As a student or recent graduate you might feel that you have nothing to put in your resume. Here are some resume tips for recent graduates on what to put in your resume when you have little or no work experience.
Student or recent graduate resume is ideally one-page marketing document. The conventional resume format is great for recent grads. Start with an objective, then add your education and relevant coursework, then continue to experience and skills.
Career Objective – What’s Your Goal?
When listing a career objective be clear on what you want to do or apply to a specific job. Sell your skills in few sentences, why you are a valuable asset to their company and/or what are your career goals.
Education and Relevant Coursework
Generally you would put your education at the end of your resume if you would be experienced but as a soon-to-be and recent graduates list your education in the beginning of their resume, after career objective.
List your school, degree year, major, and any honors, including your grade point average if it’s above 3.5. If you’ve achieved academic honors like the dean’s list or phi beta kappa, summa cum laude, scholarships and other awards include these as well.
In your education section list courses that are relevant to your major and career objective, so hiring managers can see that you have a strong academic foundation.
Include a Skills Section
List skills that are related to the position you are applying for. Try to back your skills up and connect them with real life and work experience. Include software knowledge. Your skills can be a valuable selling point.
Work Experience & Educational Experiences
When lacking work experience list educational experiences such as internships, class projects and even volunteer activities as if they were paid work experiences. Highlighting the areas where you’ve shined the most if you don’t have much experience to list. Tell about actual assignments, have you faced any challenges, your contribution, and share the results and benefits to the employer.
Keep the descriptions to a minimum if you are listing work experience that is unrelated to the position you are applying for. When listing work experience include your employer’s name, location, job title and dates. You can demonstrate your strong work ethic by listing any extra responsibilities you were given as a result of your performance.
Pick The Right Resume Format
Make the resume process less intimidating and make use of resume templates. Choose an Entry Level Resume Template that is right for recent grads and this way you can spent more focus on writing an compelling resume and not to mention that with resume template you have a better chance to stand out.
Resume templates also come handy when you need to print out your resume and take it with you to career fairs and networking happenings. In the interview it’s also good practice to hand out your resume to all the interviewers.