How to Get Your Resume Noticed: Tips for College Students is a guest post by Kevin Nelson
No doubt, writing a resume when you’re just out of college is a challenging task, especially if you think that most employers prefer candidates with experience. The fact is especially true for engineering job openings — everyone would rather hire an experienced pro for such a responsible and challenging position. At the same time, a lot of great companies are looking for young talent as it (let’s be frank) allows them to downsize on the payment. All of this, however, does not mean that you should underestimate the importance of a well-crafted resume — after all, every job opening sees an average of 250 resumes, and only 2% of those candidates land an actual interview. Let’s find out how you can wind up in those lucky two percent and get your resume noticed.
Start a career objective
For candidates with plenty of experience, a career objective on a resume is not the best idea. For engineering students fresh out of college, though, it is the other way around — and not just because it helps fill the required space. A career objective offers a great chance to tailor your resume for every particular job you’re applying to, and the human resource managers will definitely appreciate the effort. All in all, customizing the resume for each job posting is always a great idea, but it simply works miracles for candidates with little or no professional experience.
Consider a functional resume type
Everyone has heard of the standard chronological resume type, where job applicants list their experience in order (sometimes, in reverse, but that choice usually depends on the country). However, there are other resume types that can be more beneficial for candidates with little experience to list. A functional resume is one of them; the ultimate goal of this resume type is to highlight your strong skills rather than simply enumerate the positions you took.
So, if the job you’re applying to calls for teamwork, you can list all the relevant team projects you’ve been working on under this section and follow the same logic with other professional traits the job may call for. It may sound unusual and unnecessary at first, but even professional resume writer services claim that functional approach is the best one for beginning job hunters.
Highlight the most important courses you took
Another great idea for newly trained engineers would be to highlight the most important courses you took — both major and minor ones. This works equally well for functional and chronological resumes. However, remember to stay reasonable — the courses you mention on a resume should be relevant for your job. While scoring top of your art classes may be a very impressive achievement, it will do little good if you’re applying for a engineering position.
Mention coursework/thesis on your resume
A coursework and especially a thesis is a huge part of your educational experience, and you should mention it on a resume whenever possible — especially if your research is related to the job you’re applying to. When applying for an engineering position, a thesis on the latest construction techniques is something that can score you a lot of points with the HR department, resulting in a job interview.
Do not underestimate your extracurricular activities
While the education and the courses you took will probably be the most important part of your resume, it would still be unwise to ignore the extracurricular activities — especially, if you did some volunteer work, learned to speak a foreign language, have lived abroad, etc. Here, the trick is to make all of those impressive achievements an integral part of your resume. Once again, a functional resume type can help you achieve this very purpose.
List all the jobs you took
Many students fresh out of college feel awkward about listing their seemingly ‘low’ jobs. Once again, this is a misconception you should get rid off. First, holding a part-time job — even serving tables or cleaning the floor at McDonalds shows you as a determined, independent, and driven person. It also indicate some working experience — even if outside your current industry.
Use a lot of action verbs
While you should definitely avoid cliches, such as ‘creative,’ ‘innovative,’ and so forth, action verbs are your best friends when writing a resume — especially given that they are designed to highlight your achievements rather than simply list your experiences. If for example, you believe yourself to be an innovator, you can use such verbs as revitalize, transform, pioneer, etc. If you want to emphasize your leadership skills, you can use uplift, motivate, support, ignite, mentor, etc. You can use all of those when describing the courses or the jobs you took, to explain what exactly you have achieved so far
About Kevin Nelson:
Kevin Nelson is a professional educator and a private tutor with over 8 years of experience. He is also a content writer at Writerzone.net and other blogs. He writes about higher education, entertainment, social media and blogging. During his off time, Kevin enjoys traveling and cooking. Feel free to connect with him on Twitter,and Linkedin .
Please leave your comments, feedback or questions in the section below on getting your resume noticed by employers.
To your success,
Anthony Fasano, PE, LEED AP
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success
