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College students applying for their first job need to know how to create a strong resume with even stronger wording. Use ResumeHelp’s college student resume examples as a guide to write your own.
As a college student, whether you’re brand-new in postsecondary education or about to graduate, it’s not out of the question that you may end up applying for a job. Many college students apply for jobs either to cover certain components of student debt or even just to have extra spending money. Regardless of why you’re applying for a job, that job experience can serve you well in the future. Here’s how to write an effective and convincing entry-level college student resume.
College students want to emphasize their existing experience and the fact that they may end up being with a company for decades to come. As a college graduate, you’ll likely need extra training and supervision, but if a company is willing to invest this work in you, you want to show them that you’re interested in sticking by them for years to come.
Start your resume by choosing a resume format. There are three common resume formats: the chronological resume format, which emphasizes your work history and is best for workers with more than nine years of experience. A functional resume format, which emphasizes your work skills and is designed for entry-level workers with less than three years of experience and a combination resume format, which emphasizes skills and experience, and works best for those with three to nine years of experience.
As a college student, you probably don’t have an extensive work history, so the functional resume format may be your best option. Once you choose a resume format that works for your career situation, you can move forward with filling out the resume sections.
Your header should include your contact information and full name. Contact information may include your email address, phone number and professional social media links, like your LinkedIn profile.
At the beginning of your resume, write a two- to three-sentence paragraph outlining your relevant skills and knowledge. This is a resume objective, which is one of the first ways you’ll sell your experience to a hiring manager. It’s best to steer clear of a resume summary, which is more geared toward workers with three or more years of experience.
Next is your skills section. You should list technical skills, also known as hard skills that you’ve learned in your specific field of study, such as business administration. You should also include soft skills, which are generalized skills that you’ll be able to use in any field. Your skills section should include eight to twelve skills directly related to the job you are applying for and should be presented in a bullet point list. Here are a few bullet points to get you started:
In your work history section, you want to list as much experience as you have. If you have volunteer work or internship experience, for example, you can include it on your resume. The more experience you have, the better your resume will look.
Your education section will largely have to do with your college experience, as well as any certifications you’ve received over the years. Steer clear from including your high school experience unless you have an especially strong award to show off, like valedictorian. If you’re a recent graduate, include your graduation information, including any theses or other graduation writings you’ve had.
When writing your college student resume, here are some additional tips to keep in mind:
Have questions? We’re here to help.
It’s always a good idea to add a cover letter to your job application. A cover letter gives you a chance to talk more about your experience and indicate exactly why you’ll be such a good fit with a specific company. You should never consider your application complete until you write a cover letter. Use the ResumeHelp Cover Letter Builder to create yours, especially if you don’t have much experience with writing them.
Most college students don’t have a lot of experience and you might even be applying for your first job. This isn’t necessarily a problem as long as you know how to create professional experience out of your life experience. You can list part-time jobs, including summer jobs, extracurricular activities and relevant coursework in your work experience section, all of which can prove that you have a strong work ethic and are going to be a great employee.
Every time you apply for a new job, it’s a good idea to change your resume slightly. This ensures that you’re reflecting the precise desires that a hiring manager has for this specific position. Read through the job description and find the resume keywords, which are specific traits and job duties that the hiring manager has listed in the job application, then include those keywords in your resume.
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