We have all been there: you are ready to start your career but feel intimidated with an idea that you lack experience which the employers expect you to have. However, it is not hopeless as some might feel. All you need is a good guide on how to create your first resume and take advantage of your background, level of expertise and skills.
You are not the first one in such a position: Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have all been at this starting point. (We hope this will encourage you a little).
So, as you read and search for good recommendations on how to compose a good resume, check out our extensive list of tips that will help you nail this stage of the job search.
Tips for graduates on how to write their resumes
1. Unpaid experience counts.
One of the common mistakes of graduate students is that they believe that they should only talk about paid experience on their CV to impress the potential employer.
However, it is not so. Internships, missionary trips, and voluntary projects are all good for your resume as long as they demonstrate what kind of person you are and what it must feel like to work with you.
Choose the most interesting facts about those experiences and add them to your resume. Only opt for things that demonstrate how well you fit in the picture.
2. Demonstrate your skills.
You should always a paragraph or two in your resume that would talk about your personal skills. When the company is looking for an employee, they do not only want to fill the gaps in their staff, but they also want to find people that will be a real asset to the team.
The thing is that it is easy (or not easy but possible) to teach someone some professional skills, but it is hard to teach someone to be a good team player. It is something you cannot learn.
Therefore, if you can demonstrate that you are a team player (preferably by providing a good real life example), it will be a real leverage.
3. Talk more about your education.
If you do not have too much job experience, you definitely have some educational achievements that you can be really proud of.
Was it a coursework you spent hours on when conducting an in-depth research?
Is it about your GPA that you can’t but mention?
We are sure you can think of something you are particularly proud of, and dedicate a whole section to this idea.
4. Talk about great campus activities you had in college.
If you are a proactive and inquisitive young person full of amazing ideas ready to be implemented to make the world a better place, then we strongly recommend you having a separate section in which you will talk about your achievements.
When you think about an achievement, you probably see some old wise men discovering a new theory. But in reality, you might mention a charity even you organized or a project you implemented using the available resources only.
Look at this section from the employer’s perspective to gain a better understanding of what will add up to your worth in his eyes.
5. Sound professional.
You might have never worked in the company yet, but you have all the chances to be a real professional inside. You just did not have a chance to demonstrate it yet.
So, let your tone be as official as possible (with a hint on your personality) and your address be respectful.
Do not sound too young or naïve. And if you have hard times understanding what that would really look like, then you should ask friends or even professionals at some resume writing service to have some feedback on what you wrote and how you can make it better. Consider checking your grammar and punctuation before submitting a resume, check everything for stylistic mistakes or typos. In other words, take your time to develop a worthy CV.
6. Add cover letters.
A resume is a document. Therefore, it hardly ever shows your personality. But companies look for real people, not robots, and your character, preferences and style are important to them.
So, use at least one paragraph of your resume to show who you really are and what it would be like to be around you. Talk about your qualities and peculiarities and strive to build up a positive image.
Young people graduating from college are one of the most promising candidates in the market. They might not have the experience, but they have the desire to learn and achieve more. So, consider yourself lucky if you are one of those people. Experience is not everything you need! Now, you know everything a graduate student needs to know. Do not waste any more of your time and start working on an excellent resume!
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