How to Write a Resume If You Are a Fresh Graduate
Completing graduation is a mixed emotion. Parting ways with your friends, on the last day at campus, anxiety about the next chapter of your life makes you feel happy, sad, and anxious. For many, the next step after moving out of college is getting your hands on your laptop, and start putting together the CV that gets you a job to start off somewhere. While many focus on searching for fancy templates, they don’t realize the importance of how to make the profile more interesting. But as a graduate a question that lingers around your mind is, what should I fill in my CV apart from educational qualification. It is important to invest some time to understand and identify factors that will grab an employer’s attention despite no work experience.
Below are some tips that help you create a powerful and impactful resume.
SUMMARY/PROFILE
This forms the first section of your resume. Irrespective of your experience, one must pen down this in the most impactful manner. A summary/profile is a 5-line paragraph that describes you, your interests, and your skills. This is the first section that grabs a reader’s attention and excites him/her to read on further.
SKILLS
Zero experience! Don’t stress out. The addition of skills on your resume might just surprise you. Skills add value to your resume as employers understand that your skill will be ideal for the organization. One must highlight his/her skills based on the job description. Your skills should include both soft skills and hard skills. Soft skills are more skills related to time management, people management, communication skills, or leadership skills. Hard skills are more industry-specific skills like software, foreign language, etc. It is important to focus on soft skills.
EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
For freshers, the highest level of education is one of the highlights. Employers often check for specific educational qualifications that will prove beneficial to the organization. If you have multiple degrees or diplomas then your latest or highest level of education should come first on your resume followed by other qualifications.
INTERNSHIP OR PROJECTS YOU HANDLED
At some point in time we as college students must have worked on projects, participated in competitions, and been a part of some kind of marketing activities for ‘pocket money’ as we call it. This is something that can be added to your experience. Internships or projects might be short-term, but it surely adds value to your resume if you are fresher.
Other important aspects to consider while working on your resume should be:
Proof-read your resume: Once you complete your resume you should go through it and check for flow, grammatical errors, and formatting.
Be Confident: As a job seeker one must be confident in what he/she adds to their resume. Ensure that your achievements and skills show up your strengths.
Keep it concise: Employers just skim through resumes and they prefer glancing through some highlights rather than the whole resume. Therefore it is imperative to keep it clear and concise.
FLOW OF RESUMES FOR FRESH GRADUATES
As the saying goes ‘Life is a journey and not a destination, one must not stop learning. To build an impressive CV one needs to develop and hone their skills right from your time at college. It is crucial for individuals to discover their interests and identify what they are good at. Therefore to build an impressive CV one has to start preparing before their convocation. Your passion and interest will take you way ahead.