There are different challenges to writing resumes at various points in your career. When you’re a seasoned professional, you might have so many experiences and accomplishments that you aren’t sure which to highlight, or how much to include. When you’re at the entry level, fresh out of college or still in college, it can be tough to scrap together enough content to flesh out a full one-page resume. Here are some tips for how to build out an entry level resume that will help you get hired out of school or obtain a game-changing internship.
Build a Summary
A summary is a key piece of any resume, whether for a C-Level executive or for a college sophomore. For entry-level job seekers in particular, a summary is an opportunity to expand upon abilities, skills, and personality traits outside of the confines of job experience – that might not even have happened yet. In a summary, candidates can stuff keywords and phrases such as “detail-oriented”, “hard-working”, and “well-organized” while also getting more into their personal traits of being quick learning, good team players, or highly personable. A fleshed-out summary will help entry-level candidates stand out from the pack as well as boost their chances in applicant tracking systems (ATS).
Add Job Experience
Most true entry-level job seekers won’t have much if any relevant job experience. However, even jobs that aren’t truly in the chosen field can still be impactful. If you have worked retail, been a barista at Starbucks, or waited at a restaurant, include those experiences! Even if you’re pursuing marketing or computer science careers, showing that you’ve had some professional experience will go a long way towards convincing employers you can work for them, too. Don’t be afraid of including something that seems “low-level” or “menial” or “irrelevant”. Many of your competitors won’t have any work experience at all, and demonstrating that you have some, however different from your career path, is going to be valuable.
Flesh Out Education
For employees who are well into their careers, the only relevant items regarding education are the degree and name of university. However, at the entry level, the education section is probably the bulk of the relevant knowledge, so it should be expansive. Just about all relevant coursework should be included, both for ATS system ranking and hiring manager benefit, GPA should be included (generally if over a 3.0 outside of certain industries), and key research activities or group projects should be expanded upon. These are all ways to demonstrate your knowledge and acumen in your field of choice, as well as differentiate yourself from competitors.
Include Leadership Roles
Part of the education section should be any organizations you’re affiliated with, especially if you have any kind of leadership role. This could range from a business club to a social fraternity – any sort of leadership and initiative is good. You probably don’t need to expand much upon the role unless you’re truly heavily involved, but showing that you’re a secretary or treasurer for an organization is a nice little demonstration of leadership.
Mention Volunteering
If you really don’t have a lot to include on the resume – no professional experience, no relevant projects or research – you can go in depth on your volunteering experience if you’ve contributed significantly. Even if the volunteering isn’t super relevant, like say helping plan an event when you’re trying to become a nurse, you can still talk about communication skills, time management, and coordination of others in achieving goals. The purpose of an entry-level resume is to show transferable skills and abilities, as employers will know you don’t have a ton of experience, and volunteerism is certainly a way to do so.
Include Technical Skills
Having a technical proficiencies section on the resume can be extremely valuable for job seekers of all experience ranges. However, it is especially valuable for entry level candidates who lack experience. Even if you’ve never held a software engineering job, if you put that you’re familiar with Python, React, Java, C++, etc. on the resume, it will not only perform better in ATS, but it will let hiring managers know you can do the basics of the work. Even for less technical roles, adding software and systems is usually a very good idea.