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

Ways to Network as a Recent College Grad

 

Written by Lauren Lind

You have finally completed four hard years of college and you are prepared to venture into the real working world now! But, how do you land a job straight out of college? We’ve probably all heard the saying, “It’s about who you know, not necessarily what you know,” when it comes to getting a job. The network that you have come to know - your college friends, professors, clubs you’ve been involved with, etc. is now shifting and changing. It is time to step outside of your comfort zone and start networking other places in order to expand your possible job opportunities. Building a new network is part of this new phase of your life. 

Here are some ways to network as a new grad:

 

•  Use your alumni network. Check out Forever Buffs to find out about events, young alums nationwide, career resources, and how to stay connected.

•   LinkedIn is another great tool to research where your fellow buffs are. Connect with all former classmates that you personally know and then respectfully reach out to alumni that you would like to ask questions of.

•  Ask professors if they would be willing to connect you with former students of theirs whose career paths are interesting to you and ask to do an informational interview with them.

• Make a remarkable business card. It will make you appear more personable in networking situations. I personally used Staples to design my business cards this past semester and passed them out at various networking events.

• Search out any young professional groups in your area. These groups will help you meet other young people who are looking to make professional connections as well. If you are staying in Boulder be sure to check out Bolder Young Professionals!

•  Volunteer with a non-profit. As we mentioned in our previous blogs, volunteering is another opportunity to network. You will be hanging out with like-minded people who support a similar cause.

These are just a few ways for you to start building your new network after graduating. Try to meet as many people as possible and see if and how you can help one another. The more people you meet and connect with, the more likely you are to land a job.

Hat tip: Dan Schawbel