How To Build A College Resume

Experience Example: The Secret Advantage

Many college students and new graduates simply give up on this resume section. Without a history of employment, many job seekers ;don’t see the point. You do, however. So let’s look at how this resume section can give you an edge by reflecting your life experience and your vibrant, productive personality.;

So let’s look at how this resume section can give you an edge by reflecting your life experience and your vibrant, productive personality.;

• Internship experience. This is one of the most impressive substitutes for “full” employment experience. Recruiters pay special attention to this when considering student or graduate resumes.
• Summer / temp jobs. Experience as a waitress, clerk or nanny counts for more than you might think in terms of transferable skills. Courtesy, patience, discipline, dependability, willingness to work long hours are just a few examples.
• Social initiatives / volunteer work. These are almost always impressive on a college student resume. Volunteering demonstrates altruistic traits and a cooperative team spirit.
• Self-directed or community projects. Cite examples of commitments and collaborations that extended from your personal interests and talents.

Statistics from the Department of Education show that students who work 12 hours per week or less actually have stronger grades, perhaps because working forces them to have better discipline and time management skills.

Below is a resume example for a college student with experience as a teacher’s assistant.;

Why Is It Important To Have A College Resume

A college representative may be responsible for covering up to 6 states or thousands of high schools in a single school year. You may only have a few minutes to make an impression on him or her. Your college resume will quickly give the rep a peek into who you are and how you have chosen to spend your time while in high school.

College Student Resume For Internship

Use this template

Why this resume works

• Getting that first internship while you’re a college student can be instrumental in helping you get a full-time job once you graduate. Before that internship, however, you likely don’t have relevant work experience for your resume.
• That’s okay! What’s important is that you demonstrate to the hiring manager that you have the right resume skills and attitude necessary to succeed in the internship. You can do that through your projects and by referencing relevant classes you have taken while in school.

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Resume Layout Design And Formatting: Looks Matter

Layout, design and formatting considerations are super important for a successful college student resume or CV. There are two main reasons for this: visual perception by humans and processing compatibility with automated systems.;

Make it easier on recruiters. Employ chunking, which makes the text more readable and digest by breaking it into bite-sized pieces. This is achieved through the use of white space and graphical elements such as boxes, lines, images and other formatting that improves legibility.

Recruiters are likely to pay a lot more attention to your resume if you apply a visually attractive, suitably-formatted template based on research-backed design principles. This is where Resume.io can help you shine above other job applicants. Our CV templatesare created by professionals and field-tested with hiring specialists.;

Faulty formatting is the reason 21% of all resumes in the U.S. run into problems or are filtered out by the ATS. Confusing or unreadable layouts, charts or images are common reasons. Avoid formatting problems with our tested templates!;

What If I Cannot Be Involved On Campus Because Of Family Responsibilities

Many of my students work 30 hours per week at a job to pay bills at home. Other students are responsible for younger siblings while their parents work 12-hour shifts. If this is your reality, make sure you communicate this to the college. Communication is key! Working to pay for a new car is not a good excuse for not being involved at school. Working to assist your family is a noble responsibility. Remember if you are a manager at work or train new employees, be sure to include that under leadership on your resume.;

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Find Other Resumes You Like

A good starting point for writing your own resume is checking out other peoples first. Create a profile. Connect with other students from your program, professors, any tutors or teaching assistants you may have worked with, and anyone you may have worked or interned with.

Besides getting your networking off to a good start and being able to search for jobs on LinkedIn, this will also help you scour other resumes as a reference. You might see a specific skill and say, I can add that to my resume, too.

You can also check out resume templates and samples online for your intended field as well.

Ways To Build A Stunning Resume As A College Student

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How To Write A Work Experience Section For Your Student Resume

The work experience section is perhaps the resume section that students dread the most when creating their high school resume or college resume. The reason is that many students dont know where to begin or may not have held a job before.;

The good news is that writing a compelling work experience section really isnt as difficult as it seems – even if youve never been in the working world before. In either case, the most important thing is to make sure your work experience section sounds as relevant as possible to the given job or educational opportunity you are applying for.;

If you dont have any work experience at all, dont stress! You can instead focus on your:;

• Volunteer work;
• School activities
• Side projects

Spend time brainstorming how to present these experiences in a way that makes them as relevant as possible to the job or school you are applying for.;

For example, did you demonstrate any soft or hard skills that will be useful to the role or your studies? Or maybe you achieved something that showcases what an excellent employee or student you will be? Remember, framing is everything when it comes to your resume! You can do this by integrating keywords that apply to your experiences throughout this section. This will help you to work out what professional experiences will capture the hiring manager or schools attention.;

In order to make your achievements shine, you will need to:;

Styling Tips For Your Resume

• Go with a traditional font. A serif font like Times New Roman looks professional, and is a traditional choice.;
• Style consistently. All of your headings should match, all of your sections should look consistent. If you underline one heading, underline them all. If you use bullets in one section, use them in all.;
• Keep it to one page. Your drafted resume can be as long as you’d like if it helps you keep track of your experiences. However, when you’re ready to submit your resume to a college, it should be just one page.;
• Don’t touch the margins! Whitespace is your friend. If you’re looking for more space, resist the urge to adjust margins, and try adjust the content of your resume instead.;
• Save as a PDF. Save your resume as a PDF and title it: “Your Name_Resume.pdf”

Recommended Reading: My Perfect Resume Customer Reviews

Keeping Things In Perspective

The purpose of this column is to encourage you to do only those thingsthat result in the greatest personal growth for your student and thattruly benefit others, not to frantically grasp at anything that mightimpress a college admissions office. However, by using simplerecord-keeping and organizational techniques, we can then take thesemeaningful activities and show colleges how our student have lived theirhigh-school lives.

Jeannette Webb has worked with high school students for over 25 years.In 2005, Jeannette received a Presidential Scholar Distinguished TeacherAward. Jeannette teaches Homeschooling Through High School seminarsand is a college coach dedicated to helping homeschool studentsmatriculate to Americas top colleges. She can be reached throughwww.aiminghigherconsultants.com.

Was this article helpful to you?Subscribe to Practical Homeschooling today, and you’ll get this quality of information and encouragement five times per year, delivered to your door. To start, click on the link below that describes you:

Things You Can Do In College To Boost Your Resume

Posted by on November 8, 2017

;in Wheelock Community

Todays college graduates face a bit of a dilemma when beginning their job searches. Employers want candidates with experience even for entry-level positions. But how can you land a job when you havent had experience in the workforce? Its a Catch-22 many face after graduation.

So what is a college student to do?

The good news is there are many ways for college students like you to avoid being caught in this trap. You can make the most of your time in school to help build a stand-out resume ready to make waves in your job search.

We connected with career counselors and hiring managers to learn what exactly employers are seeking in recent college graduates. Keep reading to gather some tips and tricks to help make your resume one that cant be ignored.

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College Student Resume Formats

One of the hardest parts of building your resume as a college student is the phase where you’re staring at a blank screen. The “getting started” part can be so overwhelming because you’re not sure what your resume should look like, let alone what should be in it!

When it comes to formatting your resume, the best advice is to keep it simple. You need to use the resume format that will most convincingly make the case that you deserve an interview for the role you’re applying to.

In short, your resume should likely contain the following sections:

• Header: This is your name and job title. Have your job title match the title of the job you’re applying to.
• Resume objective: We talked about this above, a quick summary of your skills and what you’re looking for.
• Education: As a college student this should clearly include your anticipated graduation date, your field of study, and relevant classes.
• Skills: List 5-8 technical skills relevant to your career.
• Work experience: If you have any relevant internships or part-time jobs, mention them here.
• Projects: Did you do any side-projects or projects for class that demonstrate your competency? Include them here.

Not all of these sections need to be included on your resume. Your resume should focus on your strengths.

If you don’t have much relevant work experience then you can omit that section in favor of talking in more detail about your projects or your classwork.

Formatting guidelines for your resume

Get Involved On Campus

College campuses across America are rife with student organizations, clubs and activities. Not only do they foster friendships, but club involvement enriches student resumes. Participation shows employers you did more than the bare minimum in college. It demonstrates that you can balance school work with extracurricular activities. In many cases, it also shows your ability to work with a team. Campus involvement also builds a transferable skill set you can apply in the workforce.

One way to gain professional experience is to join groups that have a board, suggests Monica Kielawa, talent acquisition specialist at Combined Insurance. She explains that many colleges have degree-specific groups that allow anyone to join. You can gain experience by assisting in event planning, managing the groups budget and more. It may not be professional work, but it can be added to your resume with the skills you learned during your time there, she says.

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Tips For Writing A College Student Resume

Before you start writing, make sure you know how to write a resume in a way that best emphasizes your strengths.

The hardest resume youll write in your life will likely be your first. Whether youre entering the workforce or writing a grad school resume to continue your career in academia, writing a convincing resume without work experience is tough, especially now with the lasting economic impact of COVID-19.

Luckily, you can still put together an offer-worthy application without professional experience even if youre writing a college freshman resume.

First, here are some related resumes and cover letters to help you in case this page doesnt provide everything you need for your job hunt:

What Does Leadership Mean

There seems to be a lot of confusion about the term leadership. Notall kids are leaders. Not all leaders are charismatic. Very ordinarykids can be leaders when something is important to them. Basically,leadership is assuming responsibility for the outcome of a meeting,event, or project. It can be elected or assumed. Being a member of agroup is not being a leader; being responsible to carry out somethingis.

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Highlight Your Relevant Job Skills

Hiring managers are on the lookout for candidates who have relevant, job-specific skills. While listing a heap of skills on your resume doesnt actually prove youre skilled, incorporating your various skills into different sections will catch the eye of whoever is vetting your application.

For instance, you can showcase your hard and soft skills in your introduction and work experience section. And of course, you should also list your most valuable abilities in your resumes skills section.

How To Write A Resume Objective Or Summary For Your Student Resume

In order to impress schools and hiring managers from the get-go, your resume needs to have a strong opening section. Thats why we strongly recommend including a resume summary at the top of your resume, underneath your contact information.

In the past, applicants for schools or jobs could choose between writing a resume objective or a resume summary. Now, resume experts generally agree that including a resume objective is no longer in line with best practice.The reason is that a resume objective essentially highlights your goals as a candidate. In contrast, a resume summary conveys how you will be able to support the school or company youre applying for to meet their goals.

So what exactly is a resume summary, then?A resume summary is the first major section of your resume. It should succinctly present the case for why youre an ideal candidate for the position or school youre applying for.;

As it should only be two to four sentences long, you will need to focus only on your most relevant qualities and attributes that make you an attractive candidate or prospective student.

In order to write a strong resume objective or summary, you must make two things crystal clear:

Lets start with the first part. You should clearly state the purpose of your application. For example, you may wish to:

• Educational background
• Volunteer work
• Any other standout achievements

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What Is A College Students Resume

Well, its just like a usual resume but in a summary form. It summarizes your studies and academic qualifications. It should give an overview of these experiences and explain how they will benefit you in your upcoming career.

Although, as a college student, you may have little professional experience. However, there are many other activities and skills that you can write in your cv which can impress your potential employer.

These could include summer camps, part-time jobs, freelancing gigs, volunteering positions, sports, cultural activities, or whatever relevant past experiences you may have.

See What Else Goes On A Resume For College

What to put on a college resume?

Put anything that makes you stand out.

Here are some examples of what to put on resumes for college:

• Class Rank if its impressive.
• Jobs. Jobs show work ethic on college admission resumes.
• Awards. Essay competitions, speaking, chess club, etc.
• Volunteer Work. Red Cross, bake sales, crowdfunding.
• Projects. Have you done public service or built a website? Projects show your dedication to a goal.
• Social Media Followings. Have you built a following on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter? That shows communication and persistence.
• Passions. Have you done lots of paintings? Read a ton of books? Passions show youve got the drive to learn something that matters.
• Sports. Dont just list sports on a college resume. Add accomplishments like races won or records broken.
• Positions. List captainships, Eagle Scout rank, or positions in church or 4-H groups. Those all energize high school resumes for college.
• Hobbies. Are you good a fishing? Crafts? Hobbies prove you can work toward a goal.
• Languages. Command of a foreign language looks great on college application resumes.

Double your impact with a matching resume and cover letter combo. Use our cover letter builder and make your application documents pop out.

Want to try a different look? Theres 18 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.

Haven’t written your cover letter yet? See:

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College Application Resume Template Examples

Use this resume section as an example of how to write and format your own accomplishments. The Balance also provides several resume templates you can use to condense your achievements into an easy-to-read format.

Education:

• Graduated third in a class of 425 students
• Attended Harvard University s Summer Pre-Law Program

Experiences:

• Treasurer, Student Government Association, Grades 9-12
• Captain, Soccer Team, St. Georges High School, Laramie, WY, Fall 20XX Spring 20XX
• Volunteering: