? Did you do double majors or deep concentration in a particular area? Did you work while at school and maybe your GPA is not as high as someone else's but you needed to work to pay for school, which is just as important to demonstrate? Did you strive to get an internship? Paid or unpaid internships are invaluable ways to get practical business experience that you can demonstrate on your resume? Did you have any key group projects where you took a leadership role? Did you make any key presentations and what were the topics ?
Carole Curtis
Carole’s Answer
I am assuming that you are a high school graduate and now in college and looking for a part time job. First of all it is important to write down some of the classes that you took if they apply to the job description. (for instance, if you took a business office class and are applying for a part time office job that would be very important. Any class in which the subject matter would be beneficial to the company you are applying to is important for them to know. Also your grade point and the grades that you achieved in these classes are also important for the employer to know.
Another point that would be important for the employer is to know what kind of activities and clubs did you belong to. If you held an office in these clubs you note that on your resume. Example: Vice President and then list the work you performed for that particular office. Don't forget to put down the dates you held the office and how long you this position.
The third point would be to have a section on your resume that highlight you skills and qualifications for the job your are applying to. A little secret would be to look at the job description and see if you have any of the skills that they are looking for even if you did this job as a volunteer.
That leads me to the fourth point which is volunteer jobs that you might have done will finishing school. If you babysat, mowed lawns, took care of animals when the owners were not there, tutored other classmates or anything else that was a volunteer job you would have a section on your resume for volunteer work, explaining the work you did and the dates that you did these job.
If you are a High School Grad always put your graduation date down, name of school, and any awards or achievements that you got during the time you were in school. Also, your GPA could help depending on the job your are applying for. "Remember you are selling yourself to this company and they should know all the wonderful things you have done."