We personalize your experience.
We use cookies in our website to ensure we give you the best experience, get to know our users and deliver better marketing. For this purpose, we may share the information collected with third parties. By clicking “Allow cookies” you give us your consent to use all cookies. If you prefer to manage your cookies click on the “Manage cookies” link below.
Undergraduates need to know how to leverage their education to get a job. Here are our tips for making the most of an undergraduate resume
Our customers have been hired by*:*Foot Note
An undergraduate degree is a great first step to getting a job, but it’s not always easy to present your skills and qualifications in your resume that gets a hiring manager’s attention. Here’s how you can make sure your undergraduate work really shines in your student resume.
Build my resumeWhat you highlight in your resume will depend on the field that you’re entering and your particular education and experiences. Someone with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration will highlight different areas compared to someone with a bachelor’s in computer science, for example. This is a big reason resume examples for specific jobs can be helpful—they can show you what to talk about and show to a recruiter for the best results. Generally, you should focus on any related extracurricular activities and work experience, as well as specific skills and knowledge you’ve gained through your undergrad years.
The structure of your resume will depend partially on the resume format that you use. There are three types of resume formats: the functional resume, which emphasizes education and skills, the chronological resume, which emphasizes work history, and the combination resume, which allows for emphasis on both. All of these formats will have similar resume sections, even if they’re presented in a different order:
The resume header includes your full name, phone number, email address, and any professional profile links you have such as your LinkedIn. Most resume templates will include some graphic flourishes or design elements in the header for extra visual impact.
The next section is your resume summary or resume objective. The summary is a two to three-sentence section that goes over your most prominent technical skills, work experience, and key achievements. The objective contains the same information but also states your career goal. Think of it this way: If you only had a few sentences to describe your background and strengths to a hiring manager, what would you write? That should be what you put in your objective or summary.
Look at resume samples for your field to help you determine what technical skills and other relevant skills you should include from the job listing. Remember that most fields need both hard skills and soft skills, but which skills should take precedence in your resume will depend on the job you’re applying to.
Most of the time, a college graduate who’s just starting a job search will get stuck on the work experience section, worrying that they don’t have any work experience they can include here. In fact, graduates often have internships, extracurricular activities, academic projects and relevant coursework that can be applied to the job title they’re trying to get. Just review your experiences during your school years to determine what experience you have, and add any relevant activities here.
List your highest academic credential here (such as your undergraduate diploma); if you haven’t graduated yet, list your expected date of completion. If you’ve picked up any certifications, list them here.
Build my resumeDo:
Don’t:
Have questions? We’re here to help.
It’s generally a good idea to include a cover letter for any job application. It helps you provide more details about your background and why you think you’re a good fit for the job, and it’s also your opportunity to ask for a job interview. You can use the ResumeHelp cover letter builder to create your cover letter even if you’re not great at writing cover letters.
If you’re short on professional experience, incorporate any academic, internship and volunteer experiences that feature skills or knowledge that are pertinent to the job opportunity. For extra help organizing your experience, use the ResumeHelp resume builder.
The best thing you can do to make sure your resume works for each job is to look for resume keywords in the job description, such as important skills and requirements the employer wants. Using these keywords in your resume makes you more likely to get through to the next level. With resume keywords, you can always present the best side of yourself to the hiring manager.
Couldn't find the answer you're looking for?