Graduates Need Apply…
Posted by ayeshawrites4u on May 15, 2009
Are you graduating this fall?
Have you worked or volunteered in fields not related to your desired field of employment?
Scared of the current employment statistics and where that puts you, the new person on the totem pole?
Don’t fret.
If you are in the educational, medical, or law fields, you HAVE had field experience. Serving roles as assistants, observers, or clinical students, you know the ins and outs of what a typical work day will be. It is your job as a new job seeker to use this knowledge to make yourself sound knowledgeable to a potential employer.
How do you do this?
Typically, when I consult with clients who are recent graduates or more popularly, transitioning employees, there are two resume sections that serve their purposes best…
Highlights of Qualifications, also known as Summary of Qualifications or simply Summary puts your key accomplishments at the very top of your resume. While every resume should have a Summary of Qualifications, for new graduates, the information that goes in your summary is a little different. You will lead with the following:
- Awards and Honors as a Student, i.e. 3.0 GPA’s or higher, scholarships, etc.
- Specific industry successes through fieldwork experience, i.e.
- A graduating Phlebotomy technician might write – Expertly administered 120 venipunctures for 96 patients.
- A graduating Educator might write – Demonstrated cooperative learning techniques by teaching 3rd grade math unit utilizing enrichment, ELL differentiation, and remediation.
- A graduating Lawyer might write – Supported litigation of 10 family court cases through effective mediation techniques.
- Personal accomplishments that demonstrate your work ethic, i.e. Served as Student Government President; Conceptualized and organized mentorships between 150 entrepreneurs and 300 students.
A Professional Experience section should follow your Summary section, unless you are working for a career that requires certification or a certain level of education. In your Professional Experience section, it will be broken into two subsections.
- Experience related to your desired profession, i.e. Teaching Experience for educators, Nursing Experience for new LPN’s, Law Experience for graduating lawyers. In this section, you are boasting of the new skills practiced during your externships and/or fieldwork experience.
- Work Experience for all other employment held outside of your career. In this section, no more than two or three bullets per job are necessary unless you have had substantial success that will be able to carry over to your new career. Otherwise, a few simple sentences explaining your responsibilities or the fact that you worked the job while juggling a full course load will suffice.
As always, good luck with your job search.
Ayesha Long
Ayesha Writes 4 You
Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services
(866) 620-2741
