Resumes for College Students
College; A great land of opportunity and a great land of expenses. With today’s economy a job is not only difficult to keep but is difficult to even get. Every single thing that a student in college can do to put a leg up on someone is one thing that may just get them a job that they desperately need. A resume is a simple way to accomplish this. A resume should always contain, if nothing else, 3 main things; Experience, an objective, and references.
Experience is very important. It tells your potential employer what you can and have done. Never put that you have no experience. Always try to scrap up some kind of experience that pertains to the job that you’re applying for even if it’s something you think is fundamental. If you’re applying at a fast food place, talk about how you have helped at a bake sale or interacting with people before. It’s essential to show that you can do whatever you’re applying for. If you really do come up completely dry, still do not leave “experience” blank. It needs to be filled with something even if it’s just “no true experience but a fast learner who is willing to work hard to accomplish goals.”
An objective can speak to the employers. It’s not something that most experts require but it’s a chance to show a little bit of your personality and giving your employer a good reason to hire you. It should just be a short one to two sentence input. Do not say that you need the money, say a bit about how you are working for experience, or opportunities to grow. Some employers can really appreciate true honesty, if you’re feeling gutsy do put that you need the money but talk about how you’re a college student, work your angles.
References can make or break you. As a rule of thumb have about three references and two backups. Put the three initial references onto your resume but make sure to note beneath them that more references are available upon request. It shows that more than just three people like you enough to be your references. Never use friends or relatives, this shows that you were unable to find a reliable person to vouch for you. Get a legitimate source that an employer can feel confident in; former employers, professors, family friends who have known you for years, anyone who is going to talk you up and make you look good.
In general employers are looking to hire older people with more experience, so making sure that your resume is in a correct and professional format will make it stick out. No fancy fonts, not 5 pages long, same old 12 pt. Times New Roman and no more than 2 pages long. The more mature your resume the more mature you sound, which is very good. Even if you aren’t sure how a resume is formatted going online to check for a resume builder is very useful, type in the information and presto! Resume completed. Turning in a resume with an application can also help make you stand out from the crowd, doing the minimum can show your work ethic, go above and beyond to show your interest in the job and you may just find yourself able to pay for books this semester!
