Whether you’re applying for college or looking for a job, it can be difficult to improve your resume to help you stand out from the crowd of other applicants. Resumes are difficult. After all, there’s a good chance that your resume will look awfully similar to plenty of others when applying for an in-demand job at school or elsewhere.
The key is to know which resume-boosting strategies truly make a difference. Luckily, the experiences that make a difference on a resume are generally the ones that make a difference in real life as well. It’s especially important since employers and universities are looking for more than just a list of skills or accomplishments these days. To that end, searching for opportunities to grow as an individual will end up making the biggest difference – both for the success of your resume and getting into the school or securing the job you want.
With that said, here are a few of the biggest resume-boosting features that will make you stand out during the application process.
1. Achieve High Honors
This seems like it should go without saying, but it’s worth mentioning only to put into perspective what “high honors” actually look like. In general, the high honors that will help you the most on a resume go beyond a high GPA. If you can achieve specific honors through your academics or otherwise, it provides a unique merit for your resume that the average person cannot match that sits at the top of your resume. It also gives you a quick talking point if you’re asked to elaborate on your resume in person or via cover letter.
Succeeding academically to the point that you can join your high school or university’s honor society will help you to stand out from the crowd of other applicants. These sorts of honors are great because colleges and employers automatically know and understand what an honor society is while grades may vary by school. They’ll also understand when you obtain honors in your field of study. These honors aren’t a golden ticket, but they can go a long way to getting you in the door.
2. Study Abroad
If you really want to add something unique to your resume, consider taking the opportunity to study abroad. The benefits of studying abroad are well known at this point, and they go way beyond just adding to your resume. Studying abroad allows you to experience a new culture as well as develop new skills and meet new people. More importantly, you learn more about your field of study from those with a different cultural background.
What’s more, in addition to being a great life experience, traveling abroad allows one to expand their network overseas. There’s a common saying that getting a job is not about what you know, but about who you know. Networking is a huge component of getting a job, and it’s also one of the biggest opportunities that come along with studying abroad. Adding a study abroad program to your resume will help to prove that you have obtained valuable life experiences that go beyond other applicants.
3. Add a Minor or Certificate
Adding additional skills to your college resume can help one easily land a job fresh out of college. Minors and certificates add an entirely additional area of study to your resume, giving you more knowledge than your major possibly could on its own. Say you are getting a degree in graphic arts. You will likely end up with a job related to advertising or marketing, and a minor or certificate in either of those areas could give you an edge over the competition.
While your major will still be your main area of concentration and will remain the area in which you receive your degree, the extra knowledge you obtain in pursuit of your minor or certificate will help you to stand out from the crowd when it comes time to apply for jobs. There is little practical reason an employer would not favor a candidate with an additional concentration over a candidate without one who has obtained the same degree.
4. Look for Internships
Internships are a great way of obtaining “job” experience before you are ready to obtain a job in your field. This is because internships often hire students in the their field who have no job experience. In return, interns are able to either receive nominal pay or college credit.
Internships give you exposure to a field you might find otherwise very difficult to get into fresh out of college. Some internships will translate into job offers. Others will lead to a newer, better internship in the same field once you have demonstrated some experience. Finally, internships demonstrate a level of responsibility. They signal a student was able to function in a workplace and are a safe hire for a firm.
