Nov 30, 2017 ● Kate Lopaze

How to write a college student resume (with examples)

If you’re in college, you have probably done a lot of thinking about what comes next. What you’re studying, as well as the internships and knowledge you’re picked up along the way—those are all a big part of that future. So how do you wrangle that information into a successful resume, when you don’t yet have a ton of work experience? We can help! Let’s walk through three different resumes for different types of post-college jobs. First up is Keenan, who is hoping to land his first job as a marketing assistant. College-Student-Resume-Marketing-Assistant

College-Student-Resume-Marketing-Assistant

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Keenan Jones

1212 University Place, Apt. 3F

Milwaukee, WI 67676

(111) 222-3333

Keenan.S.Jones@universityemail.edu

Tech-Savvy, Energetic College Student Seeking a Growth Role in Marketing SUMMARY

Motivated, high-achieving honors student with strong written and verbal communication skills
Adept at working as part of a creative team to accomplish goals
Well-versed in current social media platforms and trends

EDUCATION Western Wisconsin State University BA, Marketing Anticipated graduation: May 2018 Cumulative GPA: 3.87 RELATED COURSEWORK Going Viral: 21^st Century Marketing (Western Wisconsin State Marketing Department), Fall 2017

Develop sample marketing campaigns as part of a team
Discuss and evaluate best practices and real-world examples of social marketing strategies

Publicity Basics (Western Wisconsin State Marketing Department), Spring 2017

Analyze historical and current trends in methods of publicity
Review core concepts of public relations
Develop marketing and publicity plans based on real-world examples

Writing for Social Media (Western Wisconsin State English Department), Fall 2016

Review standard proofreading and copyediting
Develop writing strategies to maximize messaging and brand awareness in various social media formats

MARKETING WORK EXPERIENCE HealthFirst Industries, Milwaukee, WI Summer Marketing Intern Summer 2017

Provided administrative support to a 10-person Marketing team
Participated in campaign and brainstorming meetings
Monitored HealthFirst’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts and interacted with consumers

KEY SKILLS

Social media platforms (including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and WhatsApp)
Adobe Creative Suite
Microsoft Office Suite
Meeting time-sensitive deadlines
Writing creative, cogent, targeted text for marketing purposes
Leading team members to deliver projects in a timely manner

Keenan’s resume is very targeted and focused on his marketing-specific skills and experience. He makes his intent very clear—a position in marketing—and builds the rest of his narrative around that fact. Hiring managers understand that someone coming right out of school is likely to have a ton of work experience, especially in the field. So to show the reader what he does have, Keenan emphasizes the practical skills he has (social media), as well as the skills he’s picked up as both a student (the Related Coursework section) and an intern (the Marketing Work Experience section). Keenan doesn’t need to include every marketing class he’s taken as a student, but picks the ones where he gained a lot of practical, hands-on knowledge that may relate to an entry-level job in marketing. Next, let’s look at Mireille, who is prepping a resume for a campus job fair. College-Student-Resume-Campus-Job-Fair

Mireille Hopkins

1056 Barnes Street, Apt. 2

Boston, MA 23232

555-666-7777

MHopkins@emaildomain.edu

Award-winning financial whiz with expertise in auditing and reporting WORK EXPERIENCE Finance Intern Princeton Weitz LLC September 2017 – present

Process month-end financial reports as part of the Auditing team
Assist with audits of external customers
Reconcile balance sheets
Post journal entries
Perform general office support (including meeting setup and taking/distributing meeting minutes)

Program Assistant Grant College Accounting and Finance Department Summer 2016 & Summer 2017

Answered phones and directed visitors to the college’s Finance and Accounting offices
Collated course packets for professors
Managed summer orientation programs for incoming Finance and Accounting students

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE Math Tutor Grant College Academic Help Center October 2014 – present

Assist fellow students with math homework and skill development
Simplify complex mathematical concepts for ease of learning

SKILLS SUMMARY

Complex financial auditing
SOX Compliance expertise and compliance with legal guidelines and best practices
Accurate financial accounting
Detailed and accurate reporting
Learning and using software for reporting and compliance
Creating presentations
Microsoft Office expertise

EDUCATION & EXTRACURRICULARS Grant College, Wellesley, MA BA, Accounting/BA, Management Expected graduation: December 2017 Treasurer, Grant College Student Government August 2016 – May 2017 Co-Captain, Grant Gophers women’s basketball team September 2013 - May 2017 AWARDS & HONORS

Dean’s List, 8 consecutive semesters
Honors Scholar program (anticipated, pending completion of honors thesis and graduation)
Chairman’s Award in Finance and Accounting, 2016

Mireille wants to use her campus’s job fair to help line up her first job out of college. And to do that, she knows she needs to stand out from a crowd of other people (like her fellow classmates) to get attention from the financial firms attending the fair. Mireille has some work experience as an intern in her field, so she leads with that after an eye-catching headline (award-winning!). She doesn’t include odd jobs that she may have had in high school and college, but does include jobs that have a bearing on her current career goals (working as an intern, and working as part of her school’s own Accounting and Finance department). Because the career fair is happening on campus, she doesn’t really need to emphasize her school—the reader will already know that she goes to Grant College, and Mireille’s resume instead emphasizes the points she wants them to remember most. Remember that at a job fair you only have a few minutes to present yourself to recruiters. So while you can’t really tailor your resume to each potential job opening/company, you can make it as specific as possible to your industry and emphasize the personal points you want to hit. The best way to make your brief chat with recruiters memorable is to hand them your resume up front, then point out the highlights on the page as you mention them in your conversation. And last but not least, we have Karen, who is seeking a job as an administrative assistant as her first job out of school. College-Student-Resume-Administrative-Assistant

College-Student-Resume-Administrative-Assistant

Karen Thompson 35 Springfield Street, Apt. 7G Las Vegas, NV (777) 444-5555 KTThompson@emaildomain.edu

OBJECTIVE Hard-working, recent college graduate with office and internship experience looking for a position that leverages strong organizational and communication skills into a growth role. SKILLS

Proficient in Microsoft Office (particularly Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
Maintaining calendars and meeting schedules
Organizing staff and public events
Speaking multiple languages (fluent in English and Spanish, partially fluent in French)
Graphic design
Creating presentations
Demonstrating a personable, enthusiastic attitude

EDUCATION Marburg College, Sacramento, CA B.A., Comparative Literature, 2017

3.8 GPA (4.0 scale)
Minored in History and Music Theory
Spanish Club Secretary (3 years)
Swim team member and student treasurer (2 years)

EXPERIENCE The Anderson Gallery San Francisco, CA Receptionist (part-time) 10/2016 – present

Answer phones and greet guests for one of San Francisco’s top art galleries
Provide administrative support to the curators and an administrative staff of four
Coordinate curator/artist meetings
Maintain the order and cleanliness of public gallery areas
Order refreshments and supplies for openings and other public gallery events

DeMarque Creative San Francisco, CA Administrative Intern 6/2016 – 8/2016

Provided administrative support for the six-person Graphic Design department
Facilitated meetings and coordinated follow-up materials for attendees
Coordinated meetings and calendars
Scanned and digitized archival content for newly implemented digital filing system

As a literature major (with additional work in history and music), Karen is not necessarily seeking a job that’s related to her major. And that’s totally okay! Sometimes you’ve got to pay bills while you figure out your longer-term career goals. And to that end, Karen wants to take the good skills and experience she does have—particularly as an intern and receptionist—to show that she has the baseline skills to be a good admin. To do this, she uses a clear objective, and a highlight reel of the skills she wants to emphasize most. Her experience bullet points show the work she has done already in this field, even though she has only worked as an intern and part-time receptionist so far. If you’re a college student or a recent grad crafting your first real-deal resume, the most important thing to remember is that you do have skills and experience, even if you haven’t worked full-time in the field. Take inventory of your classes, your internships, your volunteering, everything. Anything that shows leadership, include it. Anything that taught you more about the field you want to be in, include it. Anything that shows escalating responsibility, include it. Even hobbies can have a place in your resume, if they’re related to the job you want. Good luck!

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