The first thing that comes into anybody’s mind when they think of writing a resume is to jot down the list of work experiences they’ve had over the past few years. We all know that all the ‘good’ companies with ‘interesting’ job vacancies are looking for ‘experienced’ candidates to show up for an interview, who can persuade the interviewer on how the job matches with the skill set they have gained by working for some other company over a significant period of time.
But when that is the case, what’s a student supposed to do? Ambitious students get anxious to land their very first job even before they get their final transcripts or degree in their hands. And why shouldn’t they? After all, in most cases, the reason they’ve been investing years of effort, time and (their guardian’s) money to gain all that education and qualification is just so they can start a career and become financially independent after that! The reality hits them hard when they realize that most of the employers don’t even care how much effort they put into their studies until they are able to envelop their educational qualification with meaningful, real-life work experience and recommendations.
Thankfully, students who are smart understand that there’s a way around every fair or unfair complication in life. Alison Doyle from Best Essay Writing suggests, “For a student resume, you can also demonstrate your skills and abilities by including volunteer work and other extracurricular activities.”
When a student is confident about his/her potential to excel in any applied job, he/she would do anything to come up with a perfect resume to convince the employer that they have what it takes, even though they’re having the tag of a ‘fresh graduate’ on their head, and competing with a bunch of ‘experienced’ and well-qualified candidates.
So what is it that these students include in their resume that makes it sound professional, valuable to an employer, and manipulated to appear as though it’s full of listed work experiences?
Academic Research Projects
Many universities nowadays have a requirement for students to work on industry-specific dissertations that involve practical exposure to workspaces, factories, retail spots and other sites for the students to gather, compile and analyze all the requisite information. Perhaps that’s why recruiters are becoming receptive on considering projects completed as part of your coursework as a replacement for real-life contractual projects or full-time employment experience. When a recruiter is inclined towards hiring you, he/she would often be willing to look into the academic projects you worked on during the course of your degree, to gain an insight into the skills and knowledge that you have that can possibly bring value to the prospective employer and company.
Don’t be shy to mention as many academic projects you’ve done when you’re writing your resume, especially those that are in one way or the other relevant to the job description or industry you’re applying for. This does not only give a chance for the recruiters to have a peek into your potential, but also sends a positive vibe to them as they see how much you value the education you possess.
Extracurricular Activities
Your experience from all the activities you participated in during your studies can now be utilized as the real value in your resume. Sometimes, these non-work activities can really help the recruiters understand your personality type, your attitude towards life, and your personal interests and potential, all of which are valuable for them to identify whether you’ll be able to fit into the organizational culture of the prospective company.
For instance, if you used to be a debater in college, the employer might see you as a good salesperson who has thick enough skin to speak out your opinion to the public and persuade them to purchase their product. If you have always been a sports person, you’d be more comfortable and easily adjustable working outdoor on-site in the hot weather as opposed to candidates who can only work in an enclosed and air-conditioned office environment. You can learn from experts at Custom Assignment Writing how to directly relate your hobbies and non-work activities with real professional potential and fields.
To complement the extracurricular activities listed in your resume, it is a good idea to discuss the nature of jobs that interest you the most during your job interview. That would show the interviewer that you really are what you’ve claimed to be in your document.
Internships
If you happen to have any kind of internship experience, even if it was just a short-term or part-time task that you worked on merely out of passion without even getting a stipend or any kind of compensation, it can still add great value to the work experience section of your resume, especially when it’s mentioned in a way that lets the recruiter know how you were able to familiarize yourself with practical working environment during your little task.
An internship can even be freelance work that you did from home in your free time as a student. Good freelance platforms like Best Essay even offer certificates to authenticate your claims even you provide your services to them as a part-time, freelancer for a certain period of time.
Students who have multiple internship experiences are perceived as goal-oriented, passionate to work, and able to handle responsibilities from a young age.
Leadership Skills
Leadership skill is an asset that can start developing into one’s personality from any critical phase of life, may it be simple student life, heavy academic life, social life (or even social media life in today’s age), professional life, or non-professional youth life.
Even though the recruiter might look for your past working experience where you were able to successfully display your leadership skills, and initially view that as the only means to learn about your nature in this regard, deep down inside they know that other kinds of life experiences can also give a good glance into your talent to lead others and get a job done. Hence, if you feel that you have leadership skills in you, the best way to validate that is by talking about it in your resume and during the job interview.
Glowing Confidence
Speaking to someone in person is not the only means to display your confidence. Impressive words, flawless grammar, smooth statements, and elaborated claims in your resume will make your confidence glow from the piece of paper even before you are called for an interview.
You might also want to include writing about your problem-solving skills (using real-life examples to illustrate), communication skills, and ability to work in a team, self-management and time management skills, and your overall commercial awareness by talking about the industry you’re applying for.
Concluding Remarks
In brief, merely through the style of writing your resume, you can show that you are just as (or even more) capable of providing value to the prospective organization than any other candidate whose resume comes with a long list of relevant and ‘real’ past experience portfolio.
There are various inspiring sources available for students to use (such as domywriting reviews), to equip you with the skills to write a perfect resume.
Excited? Go for it! And don’t forget to include your contact details in all the excitement, so that you can be called for the job interview as soon as possible!
