Building a College Student Resume
Tips for Gaining Work Experience and Leadership Skills
College students must work hard to build their resumes, beginning in freshman year. With careful planning, any college student can graduate with a winning resume.
Many students start college with little or no work experience and virtually nothing else to put on a resume. Whether he wants to be an accountant, a pharmacist, a teacher, or an engineer, there are certain fundamental things a college student can do to build an effective resume from scratch.
Resume Building Tip: Participate in Student Organizations
Student organizations offer easy avenues to gather job-related skills for college student resumes. They offer leadership positions, team-building activities, and networking events. It is important to note that simply joining a student organization is not enough. Students should take an active role in any organization(s) they join. Prospective employers want a glimpse at how a student will contribute to the company. Recruiters and hiring managers want to see that a student is interested in making valuable contributions, not just being one of the crowd.
It is better to belong to one or two student organizations and make significant contributions versus belonging five and only boasting member status. Many college students miss this point. They never participate beyond attending meetings, but list these memberships as “accomplishments” on their resumes. Little do they know that an employer will see right through this tactic.
To get involved beyond simply attending meetings, students can volunteer to serve on committees or even run for office. Every student organization has officer positions, such as President, Vice President, and Treasurer. There may even be a fun position such as “Social Events Coordinator.”
Well-Rounded Students Maintain Good GPAs
A perfect GPA is not only unrealistic for most college students, it’s usually unnecessary to land a good job; however, a decent GPA (a solid “B” average, or 3.0 or above) is paramount. College students must balance study time with extracurricular activities.
Those with perfect GPAs will undoubtedly land good jobs because a high GPA displays an understanding of the course material. Luckily, employers are equally as interested in well-rounded individuals. For example, if an employer finds a student with a good GPA and a demonstrated ability to network (say, as the recruiter for a student organization), this combination may be translated into an employee who will produce a quality work product as well as bring in new clients.
Impress Prospective Employers: Get Relevant Job Experience
Prospective employers love to find job candidates who are already trained. If possible, students should find an internship or co-op directly in the line of work they are pursuing. Some examples: a future tax accountant who gets a seasonal tax preparation job or a future pharmacist who gets a job as a pharmacy technician. If a directly-related job is not in the works, any job in the same field would suffice. For example, a future tax accountant may find summer work as a bookkeeper.
The Key To Building A Winning College Student Resume: Start Early
College students should not wait until senior year to work on building a resume. That is too late to rescue a flailing GPA or prove leadership abilities. If the goal is to maintain a 3.3 GPA and be vice president of a student organization, consider the steps it will take to get there.
Some tips to keep in mind when building a college student resume:
- Join student organizations early on. Running for a leadership position later on will be easier because relationships have already been established with group members.
- Keep up with studying: A good grade in freshman Calculus can offset the impact of a sophomore C- in Biology.
- Set realistic goals and continuously work toward them. At the end of a college career, all of those accomplishments will come together nicely into a marketable resume.
