How to Buff Up Your Resume This Summer

Written by Lauren Lind

College students may be at an advantage when it comes to diversifying their resume. As entry-level candidates, students have the opportunity to buff up their resume and add to it in order to set themselves apart from their competition. Summer is the perfect time to participate in a variety of things that can add value to your resume. Depending on the professional experiences you’ve had, you may need to shorten the length of your resume, where others may need to add to it.

If you need to add to your resume, take a look at the tips below:

Volunteer. This is a no brainer way to add value to your resume. Make it worth your while by volunteering for a cause that you genuinely care about. You’ll meet some great people and feel good about what you’re doing.

Start an independent project that is relevant and appropriate for the area you want to work in. For example, my roommate is interested in business development and is researching what it would take to open a small start-up this summer that delivers toiletries to people. She will be writing a paper and developing a presentation to detail her project.

Expand your skills. Sign up for a foreign language or a coding course. Get involved with things that interest you and that will help you develop as a professional.

Add important details as possible to your job descriptions and accomplishments. You want to turn what you might consider to be mundane tasks into prominent, important, tasks. It all about the wording. Hit on the keywords in the job description and take out any superfluous words or phrases. Stay away from clichés as well.

Start a blog or vlog that will be relevant to what you want to do. The world wide web
is a wonderful tool to build up your online presence. This is your chance to really make an impression and impact using your creativity.

Travel. Summer is a perfect time to explore. You might even be able to tie in your volunteer work with traveling around the world. Either way you will be learning how to work with different cultures and develop valuable skill sets.

These are just a few ways to help you buff up your resume. Hopefully you can fit some of these tips into your summer schedule and feel that you have given yourself an advantage when entering the workforce.

Hat tip: Cristina at the Execu|Search Group

Volunteering Your Way to New Opportunities: Finding Happiness in Helping Others

Written by Lauren Lind

It’s about that time for swim suits, flip flops, ice cream, outdoor concerts, and many other fun summer activities! If you do not have a job lined up yet, or are perhaps interning part-time, consider using some of your time to give back to the community by volunteering.

Volunteering has been proven to reduce stress, improve health, and promote personal growth and self-esteem. It allows you the chance to test out a career. While making a positive difference in the community or wherever you choose to volunteer, you can also network your way to finding possible career options.

 

Here are some volunteer resources for you to use this summer:

• Volunteer Resource Center

• Hope Worldwide

• Projects Abroad

• National Sports Project for the Disabled

• Volunteer Match

• Cross Cultural Solutions

• United Way

• Boulder Shelter for the Homeless  

Not only can you bring happiness to other people’s lives, but you can also discover many opportunities that you might not have come across otherwise. Volunteering brings a variety of people together and making connections in these situations may just lead you to finding your future job. 

Make Your Life Better By Making Other's Lives Better: Volunteer

Written by: Lauren Lind

Volunteering is not only good for the community, but studies have shown that it can help protect physical and mental health. You are in regular contact with others and you develop a solid support system when you volunteer, which has been shown to protect you against stress and depression when you’re going through challenging times. Personally, I find volunteering very important and just imagine the changes we could make in the world by volunteering a small amount of our time every week to a cause. Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Here are some of the benefits of volunteering:

• It connects you to others, helping you make new friends and contacts while increasing your social and relationship skills.

• Volunteering is good for your mind and body by increasing self confidence and combating depression. Studies have found that those who volunteer have a lower mortality rate than those who do not.

• Volunteering increases happiness levels. Researchers at the London School of Economics studied the relationship between volunteering and levels of happiness in a large group of American adults. They discovered that the more people volunteered, the happier they were, according to a study in Social Science and Medicine. “Compared with people who never volunteered, the odds of being “very happy” rose 7% among those who volunteer monthly and 12% for people who volunteer every two to four weeks. Among weekly volunteers, 16% felt very happy—a hike in happiness comparable to having an income of $75,000–$100,000 versus $20,000, say the researchers. Giving time to religious organizations had the greatest impact” (helpguide.org).

• Being a volunteer can help advance your career by providing career experience and teaching you valuable job skills. It also doesn’t hurt to have volunteer activities on your resume. Showing that you give your time to help others makes you more appealing to employers.

• It brings a sense of purpose, fun, and fulfillment into your life.

These are just some of the many benefits of volunteering. Here are some great websites to help you find opportunities near you helpguide.org, volunteermatch.org, volunteer.colorado.edu, bouldercounty.org, and metrovolunteers.org.

Contributors: helpguide.org - Joanna Saisan, M.S.W., Melinda Smith, M.A., and Gina Kemp, M.A.