Every job candidate faces the same challenge after graduating college – How do I get a job when all I have is a degree? If you look closer, you’ll understand you have more than a degree – you have group projects, research papers, class assignments, honors, activities, campus jobs, and campus leadership experiences.
Hiring managers are looking at your resume to understand your background and the type of employee you will be at their company. After all, past performance is the best predictor of future success…this statement is true whether you are referring to past professional or academic performance.
The first step in preparing your post-college resume is to take an inventory of any and all experience you have that falls into the following categories: academic honors (GPA, Dean’s List, awards, recognitions), class projects, leadership experience on project teams, extracurricular activities, campus work experience, publications, papers, and volunteer activities. It is important to highlight any projects that pertain to the industry you are targeting, e.g. business case studies, design projects, research papers, etc.
After determining your areas of experience, you can divide the resume into sections and add bullets to detail your involvement in the activities.