3 Things to Put on Your Student Resume

Writing a Student Resume: 3 Things to Include

In the past, most people didn’t put together a resume until the semester before they were getting ready to graduate college. These days, students should be prepared to have a resume by the time they’re 16 or 17 years old. Student resumes are extremely important in order to gain internships, part-time jobs in their field, or to apply to university.

Many high school and college students don’t know what to put on a resume because many of them haven’t had a paid job. Here are the top three things students should put on their resumes.

1. Volunteer experience

Volunteering is a job that people don’t get paid for. Just because a student didn’t earn money doing volunteer work, doesn’t mean that they can’t put this valuable community service on their resumes. Students who have consistent volunteer work in one field will have resumes with a more streamlined look, demonstrating continued commitment. As a result, students who are choosing their volunteer work for this year or this summer should consider doing as many hours in one area as they can.

For example, if somebody participates in two hours of peer tutoring, two hours at the homeless shelter, and two hours at the animal shelter, this leads to quite a jumble of experience on the resume and may lead potential employers to think that the student can’t stick to one thing. A student who is interested in education should consider volunteering at a peer learning center for the entire summer. This way they can add this as a legitimate “position” on their resume.

2. Extracurricular activities

Students who participate in a club after school, especially students who founded or co-founded a club, should definitely include this information on their resumes. If somebody started an anti-bullying club, an art club, or exercise club, it’s important that this is explained in detail on their resume. This may be handed to a university admissions department, to an employer offering an internship, or even a paid job (READ: “Extra Curricular Activities For Your College Resume”).

3. Personal interests

Seasoned professionals leave little to no room for personal interests on their resumes. In general, adult jobseekers do not wish to blend their personal and professional lives. However, in the past, having a personal interest outside of one’s field made a candidate appear more human and more personable. Interests are particularly important for jobs that require good social skills (READ: “College Prep: When Your Teacher Throws You a Curveball”). Including an “interest” section is even more important for students because these activities may consume a large part of their day. If a student is especially interested in playing piano but doesn’t play in an official club, they can still discuss their love of music and appreciation of the piano. This may even inspire students to provide a few volunteer piano lessons to the underprivileged community or to volunteer to play piano at a local organization, essentially turning their interest in piano into a legitimate “position”.

It’s important that a student resume is both comprehensive and concise, can fit all necessary information on one page, and is easy to read and understand. It’s a good idea for students to consult a professional in their prospective field or a private English tutor. Anyone looking at a resume should be able to understand exactly what is written, no jargon should be used, and the language should be entirely formal. Anyone out there who has reached their 16th birthday but still doesn’t have a student resume would be advised to put one together so that whenever the right opportunity arises they can send this important information to a prospective employer or internship opportunity at the click of a button.

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