Resume Tips for Upcoming Graduates

From guest blogger- Thomas Wolff. Thomas Wolff is the Chief Resume Writer for Resume Mastermind, a Kansas City-based resume review service.

If you're an upperclassman, one of the most daunting aspects of preparing for your first job is writing a resume. While recent college graduates and entry-level jobseekers have unique challenges when it comes to resume development, there are proven techniques that work every time. With a solid roadmap of what your resume should and shouldn't include, you will be able to write a great resume that will open the door to your first job in the real world.

Before you begin the writing process, you need to think of your resume as a personal marketing tool and not just a list of your education and work experience. A well-written resume should be a subtle yet powerful advertisement of yourself, and most importantly, it should enable you to stand out in a pile of hundreds of other inexperienced students’ resumes.

Here's a list of tips that will help you simplify the resume writing process.

Start with an opening profile

Rather than begin the resume with an outdated Objective Statement that tells employers what you want, turn the tables and tell employers what it is about you that would make you the ideal entry-level hire. In two or three sentences, describe your most 'sellable' points to the reader, focusing on how your academic background, relevant experience, and unique personality traits would enable you to add immediate value to their organization. Be sure to tailor the profile for a specific job target.

An example of a solid summary:

"Upcoming Mechanical Engineering graduate with a proven ability to provide technically feasible solutions to complex engineering challenges. Balanced a full-time class load with extensive involvement in the University’s Society of Automotive Engineers organization, gaining outstanding experience working with a team to design, build, and race a competition-ready Formula racecar."

This specific example was for an engineering student, but you can see how it can be tailored for a student with any major.

Education

As a new or soon-to-be graduate, your big selling point is usually your education, so it is perfectly acceptable to include a more detailed education section than an experienced job seeker typically would. If you have a high GPA or graduated with honors, be sure to mention it. Research papers and capstone projects may be relevant as well; especially if you include the scope of the project and the steps you took to complete the assignment.

You should also include a summary of your most relevant coursework, which demonstrates transferrable skills that will apply in the business world. I would focus primarily on your upper-level major coursework rather than general studies courses.

For those of you who participated in study abroad programs, since it is part of your educational experience and growth, you can put it under the Education section. Provide an overview of the program and the courses you took. This can be a great talking point in an interview as people love to hear about your experiences in another part of the world.

Relevant Experience

Most employers don't expect to see a ton of work experience, especially when they're hiring for entry-level positions. The key is to showcase your most transferable skills - the skills you’ve developed as a student that you can bring to the workplace. The same principle applies for any jobs or internships you may have had during your college years. Simply indicating that you had an internship is not sufficient. Do your best to give the reader a clear picture of your daily responsibilities and any achievements you are proud of.

Don’t overlook the value of unpaid work experience—anything and everything counts, as long as the skills you list are transferable, and relevant to the type of job you’re seeking. This can include volunteer work, fraternity, sorority and university organization positions.

Extra-Curricular Activities

While having a high GPA and solid internship is certainly impressive, prospective employers want to see candidates who are well-rounded and have the potential to become leaders in an organization. Including volunteer work and affiliations with campus organizations is a great way to beef up the resume by showcase the ability to multi-task and take on a leadership role.

Technical Skills

This section will be more important for some students than it is for others. Those of you graduating with a technical degree will want to be sure to include specific programming languages, platforms, and applications that you have used and understand.

Formatting

Typically, most new graduates should have a one page resume that includes the following sections: Contact Information, Summary, Education, Relevant Work Experience, Student Affiliations, and Technical / Computer Skills. If you worked full-time during school, or perhaps you're a non-traditional student, perhaps a two-page resume is necessary. The general rule of thumb is to make the resume as long as it needs to be to include all relevant information. For the majority of you, one page should do it.

Overall, your resume will require a significant amount of work and commitment on your part. Be prepared to spend at several hours creating your resume, and once you have a draft ready, get several people to read it and give you constructive feedback. The Career Services office is a good place to start. Last but not least, proofread, proofread, and proofread. Remember that the ultimate goal for your resume is to land your first job, so you want to be sure you're putting your best foot forward.