Let’s craft a college resume to impress a future employer
To get your dream job, you naturally need a catchy resume. Do not worry that you have low chances due to poor work history. Fortunately, there’s a good way out. For example, a person with poor working experience can focus on skills. Follow the tips below to improve your college resume.
Mind what a potential employer wants from the candidates
A potential employer doesn’t care about a candidate’s GPA (grade point average) or barista experience, for instance. When a recruiter scans a resume, she/he already admits that a candidate doesn’t have work history yet. If they accept your candidacy, you’ll be accordingly trained to execute their duties. So, don’t focus on work experience.
Instead, make sure that you possess sufficient problem-solving, leadership as well as communication skills. That’s what they are already interested in. They hope a future employee can get along with any team to keep it work effectively. Now let’s see what can be done with your resume.
Have objectives and skills summarized
List all of your skills, in particular, computer ones as well as any abilities gained during volunteer experience, schooling or working. Having made this list, find out which of these skills match the position you are interested in. Those resumes focusing on specific requirements of the position will have greater chances to provoke an interview with a potential employer.
Your goals require stating previous accomplishments and the ones you are eager to gain on the position you’re applying for. The goals can show the employer that you are a determined person and you’re already familiar with the industry and their company.
Focus on education
It’s clear that without sufficient experience, one should pay more attention to education. Pay attention to collecting the most crucial facts about it, in particular, advanced degrees. Mention all the educational institutions attended by you and don’t forget to add your honors and rewards.
Also mention serious academic projects, in particular, senior theses or independent studies. It will show you appear to be an active student. Tell about writing, research, and presentation skills. Don’t forget to mention specific courses if they have to do with the position of interest.
Show the leadership skills
Hiring managers will undoubtedly appreciate leadership skills if you really possess them. They really expect a new employee to be able to train, motivate, lead, organize, and recruit other people. If you have had any leadership experience in a sports squad, or organization, illustrate it in a paper.
Make use of such action words when depicting leadership experience:
- Implemented;
- Created;
- Led.
Mentioning work experience
Despite this type of resume doesn’t focus on work experience, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t mention it in a paper if you really have it. Tell about your jobs.
Tell about your transferable skills. These are abilities gained on one job and carried to another. For instance, a call center experience may indicate that a person has good listening skills – a real treasure for teamwork. You might have gained sales as well as customer service abilities when working in retail, for instance.
Depict volunteer and community experience
Notwithstanding the fact, no one pays for volunteer or community activates, people involved in it gain experience that can be valuable. So, don’t hesitate to mention it in a resume. Perhaps, recruiters will appreciate that experience.
Just merely mentioning those activities isn’t enough. Explain your role in those organizations. Perhaps, it had to do with leadership.
Don’t forget about keywords
That’s rather a technical requirement but a candidate cannot neglect it. Special software is used by recruiters to scan through piles of resumes, so the right keywords can help to spot your unique paper in myriads of others.
So, it is possible to create a great college resume even without an impressive working history. Just follow these simple tips to impress your future employer and get invited for an interview.