The Complete Guide to an Irresistible College Student Resume [Resume Examples Included]

The Complete Guide to an Irresistible College Student Resume Resume Examples IncludedThe Complete Guide to an Irresistible College Student Resume CHAPTER 1Before You Start WritingAre you a college student looking for your first internship? Or perhaps a fresh graduate whos about to apply for her first real job? If so, then youve probably already tried to write your first resume - and became painfully aware of your lack of work experience.Yet, even if you had a few moments when you felt useless (even the best soon-to-be graduates feel that way), you should remember that every person has skills and knowledge to show off.The main challenge is discover and transcribe unterstellung skills and experiences into words in the right way. In case of a college student resume, you can look to relevant courses or volunteering experiences. Or perhaps you were wise enough to do an internship during your studies. In any case, well show you how you can write a fantastic college student resume even if youve never worked a day in your life.CHAPTER 1Before You Start WritingLike all things, a good resume starts with having the right mindset. The mindset you adopt during writing will reflect in the impression your resume will give off once its finished. Yet, the most important thing about writing powerful resumes might sound a bit counter-intuitive at first Your resume shouldnt be about you, it should be about the employer.Instead, it needs to present you as a capable candidate wholl bean asset to the company youre approaching.Do you still have no idea how can you be an asset to a great company with your current skill level?Why would anyone want to hire a fresh graduate?Theres no reason to feel intimidated. Even if you have no experience under your belt, there are people out there wholl be glad to employ you. Still, you might be asking, why exactly would an employer want to hire someone who has next to no experience? There are several reasons. Keep these things in mind and make sure at least some of them reflect in your resume.Quick learning and adaptability. Youre a blank canvas. Since its probably going to be your first work experience, your employer will be able to shape you role however they see fit within the geschftlicher umgang.Saving on employee salaries. As an entry level employee, youre probably willing to work for significantly lower salary than seasoned professionals.Comfortable with new technology. Recent graduates have grown up around technology and have developed the ability to pick up new tools rapidly.Investing into someone who shows potential. Talented people are scarce and far in between. If you invest into someone who shows potential early, your investment will return later.Enthusiasm. Everyone is excited about their first job and will work their hardest in order to make a good impression. Graduates bring bounds of creative energy and are more competitive than employers later in their career.6 Tips to Remember Before You Start Writing Your R esumeManagers are expected to solve hundreds of tiny problems every day. Making the decision as for whether to hire you or not is going to be one of those problems. You want to help them solve it as painlessly as possible.Be relevant. A hiring manager wants to know whether youre going to bring value to the company and be a good fit for their company culture. Your resume should give them a clear answer to that question. Asking the so what question witch each bullet point will help you achieve that.Follow the 6 seconds rule. Most recruiters only spend about 6 seconds reading each resume. Make sure your strongest points immediately discernible to make a recruiter give your resume a second look.Pack your resume with keywords. Take a closer look at the job advertisement and scan it for a number of words that best describe the position. Include them in your resume. Incorporating keywords will help you get through these applicant tracking systems so your resume gets to a hiring manager.Avo id using buzzwords. Some phrases have been used so much in resumes they became meaningless. Avoid words such as thinking outside the box, creative or problem solver. For a more complete list, check this article.Use action verbs. While buzzwords are highly discouraged, there are some power words you might want to use. These include expressions such as achieved, advised, delegated and others. Check out this listfor more.Fit your resume on a single page. As a college student, you certainly dont have enough experience to fill 2 pages.Did you know?We also asked 10 career experts to contribute their tips on how to write a perfect college student resume. Check it out hereCHAPTER 2 How to Write a Great College Student Resume in 6 Easy StepsThe format of your resume will heavily depend on the information you have to work with.If you have a lot of of internship experience, youll want to highlight it just bellow your summary and education sections.On the other hand, if you didnt have any jobs related to your desired career, you can play up your education. If the job requires technical skills like C or Ruby, consider putting it just below the education section and right above your work experience. In any case, always make your resume revolve around your greatest strengths and adjust its structure accordingly.1. Personal detailsYou dont have to fret too much about this section. It only becomes relevant once your resume catches an employers attention. For this reason, you also dont want to give it too much space on the page. Insert it into the header of your resume and follow these simple guidelinesContact details. Put your anthroponym at the beginning of your resume. Dont forget to include your email address and telephone number. Make sure your email address sounds professional. Its nigh impossible to be taken seriously with an email address like sexyboy1990hotmail.com.Links to your online profiles. This includes your LinkedIn profile, personal website and/or your web port folio. Dont forget to customise your public LinkedIn URL so it looks something like this www.linkedin.com/in/yourname (default version is pretty difficult to read or transcribe as it contains special characters and numbers). Just click the Edit your public profile button in the top-right corner of the page.Dont include your photo. Be careful with this one In some countries, including your photo is a common practice, in most others just an awkward faux pas. A great majority of experts agree that its better not to include a photo on your resume (and a college student resume is no different) unless youre explicitly asked otherwise.EXAMPLE Personal DetailsYOUR NAMEEmailyour.namegmail.comPhone+1-202-555-0157LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/yournamePortfoliobehance.net/yourname2. Professional Summary / Objective StatementYour resume should never focus on what YOU want. On the contrary, it should tell a potential employer why THEY want to hire you. Whats the best way to do it?Write a professional s ummary that clearly summarises the key qualifications you have to offer a potential employer. Also, dont forget to include any relevant experiences or skill that can set you apart from other candidates.Lets say you worked your way through college financing your own education. This demonstrates your dedication and work ethic. Receiving a scholarship proves your academic excellence. Or perhaps you had a great internship experience. Take your time to pick those accomplishments that are closely related to the job youre applying for. Most importantly, keep it shortand relevant. Avoid anything vague.EXAMPLE Professional SummaryMA English graduate with five years of experience in academic and creative writing.oben liegend skill in communicating complex ideas in a clear and concise manner.Achieved high academic honours while maintaining part-time employment.ICT background and closely familiar with SEO and the intricacies of writing for the web.3. Education SummaryAs a fresh graduate or coll ege student, you should put the education section above your work experiences. After all, your degree is probably still one of the strongest cards you can play at this point.Therefore, every college student resume should list academic distinctions such as summa cum laude, scholars hips, honours such as deans list and other awards. Only list your GPA if its higher than 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. If your overall GPA is lower than that, mention your major GPA. Highlight your accomplishments and consider adding those of your courses that are related to the job youre applying for. If youre yet to graduate, include your graduation date.EXAMPLEEducation SummaryUniversity of St Andrews, St Andrews, ScotlandBA in Business and Marketing, Expected Graduation June 2017Academic accomplishments GPA 3.8 / 4.0, Deans list, Received second place in the universitys business plan competitionRelevant coursework Marketing Management, Survey Research, Strategic Internet Marketing, Integrated Marketing Communica tions, Marketing Analytics4. Skills SummaryDepending on the information you have to work with, it will be either the work experience or the skills section that will take up most space. If youve done several internships and have acquired some experience to speak of, you can simply follow regular resume guidelines.Yet, the approach that most experts recommend in case of a college student resume is to focus on your skills. This is what they call a functional resume.Read through the job description again and select skills that are crucial for the position. See how they overlap with your own skills and group your experience under each of the respective skills headings.Notice that no company names or job titles are mentioned here. These will be listed in the work history section. However, dont hesitate to mention any class projects, volunteer work or extracurricular activities that demonstrate your ability and are related to your target job.EXAMPLE SkillsWriting and CommunicationDegree wi th an emphasis on clarity and structure in written and oral communication.Wrote blog posts, news features, technical documents and marketing copies.Former editor-in-chief of the university newspaper.Experience writing business and grant proposals, pitch documents and advertising copy.Translated documents and interpreted conversations in Spanish, German and English.Creative and Analytical ThinkingAnalysis of audience, purpose and style of documents.Strategic choice of wording, tone, format and source of information.Ability to take fact-based materials and make them interesting.Software and Social MediaKnowledge of social media, blogging and digital marketing.Experience with Google Wave, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, WordPress and Blogspot.Managed social media accounts with more than 30.000 followers in total.5. Work HistoryIn the end, employers want to see those dates and positions. Now that youve done most of the work in the previous section, all theres left to do is to list your wor k experiences chronologically. Include dates, company names, and job positions.Dont forget to list your volunteering positions too. It might not be a paid work experience but its an experience nevertheless. At the same time, volunteering looks insanely good on any college student resume. It speaks volumes about your character, work ethic, and social engagement.EXAMPLE Work HistoryMarketing Intern - Wayne Enterprises, Inc., Gotham City - Summer 2014Editorial Assistant - Daily Planet, Metropolis - Summer 2013Cleaning Officer - LexCorp, Metropolis - Dec 2012 Jun 2013Soup Kitchen Volunteer - Martha Wayne Foundation - 2010 Present 6. TestimonialsDont be afraid to transsumpt testimonials at the end of your college student resume. They say more about you than you could ever explain yourself. First, when you describe yourself, it can easilysound like bragging. Second, as a student, you have no authority yet. Let your mentors, supervisors, and professors do the bragging for you.Witch each testimonial, include the personsname, title and position. If they only gave you afull-blown recommendation letter, extract 1-3 sentences and make sure you dont takethem out of context.EXAMPLE TestimonialsSally was always well organised and punctual with her work and her intelligence was evident. I hope you will consider giving her a place. - Professor John Doe, University of Gotham CityI have no hesitation in recommending Sally for the job. She is a very good student, a hard worker, and will, I am sure, be an asset to your company and team. - Dr Suzanne Smith, University of Gotham CityFinal tips to consider before you press SendUse off-peak hours for maximum attention, especially if youre reaching out to an employer directly. Hiring managers are busy people and you want them to receive your resume when they have enough time to read through it.Always follow-up. If you receive no answer within several days after submitting your resume, dont hesitate to send a follow-up email to remind the company of your application.Break some rules. Dont be afraid to adjust the resume structure weve outlined above. Always think about how can your college student resume best communicate your strengths.Tailor your college student resume for every role. A generic resume will always miss the mark. Its impossible to keep your resume relevant if you dont consider particular demands of every job. Review the job description and modify your resume accordingly.Your formatting needs to be consistent. All typefaces should be the same and sizing should be consistent throughout a resume. The same applies to spacing and capitalising.Check your resume for typos. Having typos in your resume means an instant death for your application. It portrays you as careless and even incompetent for not using the spellcheck feature in your text editor.Attach a cover letter.Your resume should never go unaccompanied. Write a short cover letter and insert it into the body of your email. If you dont know how to write one, check out our Complete Guide to Writing Powerful Cover Letters. helped more than 300K people to get a job. Create a perfect resume and cover letter in minutesShare Your Feedback or Ideas in the Comments