Everything You Need on Your Resume as a College Student

An effective college resume bridges the gap between an academic college career to a professional one outside the boundaries of an undergraduate university. It not only demonstrates success in the academic world but also shows preparation for the professional one. It highlights key experiences and skills to signify that a student is ready for the next step. A successful college resume will spotlight student’s talents, interests and passions and showcase what they’re made of.

Writing an effective resume is a difficult task for many college students because some believe they don’t have relevant professional experience. They have often worked various jobs that don’t align with their desired career path or have never worked full-time at all. However, a college resume doesn’t need to have the perfect pre-professional job experience to be effective. Successful college resumes highlight the professional foundation students have made during their undergraduate experience, even if it’s not in a serious, corporate office. They consider collegiate experiences like academic courses and extracurriculars and demonstrate how they translate to the professional world.

Like all resumes, an effective college resume contains relevant work experience and leadership skills. However, a college resume should prioritize your education. Start with your academics and any important awards or honors you’ve earned during your undergraduate career; an effective resume will build on this experience by then listing how you’ve applied this education at work, in leadership positions and through your extracurriculars.

Education gets the top slot in your resume, which means including not simply the name of your university or college but also your expected graduation date, major and GPA (if it’s above a 3.0). Any academic awards you’ve received from the school and outside scholarships can be named there as well, including Dean’s List or Summa Cum Laude. If you studied abroad during your undergraduate career, you can list your school and/or program in this section, too.

Listing work experience demonstrates your familiarity with the expectations of a work environment, even if the job was in a completely unrelated field to the career you’re hoping to pursue. List the employer’s name and location, as well as your job title and dates of your work. A short description of the job should be included underneath each experience, detailing a few relevant accomplishments and skills learned on the job.

Extracurricular activities are incredibly important in a college student’s life. They show dedication outside of the classroom and strengthen social skills in their smaller communities. Listing these extracurriculars demonstrates a continued passion for a certain subject, area of the arts, sport or even a type of food; they also show your ability to balance school work with outside commitments. Make sure to note how long you’ve been involved with the organization and whether you’ve held a leadership position.

If you’re hoping to be a writer, artist, graphic designer or any position related with content creation, it’s important to include past samples of your work. While employers like to see that you have experience working in the field, the best way to get a sense of your ability is to see it in action — whether that be a published article or one of your promoted content campaigns. These samples are often formatted through external personal websites, with links simply copied onto the resume.

If you’ve done community service throughout your undergraduate career (even as a requirement for your degree), including it can demonstrate your selflessness and ability to work for others. Be sure to add the name of the organization and a description of your responsibilities. If your work relates to the job you’re hoping to apply for — i.e. you want a tech job and you used your computer skills to help bring awareness to an organization — then you can include this with work experience. If not, add it to an alternate section; volunteering shows valuable qualities regardless of relevance to your current dream job.