Resume Tips for Undergraduate Students

By Rene Santana on January 22, 2019

How many jobs are you currently working? One, two, three or more? Maybe you do a little bit of Uber driving, tutoring, or pet sitting? Your resume must be stacked. If that’s the case, be ready to turn your gig skills into actual skills for the workforce life. Whether you graduate this quarter or next quarter, it’s never too early to start working on your resume for the post-college life. Below are some insightful resume tips I’ve learned and used to successfully get callbacks during my recent transition from student life to work life.

Resume

Image from Pixabay

The first tip is before you graduate, gather a list of your top accomplishments be it a solo or group project. For each project write down things you specifically completed within the project and write them out in this format: I achieved X, as measured by Y by doing Z. While it may seem daunting at first to write out your accomplishments in this format, it’ll be worth it when employers see that you accomplished goals rather than merely completing an assigned task. Using this format can also change the way you look at your responsibilities at your current job and in your classrooms. If you’re still unconvinced, it’s also the format that Google recruiters use to gauge the experience of applicants!

While handing in a resume in-person is still a popular method of applying to jobs, most of the applications you’ll submit will be via online job postings. A neat thing about this method is that you could insert live links in your resume to direct your employer to your LinkedIn, web portfolio, and your social media pages. To insert a live link, simply copy the website URL and paste it near your contact section in your resume. Hit space after pasting and the link will activate, you’re all set!

If you want to update your resume with a fresh coat of paint,  consider using Canva’s resume builder. Even their most minimalistic design can make your resume stand out from the rest. There are nearly hundreds of options to choose from. making it possible for you to find the resume that fits your job-hunting needs. It can take hours spacing words, re-formatting fonts, and moving text boxes to make everything fit perfectly in Word or Google Docs. With this builder, it’s as simple as choosing a template, adjusting grouped boxes, and pasting your content onto the template. With such easy creation, you could make multiple varients of your resume to always have a fresh look when submitting to recruiters or job posts. For a quick step-by-step tutorial, check out LaShonda M Brown’s helpful video on getting started.

Adding a skills section to your resume will give a clear indication of your capabilities, and the expertise you gained from previous jobs and from your classes. To give a better picture of your level of expertise, make sure you add the number of years you’ve worked at each specific skill. It’s a small add-on, but it’s a crucial piece that will answer every job posting’s burning question: how many years of experience do you have with X skill? Best way to tell employers is simply showing them. Even if you have less than a year with the skill, it doesn’t hurt to list it to show that you’re willing and interested in learning new skills and okay with potentially wearing multiple hats.

Consider your volunteer experience too. Whether you were part of the student committee, club, or simply offered your free time to community events, it’s all fair game for your resume. Soft skills are hard to prove because anyone could say they are great at communication and leadership, but without a clear example of it, you’d be hard-pressed convincing an employer of your soft skills. If you list examples where you took charge and led a fundraiser, helped build communications with non-profits through email, and or help teach lessons, employers will see that you do indeed have strong and reliable soft skills.

As a last piece of advice, I found using WayUp has been a great way to find and land internships and volunteer jobs, for both onsite and remote jobs! It’s specifically tailored for recent grads looking to get their careers started. And while I mainly focused on resume tips in this article, I want to share a great article on getting started on writing a clear and concise cover letter by Michael Tomaszewski. He walks you through each part of a cover letter so that you can feel confident enough to sell and promote yourself to future employers.

Leaving the classroom and entering your dream job’s office space will take work and a lot of it. And while you also worked tediously at your degree, you shouldn’t have to work at any regular job for the rest of your life. Again, it’s never too late to start looking for your future dream job!

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