Month: June 2017

Kate Beck As I’ve been gearing up to apply for colleges, summer jobs, and scholarships I can’t help but notice that all them require a resume component. Until recently I thought that resumes were mainly to get a job, but they’re much more important; they provide a picture of you and your accomplishments to those wanting to learn more about you. A strong resume writing game will help you build an effective document that would give prospective colleges and employers a comprehensive idea about your involvement at school and in your community.

“A strong resume writing game will give prospective colleges and employers a comprehensive idea about your involvement at school and in your community.”

Personally, I felt like the whole resume writing process was confusing, so I asked a few of my classmates what their experiences has been. I got responses like “my mom helped me”, “I used an online template”, and “I really didn’t know where to start”. This has really been eye opening for me because its helped me realize that no one quite understands how to confront the elusive resume. So I did the research and here is what I’ve discovered about resume writing:

Resumes have 5 main components

1. Header: This is basic; what’s your name and contact information?

2. Objective/Experience Summary: What are you looking to gain by sending your resume?

3. Experience: Most of the time this would be where you add work experience, but since you may not have any yet it’s okay to leave this part out or add experience here like volunteering, babysitting, tutoring, etc. What I’ve found is you probably have more experience than you think! The main key here is to be as detailed as possible when outlining your involvement. Why should people give you a second glance?

4. Education: Where are you going to high school? Are you taking any higher level courses? Have you been accepted to a college already that you can mention?
5. Other, i.e. awards, club involvement: What makes you stand out? Do you have a position as a leader of a club? What have you done that shows initiative?

Further Resource

Though my tips can help get you started, these sites have really helped me get a more complete understanding of resumes:
Raw Resume: Raw Resume gives a good summary on all aspects from A-Z on writing a resume.
Resume Baking: Resume Baking is a free site that lets you build resumes. I liked it because it guided me through the whole process. Plus it has the ability to be edited in the future!

Hope these tips and suggestions on resume writing help you slay the elusive beast!

Want to know more about how we deal with writing essential stuff? Read this post about college apps essay, it will change how you approach any kind of writing!

Kate is a senior in high school, loves cats, and takes every moment outside of school work to create something new- whether it be a blog post or a baked good!

Vaish Kandhadai As the school year comes to an end, you are probably busy with your academics, graduating, starting internships or looking for permanent employment after graduation. Although the professional world looks like a scary place, we are here to tell you that it isn’t as bad as it looks. Once you know the industry you want to be a part of and have done your homework on the scope of your preferred occupation, you can officially prepare yourself to get hired fast! In this two-part blog post, we will talk about proven, effective ways to get your job hunting process going and get hired ASAP. To do this, we have identified five nifty tools to help you,so here are two to start with:

Network Effectively:

Talking to your parents, friends and professors about your career preference is where you must start but it is not quite enough. So leverage your social life to your advantage and network with peers and mentors. Here is how to identify a few: Try to find local mixer events and job fairs on event websites like Eventbrite. Although the probability of finding a job at a job fair is low, it gets you in touch with recruiters (and if you are very lucky, a hiring manager or two). When that happens, make sure you add them to your professional network on LinkedIn^® so that you can get in touch with them when you see a suitable opportunity at their organization in the future.

Takeaway: Finding a job through an official recruiter might be a contrived process since you will run into many helpful but also shifty recruiters. Always seek out professionals who work for the organization or a reliable HR consulting firm dealing with reputable organizations. When in doubt, use tools like GlassDoor or LinkedIn^® to find out about their authenticity.

Get People to Refer You:

Most companies rely on their employees to bring in quality resumes for positions they are hoping to fill. Why? A referral program is a cost and quality-effective way to reach out to qualified candidates. So, the more you network, the more people you will find willing to refer you for a position. Moreover, there are so many virtual communities who help you get in touch with relevant people who can help you with your pursuit. HireClub (invitation-based only) and Albert’s Job Listings and Referrals are two such Facebook communities acting as a professional support system of sorts.

Takeaway: Being more specific with your first circle of friends and family will be helpful because they can be your first point of contact to get in touch with someone relevant to your industry. Most organizations look at resumes faster if an employee refers it so remember to make the most out of it!

Not looking for full-time employment but would like to try finding a temporary vacation-time employment? This post might help you!

Vaish is the Content Manager for GiveTeens20^®® and a Content Marketing Consultant in the Bay Area. In her pass time, she likes to pretend she is reading just to get out of doing household chores!