One of the proudest things you can do is graduate from college. When you get your diploma, it shows that all the hard work you put into school and the all-nighters you pulled before tests were worth it. Your graduation shows what you've learned as a student and opens the door to a world of job searches, 40-hour workweeks, and career choices. Then it hits you: how are you going to get a job that needs experience if you don't have any?
As a recent college graduate, you are starting out in jobs that don't require a lot of experience. The expectations of your possible employers are very reasonable. They want you to have a college degree and a major that is related to the job you are applying for. They expect you to have some experience, like a summer job or an internship, but they don't need you to have worked in your field for years. They want to see references from your professors or past bosses so they can learn more about your personality and work ethic. Sounds good so far, right?
Putting together a functional resume is the best way to show a potential employer that you are the best person for the job. Functional resumes focus on your skills and experience instead of your work history. This type of resume puts the focus on the skills you have instead of where and when you got them or used them. In other words, your resume won't list your experiences by job titles. Instead, it will have sections called things like "verbal and written communication," "customer satisfaction," "project management," and so on. This style of resume is often used by college students looking for internships or their first jobs after college. It comes highly recommended.
Start your resume by saying what you want to do with your career. Make sure your career goals mean something to you. Your goal should be specific to the job you want and should tell your potential employer how you plan to use your education and how this job will help you gain experience. Your schooling should come next. Write down the name and location of the school you go to, as well as your graduation year and major. Include your grade point average, courses you've taken, and any awards you've gotten while in school. Your work skills should come after that. This section will have subheadings for the skills you want to highlight, such as communications, customer relations, management, etc. Here, you can talk about your part-time jobs, internships, volunteer work, community service, or school-related activities. Include a work experience or work history section only if you had part-time jobs while you were in school or if you had internships that you want your potential employer to know about. This list should only include dates, titles, companies, and locations. You don't need to list your responsibilities here because you already did that in the last section. Include a section for activities, and if you were in any clubs in school, only list the ones that help you reach your career goal. For example, if you were the editor of your school paper and you want to work at a publishing company, make sure to put this on your resume. Your last part should be a list of sources. As a recent graduate, you should put references on your resume and give your potential employer all the information they need to think of you as a qualified candidate for the job. You can't lose anything by giving this information before you are asked for it.
Before you start applying for jobs, use your school's career centre to have a mentor look over your resume and help you make it better both in terms of what it says and how it looks. With a well-written resume, you'll be ready to take over the business world.
