Resume Writing Tips for College Seniors

College seniors have the opportunity, like all of us do, to take advantage of this down time to check off some important to-dos. Like, writing their resume.

Not only is now a good time to get a good working draft going, but college seniors can also take advantage of tapping into industry experts in their field of interest to seek out their professional opinion and to review their resume. Save for the frontline workers responding to the increased demands caused by the coronavirus, including healthcare, supply chain and logistics, it is a rare time to have most people more available. It is also a time of community and lending a virtual helping hand where possible. Undoubtedly, more people are more likely to help and provide something like a resume review now than ever before. Take advantage of it!

Getting Started: Resume Writing Tips for College Seniors

To help college seniors get started, we have pulled together this short list of top resume writing tips:

• Position yourself as the employee, not the student.Anyone considering new or soon-to-be college graduates understands that you are coming to the job with limited experience. It’s important, however, to highlight relevant coursework, extracurricular activities and part-time jobs that relate to the job you’re applying for. Despite your experience being limited, you need your resume to tell a concise story, which may mean omitting certain things you have done.
• Have an objective or summary statement, and tailor it for the job you’re applying for.The statement you include at the top of your resume should summarize – in two or so sentences – your short-term professional goals while highlighting the developed skills you already have as it relates to those goals. This statement should also be relevant to the job you are applying for.
• Don’t forget your volunteer experience.You have likely been exposed to a lot of great experience already, through your coursework, extracurricular activities and maybe even a relevant part-time job, but don’t forget your volunteer experience. Even though you weren’t getting paid for the work you were doing, don’t discount volunteer work if it ties to your professional goals and target job.
• Look at examples and pick a template.After you have a good outline going of what you’d like to include on your resume, you then have to decide how you will format it. The key here is consistency. Avoid using uncommon fonts or multiple fonts on your resume. There are a lot of great examples of resume templates you can follow online. If you Google, “resume templates for college students,” or something similar, you will find more than you need.
• Edit, and ask for feedbackYou cannot control that you don’t have a lot of experience – people are expecting that of college seniors. You can, however, control how you represent yourself on your resume. Limiting errors means visiting and revisiting your resume – don’t try to do it all in one sitting. And, reach out for guidance by requesting a professional review. It’s worth it to have multiple eyes on your resume before you consider it ready to submit for a job opening.

Side Note: Know a High School Senior Interested in a Career in STEM? Have Them Apply for Our Scholarship.

Similar to now being a good time for college seniors to work on their resume, for high school seniors, now is a great time to be looking into available scholarships. For high school seniors entering college to major in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) fields, The Intersect Group has created a scholarship program to provide assistance. The deadline is usually March 1, but due to the coronavirus the deadline has been extended to May 1.

For eligibility and to apply, go to: www.theintersectgroup.com/news/scholarship-program.