A lot of students think that learning is extremely hard. But at the moment they get out of college, they realize that getting a job is even harder. Even after registering on a job portal, they rarely get an invitation for job interviews. They are left wondering why they are not able to get any offers and if there is anything they can do to improve their chances of getting a job.
One thing you need to realize is that your resume will affect your ability to get a job. Some human resource experts suggest that a majority of students underestimate their qualifications when searching for a job. When creating a resume, the most important thing is to understand your marketable skills and experiences and ensure that your CV gets across. Here are tips on how to write a resume when you are just out of college.
Beginning of a resume
Before you even begin to write a resume, you will need to determine your career objectives. If you are unsure what your main career goal is, ask yourself some tough questions like What are your skills? What skills did you get from your education as well as work experience? The answer you will have for these questions will help you to understand the kind of resume that you should create.
Remember that your college resume is your marketing tool and you are the product that is being sold. Like it is the case with any good marketer, you should understand the demographic that you are trying to reach. If you have come across a low entry job that you would like to join, research on the company, this will help guide you when writing the C.V and can prove helpful during the interview.
Order: education first, prior experience second
You will need to list your education details first. Include information on the school you attended and the year you got the degree. Include any honors. In case you had a high grade, put that in the resume too. Consider your various job experiences. These may include those you feel are irrelevant, low-level or mundane.
Consider what you have done from a broader perspective. Have you ever been involved in managing other people? Have you ever interacted with other clients or customers in part-time jobs? Have you ever run a small business? Do not leave out these skills.
Consider listing additional coursework outside your major
Majority of students usually handle coursework that is not only demanding but can be equated to a full-time position. Any experience that is relevant to the career goal can be considered to be a job experience. You can indicate that your job is a full-time student.
If there are any coursework you did that was outside your major coursework, remember to list them. The good idea is to list the courses under the educational part. For instance, if you majored in literature, but you are applying for a position in Economics, you can include a line in the education section of the resume saying, “Coursework was about a study of gas prices as an example of demand and supply.” If any of the coursework was published, remember to indicate that.
If you majored in IT and you are applying for a job as a technology writer, you can highlight that you wrote an essay on the future of journalism in the technology age. Even where the essay was written for you by a custom writing service, you can use the lessons you learned from the paper to highlight your skills in the field.
Scrutinize your extra-curricular activities and think about how they might relate to a real-world job
You might be active in sports, clubs and other activities in college. This can be an indication of your responsibility and dedication. Even if these activities weren’t done under the setting of a traditional job or even an internship setting, they shouldn’t be counted out.
Remember to list any details that you think are important to the potential employer. For instance, if you were involved in making a study in college, and you are applying for a job as a researcher, you can use that experience to boost your chances of getting the job.
Consider an alternative format
If you have been trying the same resume writing tips and they don’t seem to work, you will need to think of a unique way of making your resume stand out from the crowd. While the traditional resume is still a safe bet, you should not fear to add a little bit of your personality or even switching the format. If you have a lot of work in the digital space, consider adding different types of interactive content into the CV. You can add links to your Twitter account, blog posts, video presentations and so on. You can also add graphs and charts that will help to enhance the look.
If you are in a field that needs a portfolio of your abilities, you may need to let the resume be the perfect example of what you are able to achieve. For instance, if you are applying for a graphic designer’s job, you can include graphics in the resume. Alternatively, you can create a video that will show your video production skills.
Conclusion
How writing your CV can show the difference between getting a job or not. You can also find more CV writing resources with a bit of research. But before that, use the above tips to revamp your resume and improve the chances of landing the highest paying jobs.