So, you graduated college? Congratulations! But now, you’re just not sure how to build your resume after college.
As a recent college graduate, and I was really confused about what to put on my resume after college!
I didn’t know what to include in my education section or if I should list college clubs and activities, or what employment or volunteer experiences to list.
I was so lost!
But I figured out what is needed in a college grad’s resume, and I’m here to share everything you need to include in your resume after college!
Contact Information
The first section on any resume is contact information. Your contact information should be at the top of your resume and should stand out in some way.
So your name may be a larger font, bold, and centered with your contact information under it. You should include your name, email address, and home address in the contact information portion of your resume!
This information is important to include first because it will allow employers to contact you quickly!
Education
The education section looks slightly different for college graduates. It is usually less detailed than it is on a college students’ resume.
In your education section, include the name of your school, your degree, the year you graduated, if you received any graduation honors and any honor societies you were a part of.
You don’t have to include your GPA in this section (especially if it wasn’t above a 3.5), but definitely include any graduation honors you received (cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude)!
Things like dean’s list don’t have to be included either if you don’t feel like you have the room. You also don’t have to go into detail on your resume at all about relevant coursework or projects because, at this point in your career, employers are more interested in your professional experiences (such as internships, employment, and volunteering).
Employment History
The main section on college graduates’ resumes is employment history. The employment history section shows that you have previous professional experience and that you are a competent employee.
Any work experience you have can be included in this section. This may include work experience, internships, or on-campus work experience. Each experience should be detailed, and your accomplishments in that position should be explained.
Make sure to quantify your accomplishments and focus on accomplishments rather than just describing the job role!
Volunteer Experience
Having a section for volunteer experience can benefit anyone’s resume because it shows that you are involved in your community.
This section can show your professional experience, especially if you are lacking in employment experience. You can include any volunteer work you have done!
Even though I have enough employment experience to fill my resume, I still like to include a specific volunteer experience I had because it is a great talking point in interviews. This is something you can keep in mind when you are building your resume. Figure out what experiences show your qualifications best, and include those in whatever way possible!
Certifications/Trainings
Another great section to include on your resume is certifications or trainings. You may have research certifications or have gone through specific trainings for school or work, and these experiences show that you already have a certain level of expertise in a given field.
For example, I completed suicide prevention training before applying to graduate school for the sole purpose of including it on my resume! Free online trainings are a wonderful way to bulk up your resume and show that you have some additional experience.
Leadership Positions
You can also include any leadership positions you have held on your resume if you need to fill up more space. Maybe you’re the president of a club on campus, or perhaps you’re involved as a resident assistant or a teaching assistant. Or maybe you led a committee or team at work. These are fantastic leadership positions to include on your resume, even if you have graduated college!
Key Skills
Key Skills is an important section to include on your resume as a recent college grad. Throughout your time in college or experience working, you gain a lot of technical skills, no matter your major or job.
When you are making your resume after college, it is best to include only hard skills on your resume. Hard skills are the technical skills you learn from performing a specific task or learning a particular skill. These skills are better to include than soft skills, which are more like personality characteristics.
Adding hard skills to your resume can really highlight how much you have to offer for a position!
How to Use Your Resume After College
Okay, so you built an amazing resume after college that explains all your relevant experiences in your career field! But now what?
Do you wish you had someone to review your resume? I’m here to help! Submit your resume to this link for a free resume review!
Your resume can have a variety of purposes after college, depending on the direction you are taking your career.
Some college graduates will be using their resumes to apply to graduate school. In this case, you may actually be building a CV, a longer and more detailed version of a resume. This is an entirely different document, but a lot of the same ideas apply. Contact information, professional experience, certifications and trainings, and key skills should all be included on a CV too!
Other college graduates will be using their resumes to apply for jobs. In this case, you want to make sure you are highlighting relevant employment and volunteer experiences and including key skills needed for the job you are applying to!
It’s Hard, But We Can Do Hard Things
I know that post-college life can be stressful. I’m experiencing that stress too! I have no idea what I’m doing or what direction my career will go. But I do know that I have a killer resume that can help me find a job!
If you’re confused after college and don’t know what you’re doing with your career, my advice to you is to gain as much experience as possible in as many fields as you can. The more experience you have, the more you can add to your resume and cater your resume to a specific job!
If you want to know more about how to build an amazing resume, download “The Easy Resume Guide” for free below! This guide will give you everything you need to build a quick and easy resume! You will get a step-by-step walkthrough of how to build a resume, as well as five resume templates that you can use!