Resumes for Graduates

As a recent college graduate, you won’t have a lot of job experience. Hopefully you will have done a few externships or internships or had other part-time experience in your field before you graduate, but if you don’t, you will have to play up certain features of your resume while downplaying your lack of experience.

If necessary, you could take a position in your chosen field on a part-time basis as an intern or in a low-paying position in order to get some experience. This experience will be extremely valuable on your resume. If you can’t do this, you will have to emphasize your educations and skills.

Emphasize Your Education

A lot of applicants will have some experience but no degree. If you have a degree in your field, it’s very important to emphasize this as much as possible. Don’t worry about putting your GPA or class position unless it was absolutely stellar, but you should definitely emphasize any extracurricular activities that might have prepared you for the position.

If you are applying for a marketing position and you were in a marketing club in school, this will show the interviewer that you have a passion for the topic and some additional experience outside your educational experience.

Mention Awards and Contests

If you have ever won a contest or award in your field, you should mention this. If you are applying for a position as a writer for a newspaper, and you won a national award for your writing work on your school newspaper, you should definitely emphasize this.

Show a Passion for your Field

If you don’t have experience, you need to show the interviewer that you have a very strong passion for your chosen field. If you can convince the person reviewing your resume that you have a deep love for the field, you will have a major leg up on the competition who may be in the field simply for money.

Things to Omit from a Resume

While it’s very important to create a resume that is thorough and complete, it’s also possible to put too much information on your resume.

A resume should play up your strengths and deemphasize your weaknesses. It should be completely on point, and it should never offer information that isn’t relevant or useful.

We’re going to look at the top things you should omit from your resume.

1. Extracurricular Activities

Unless you’re applying for a position that requires a knowledge of chess, the interviewer doesn’t need to know you were a chess club champion in high school. Only mention extracurricular activities that would be related to your position of choice, and only if you are able to tell the interviewer why you believe this activity made you a better candidiate for the position you are applying for.

2. Religious Affiliations

Again, do not mention anything related to religion unless it is specifically related to the position you are applying for. If you are applying for a job as a receptionist and you were once a volunteer receptionist at your church, it’s fine to put this information on your resume. If you are applying for a job at a religious organization, it is perfectly acceptable to put information about related organizations you’ve worked with on your resume. Otherwise this information could end up hurting rather than helping. Remember, not everyone is religious, and some employers see a strong devotion to religion as a liability on the job.

3. Hobbies and Interests

The interviewer doesn’t need to know what you do in your spare time unless it specifically rates to the position you are applying for. If you have a winemaking hobby and you are applying for a job as a sommelier, this information might be interesting to the interviewer. If you create model airplanes and you’re applying for a job as a security guard, this information is not relevant and just wastes the interviewer’s time.

As you can see, you should generally leave off anything that isn’t job or education related, and anything that isn’t specifically related to the job you’re applying for. Don’t list a skill in painting if your job has nothing to do with this. Anything you add to your resume that isn’t specifically related to your job could hurt more than help, and if nothing else it just wastes the time of anyone who reads your resume.