College Student Resumes That Landed Jobs In 2021
Looking for your first job or internship while you’re a college student is analogous to the old “chicken or the egg” problem.
Companies seem to demand that candidates for entry level roles have experience but how do you get that experience if you don’t have experience?
Luckily, as a college student, you are in a great position to get that first break you need. Getting the first job or internship of your career can be the most challenging. After that, you’ll have the experience employers are looking for.
How can you build an effective resume as a college student when you don’t have much relevant experience? We’ve been working for the last few months to answer this question and after reviewing 1,000+ resumes and talking to 50+ hiring managers, we think we have the answer.
Why this resume works
- When you’re looking for your first full-time role while in college, you need to make it clear exactly when you’ll be graduating. This student does that in both their resume objective and in their education section.
- The golden rule on your resume is to lead with your strengths. This marketing student had a really strong and relevant internship so it makes sense that headlines their resume. If you don’t have an internship under your belt this might be a project for class or part-time work you had while in school.
How To Write The Best College Admissions Resume
Resumes are important tools for seeking employment but are not usually associated with college admissions. Recently, colleges have become more interested in seeing student resumes as part of the overall application package. College applicants should provide a college admissions resume along with their traditional application materials. In this article, we will explain what a college admissions resume is, what to include in it, how to write one, tips, a template and an example.
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Sell Your College Freshman Job Description And Skills
So, what is it that you do, exactly? Apart from dominating the whole dorm at Madden? Describe your work experience on a resume by focusing on those aspects that fit the profile of your new position.
Applying for any customer-facing job, and you already have customer service experience? Even if you were selling flowers, and now youre going to be selling concrete, sales and people skills are invaluable. Scan the job ad for resume keywords and phrases, and pick out what is most important to your new employer. Using the employers keywords can also prevent your otherwise great resume from being rejected by resume ATS software hiring teams often utilize.
Your employers would like to know what you can do for them. List up to 6 bullet points containing various metrics and achievements in the aspects that correspond to the requirements of the employer. Whenever possible, start your bullets with power words. You can put volunteering work or internships in this resume section, too.
Check out this job description from one of our college freshman resume samples:
Macys San Antonio
2019-present
- Selling and advising on luxury menswear from Armani, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss ranges.
- Resolving all customer inquiries and complaints.
- 0 unresolved or escalated issues.
- Exceeding monthly sales targets by 14% on average.
- 2 commendations for highest monthly sales.
- Overall 97% positive rating from post-sales surveys.
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How To Write A Resume For Colleges Using Your Common App
To follow along, , go to File > Make a copy and copy it to your Google Drive and replace the information with your own as you read.
To begin, your basic resume should have three sections: education, experience, and honors.
Oh hey, look. The Common App also has sections like these: Current or Most Recent School, Activities, and Honors. Reminder: this guide is how to translate these sections directly from the Common App into your resume sections. Itll save you lots of time and produce a solid resume.
And if you havent yet completed your Common App Activities List, read this article and complete that first before going any further.
Heres how to translate each section:
Writing Tips For Your Resume
- Use action verbs. You want to describe your connection to an achievement through action verbs. For example: “Planned and led the project that tripled club members.”
- Be concise. Save the flowery, detailed language for your college essay. Your resume should be concise and to-the-point.
- Use numbers. When possible, use numbers to help quantify your achievements.
- Site relevant skills. Be sure to use plenty of language to showcase your skills as they relate to the area you are interested in studying in college.
- Find a template or example. Resume examples, like the one here, can be a huge help in deciding what to include in your own resume and how to format it.
- Proofread and ask for help. Proofread your work carefully! Then, ask a friend, family member, or trusted mentor to proofread and offer you feedback.
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Resume Objectives For College Students
Before we dive into this subject more let’s get some definitions out of the way to set the stage:
- Resume objective: A statement of your qualifications, interests, and skills that make you a good fit for the role you’re applying for.
- Resume summary: A summary of your past experiences detailing your high level accomplishments and projects.
When you’re applying for a job or internship as a college student you likely won’t have extensive work experience to draw on so I recommend you include a resume objective instead of a resume summary.
The goal of your resume objective is to set the stage for your resume. It should highlight your skills applicable to the job at hand and it should be specific for each job you’re applying to.
95% of resume objectives are boring and generic. By taking the time to craft a customized and effective resume objective you give yourself a big edge over other applicants and increase your chances of getting an interview.
Before we dive into the rules for creating a strong resume objective let’s look at some examples. If you’d like more inspiration we compiled 101 resume objective examples to help guide you.
Sample college student resume objectives
You can see that all of these resume objectives specifically mention the company that the student is applying to . This is the golden rule of resume objectives! Here are the other rules:
Selecting Content For Your Resume
As a high schooler, you may be asking yourself what to put on your resume since you have spent most of your time as a student. Conversely, you may feel like you have done so many different things during different years of high school that putting it on a piece of paper sounds challenging. Start by brainstorming the ways you spend your time outside of your high school courses. You should think about everything you have done since the summer before your freshman year of high school middle school activities and accomplishments should not be included. Think about community service, family responsibilities, paid or unpaid work, clubs at your school, and sports, to name a few. Even if the items you brainstorm seem disjointed, write them down. A high school resume is all about highlighting your skills, abilities, and interests.
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Do My Schools Even Want Me To Send Them A Resume
Find out by checking each university admissions web page or logging onto the Common App to see which schools include a place to upload a resume. Each school has a different policy on whether or not to submit a supplemental resume and its usually a good idea to follow their instructions. #Sarcasm
The University of Virginia says clearly that they do not want students sending additional resumes. Other schools like Brown University, Boston College, and Carnegie Mellon provide space for uploading optional resumes in the Common App, whereas some schools like the University of Texas – Austin say that submitting a resume is strongly recommended. i.e. You should probably do it.
In short, look at what each school requires.
College Application Resume Tips
Finally, here are some of our college application tips that didnt fit anywhere else in the article:
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What Is A College Admissions Resume
A college admissions resume is a document describing a student’s academic and job-related skills and experiences. It is included as a part of the student’s overall college admissions application. The purpose of a college admissions resume is to demonstrate to the college that the applicant is capable of academic success by providing an overview of the student’s academic and job-related history.
Unlike a job-seeking resume, a college admissions resume should focus on academics rather than past jobs. If the student has held a job or jobs, they should list them, but the bulk of the resume will describe academic achievements and school-related activities.
Why Create A Resume
Beyond introducing your experience, a resume is also the first opportunity to convince hiring managers youre right for the job.
It should highlight all your best experiences and any relevant career growth or accomplishments. In a world where youre battling against hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of other job seekers what you put out there matters.
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What To Include On Your Resume As A Student
Use the resume sections below as a guide to what information you should include in your resume writing. Feel free to add or delete things that arent applicable to you. If you dont have much work experience, build it up by highlighting your volunteer or leadership experience.
Your name and contact infoPut your name, email, and phone number at the top of your resume. If you have a website or social media account that showcases your skills or experience, include links to those too. You want recruiters to be able to reach you and find out more about you.
Work experience
The main section of any resume is the work history and job experience section. Whether its an internship, a summer job, or babysitting for your neighbors kids, include your experience and give a brief explanation of your role and responsibilities. Use action verbs to keep it positive and impactful, and focus on the positive results and lasting impression you made in that role.
Skills section
If youre applying to a specific college program or job description, talk about the relevant skills that make you an excellent candidate for that program or position. These can include soft skills, like good communication and interpersonal relationship building, or technical skills, like graphic design or programming. List them all. This is also a good spot to call out any foreign languages you speak.
Leadership experience
Extracurricular activities
Volunteer work
Education section
Relevant coursework
Will A Resume Add Anything To My Application Profile
This is the essential question that applicants need to ask themselves when debating whether or not to submit this extra info to a resume-optional institution. There are, after all, plenty of admissions officers who get annoyed at the inclusion of extraneous submissions from an applicant. When you are responsible for sifting through the 108,837 applications at UCLA and a student has included a dozen writing samples and a seven-minute video about their passion for LARPing, annoyance may only be the tip of the emotional iceberg. To a lesser extent, the inclusion of a student resume that restates everything verbatim already laid out in the activities section of the Common App will also cause consternation for super-busy admissions professionals.
A fair way to weigh whether an optional resume adds any value to your overall submission is to make a list of the impressive things about yourself not included anywhere else in your application. If that list ends up containing nothing of actual committee-swaying quality, consider shutting down the whole operation. If there are indeed brag-worthy achievements on your list that, for one reason or another, cannot be included in the regular application and are resume-appropriate, fire away.
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Skills To Pay The Bills
When you’re building your skills section it can be tempting to list any and every skill you know. You’ll have to resist his temptation.
Before a human reviews your resume, an automated system called an Applicant Tracking System will score your resume based on whether or not it includes the “right” keywords. These filters are largely screening for specific skills.
Doesn’t this mean that you should include as many skills as you can to beat the ATS? Unfortunately, after the ATS a human will look at your resume.
Nothing is a bigger red flag to a hiring manager than a candidate with a laundry list of skills! You’re much better off focusing on 3-5 skills you’re an expert in than including 8-10 skills you kind-of-know.
As a rule of thumb: if you wouldn’t be comfortable being interviewed on a given skill, don’t include it on your resume.
How To Write A Curriculum Vitae
In the United States, a curriculum vitae, or CV, is a type of resume used by professionals in the fields of academia, medicine, teaching, and research. Students most often are asked to submit a CV when they are applying to fellowships, graduate degree programs, or research positions. Countries outside the U.S. often call their resumes CVs, so be sure to understand accurately what it is they are looking for.
As a student, CVs are typically two pages and will include more scholarly content, such as research experiences, laboratory skills, and publications. Apply the same resume formatting guidelines to your CV.
Sample CV section headings may include, but are not limited to
- Education
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How Do I Prepare One
SPD Employer Services counselors assist you with this process. We also have resume guides for you. Additionally, many computer programs and employment Web sites have resume-writing templates that you can utilize. Emsi Data has a free Resume Optimizer that can help you to optimize your resume for the type of job you are applying for.
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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The Importance Of Your Resume
A resume is essential to your job search because its the first impression and the highlight reel of your career thus far. While you want to keep it professional, its okay to get creative with it. Mix up the formats or use a little graphic design to make it stand out.
Whatever you end up doing with your resume, put all your best achievements and skills where hiring managers can easily find them.
And more than anything else, stay confident that your experience will be the perfect fit for a job out there.
How To Write A Resume For College Admissions
Writing a resume for a college admissions package requires a different approach to writing a job application resume. Here are the five things youâll need to consider with answers below.
Don’t like to read? Watch the video instead!
Introducing our expert
At Everydae we know a LOT about making studying fun so you can ace high school without the stress. But we also recognize that weâre not a specialist on everything
Thatâs why, for many of our blog posts, we interview an expert. This is someone who has spent years in the field helping hundreds, if not thousands of high school students prepare for the next stage of their lives.
Todayâs expert is Dr. Genevieve Morgan from Dr. Morgan College Counseling. Dr. Morgan helps families navigate the admissions and career planning process to find the right-fit college for them.
Before we begin…
What is a college resume for admission?
A college resume for admission is a 1-2 page document that describes a high school studentâs notable accomplishments.
Part 1: Do you need to write a resume for college?
Part 2: What’s unique about a high school resume compared to a professional resume?
The resume:
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