Resumes for Students/Recent Grads
How To Make Yours Graduate Above the Others
Students/Grads - tips (that anyone can use) on how to set up your Resume to show your best features and not get dumped in the circular file for lack of experience.
Congratulations! You've just graduated, but now you need to find that job to start paying back those student loans and/or mounting bills! But EVERYONE says you need experience: all those job ads; even those Career Fairs - the first question you get asked is "Do you have any experience?" So what can you do??
First - get a paper and pen/pencil. Yep, you are going to have to work for this one, but it is worth it in the end. In chronological order, list the courses you took from the educational institute. Exact order does not matter, it just helps you NOT to forget - and leave plenty of room between each course. It's a good idea to also put a rough date beside each course (start and end) - only to help you in formalizing your experience (yep, that's right) into words. NO ONE will see this but you - so be honest.
Ready? Now, what did you learn from that course - GENERIC only, please! We're not looking to test your knowledge on the subject, but if you can take what you learned and apply it. History course? So you learned about specific cultures and how historical events for that culture impinged on its development, probably. English course? You probably learned how to compare styles of different authors within a specific genre, or how certain themes keep repeating within an author's work. Don't use full sentences, just a few points about what you learned. Beside this info (I tend to use columns, but that's my math/programming mind) write down what you had to do to earn your final mark (ie - two essays of 1000 words plus final exam) and of course list your final mark.
Now, read it over. What do you find - that you did better on the courses with more essays that the ones with tests? Then you have proven research skills. You do better on tests? You work well under pressure. And now you have the EXPERIENCE to prove those statements from your education work.
Now, look at your courses and knowledge - what else can be applied to the specific job market you are going for? Any computer courses? As almost all jobs now require some kind of computer interface (yep, those POS machines the cashiers use ARE a type of computer), your computer courses actually count as experience.
Hopefully you saved some of your work - from not only your computer courses but any other courses from your chosen field. Use these documents to create a portfolio of your PROVEN work - especially if there are any positive comments from the instructor on them. Just having a clean copy of your work is even better - as long as you have the assignment sheet with it!
More on how to use this information on your Resume in future articles.
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Copyright May 11, 2007. Paym Bergson and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use of this material will constitute an infringement of copyright.
