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Resumes for College Graduates

Congratulations on your upcoming graduation from college! Some of you will be going on to graduate school but a majority of you will be looking for the first full-time job in your chosen career. Here are some tips and warnings that will help you toward interviews and ultimately a successful career.

  1. Highlight any work, volunteer, or leadership activity. Never dismiss part-time positions, even if they are not in your field, volunteer work, or leadership roles you have taken in college or community committees or organizations. Active work experience and organizational participation underscores your ability to work with others.
  2. Mention your GPA if you want and if it is high, especially in your major. Briefly list any courses you took that are most closely relevant to the career you want. Employers understand that you are a recent college graduate; they may not understand how prepared you are for your chosen career.
  3. List honors, awards, and promotions you have received, from employee of the month to a single golf trophy, even if you feel “embarrassed” by it or undeserving. Your future employer will be delighted to know that others thought well of you.
  4. Be careful of outdated advice. For example, you may be advised to write an objective instead of a profile, include a long list of keywords (visibly or invisibly), or add “references upon request.” Do not follow that advice.
  5. Take help when it is offered. You need someone to proofread your resume manually (do not rely on online spell-checkers and grammar-checkers). As a recent college graduate, you need to listen to suggestions for beefing up or toning down your resume—first-time job seekers often go to extremes, either claiming too much or too little.
  6. Know what you are looking for. This is probably the most important and most difficult of these tips for a recent college graduate. The generic resume, aimed at “any job,” will never capture the job of your dreams. If you do not know what you want, how can you expect recruiters and hiring managers to know?

Please consider using a professional resume writer. At Robin’s Resumes®, we understand that your first job after college may set the tone for the rest of your career. Our resumes help you find a job you will love.

Resume Advice for Under-Employed College Grads

According to economists at the New York Federal Reserve, nearly 45% of recent college students are underemployed, working at jobs for which they are overqualified and which do not take advantage of their degrees. That statistic changes as time goes on until, by age 33, only one-third of college graduates are underemployed, a figure that has held steady throughout the decades.

If you are a college graduate who is underemployed and/or working outside your field of study, now is the time to hire a professional resume writer to put your career on the right path.

Regardless of where you have been working so far, you have developed transferrable skills, including reliability, teamwork, time management and possibly leadership, financial management and customer relation skills. Those transferrable skills need a prominent place on your resume.

If your current position lacks opportunities to shine, consider volunteering at a small nonprofit using your true expertise, whether as a board member, website developer, social media marketer, fundraiser, newsletter writer or in any other of the many positions nonprofits have trouble filling. Your achievements as a volunteer are attractive to employers on two levels: they show what you can do given the opportunity and they show your interest in community service.

Keep an open mind about your current job, also. More than one college student has found that the first job they landed after college became the start of a very rewarding career, although it was far outside their original field of interest. When it is time to advance, a professional resume writer can make sure your practical experience carries the weight it deserves, even if your degree is in a completely different area.

Being underemployed is not a reason to give up on a satisfying career. If you are having trouble writing a resume to get you where you want to be, contact Robin’s Resumes®.

The Education Section of Your Resume

For most individuals, information about education comes at the bottom of the resume, after career information. However, for a recent graduate or someone who has recently completed a degree and is changing careers, education is often described before career information.

Your high school information should be listed only if you do not have a college degree. Once you have a college degree—or credit toward a college degree—drop the high school information. If you have not completed your college degree, consider statements like the following:

Studies towards a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Accounting, State College, City, ST

Senior Status Master of Arts (MA) in Humanities, Big College, City, ST, expected 6/2014

If your college studies are your accomplishments, list your classes after your studies. For example:

Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering (BSChE), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, 6/2013

  • Relevant Coursework: Introduction to Chemical Engineering, Mass Transfer, Fluid Dynamics, Chemistry, Biology, Senor Project, Quantum Mechanics, Calculus, Differential Equations

You can use your coursework to find accomplishments. If you completed a significant senior project, list this as one of your experiences in the Professional Experience section or as a career highlight above your Professional Experience section.

In addition, courses, seminars, webinars and workshops that you have taken outside of college or through your company may be listed either under Education or under Training. Your interest in continuing education is important.

If you are having trouble with the education section or any other aspect of your resume, please contact Robin’s Resumes®.

Resume Questions? Resume Answers!

Once again, here are some quick answers to a few of the questions I’ve been asked by job seekers regarding resumes:

Q. How do I handle a nickname on my resume? 

A. The best way is FirstName (Nickname) LastName; for example, Richard (Dick) Porter. However, make sure your nickname is professional. If there is any question, leave the nickname out.

Q. What is the best font to use on a resume?

A. I recommend standard Ariel or Times New Roman fonts. If you use an obscure font, your resume may end up on a computer without that font, and the resume will not appear the way you intended.

Q. I’m a Director in my company. Am I considered an “executive”?

A. Basically, an “executive” is anyone with managerial and decision-making responsibility. Your title is not as important as your accomplishments, skills and education and the role you are prepared to take on. Never sell yourself short.

Q. I’m a new college graduate who worked her way through college as a waitress. Should I mention those waitressing jobs? 

A. Yes. Your waitressing experience shows that you have a good work ethic, interact well with others and are a reliable and trusted employee. While your resume should emphasize your qualifications for your new career, it is important to include the jobs you held while attending college.

Do you have resume questions? Feel free to contact me at Robin’s Resumes®.

Volunteer Work: Where Does It Belong on a Resume?

Most often, volunteer work appears toward the end of a resume, after work history. However, if you have been out of the workforce for a while, are a recent college graduate or are changing careers, your volunteer activities may be the showcase for your most important skills and accomplishments.

As a recent college graduate or a career-changer, you might hone new skills as a volunteer in your field, in preparation for a full-time job. For example, if you want to work in the healthcare industry, you might volunteer at a hospital; if you want to become a graphic designer, you might lend your skills to a nonprofit in search of a logo.

If you’ve been out of the workforce for a while, volunteering may be an excellent way to keep your skills sharp. An IT professional might volunteer to help a nonprofit organization maintain its computers; develop a program to track donors or clients; or enhance their website.

In all those cases, it might be worthwhile to mention your volunteer work early in the resume.

Wherever it is placed in a resume, even a brief mention of volunteer work is important. Most companies are conscious that they need a thriving community around them in order to succeed, both as employers and as providers of products and services. Hiring managers and recruiters know that companies appreciate a spirit of “giving back” in their employees. Your volunteer work identifies you as someone who also appreciates that spirit.

If you are unsure how to feature your volunteer work, please call Robin’s Resumes® today.

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