Writing a Resume: Tips for Undergraduates Looking for Vacation Work

[danago]

Im not even halfway through my degree yet, but i want to start seriously looking for some vacation work experience in the field of chemical engineering. I have just heard about an expo being held on the weekend where undergraduates have an opportunity to talk to various companies about their vacation work programs and submit a resume.

When it comes to the resume, i am a little unsure about what to include. In the past, any resume i have written has been for a very specific purpose i.e. applying for a particular scholarship. For this weekend, i will need a general resume that i can submit to any company that may interest me.

Does anybody have any tips they can share? Should i include awards i won back in high school, or should i stick with more current achievements and awards? Will companies care about my personal interests, or are they more interested in things that i have done that deserve some merit? How long should my resume be?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Dan.

 

[dacruick]

If you won an award that is big enough, or important enough I would include it. But the more recent the better. Keep your resume to one page if you can, and also have a cover letter because that puts you ahead of a bunch of people.

If you have personal interests that you think can be transferred to workplace skills, sure include them, but I don't think they are too interested with your rock collection and how you usually spend sunday afternoons.

But they do want to get to know you, but you can show that through how you convey your skills. Make sure all of your verbs are strong. If the word "put" is in your resume, its game over haha.

Work experience and volunteer experience is definitely an important part. If you don't have strong work experience because you are in school, make sure you have volunteer experience. If you don't volunteer (like myself), lie if you have to. Lying is an ugly word, embellish is a much better description. Make sure you have in mind what kind of job you want, and tailor your resume to that.

In a skills summary, make sure you say that you are adaptable. Because you are not applying to a specific job, you don't have the advantage of telling the company what they want to hear. So, chances are, you do not have the exact skill set to fit the job. So to them it is important that you can learn easily, and are multi-faceted.

Also, if you have a chance to talk to these people who are hiring, express interest. express interest. Show them that you are passionate about what they do. They know that passion is easily converted into success and that is what they want to see.

Also, in most resumes there is a job objective. This can be dangerous if you are making a general resume. If you do write one, make sure it focuses on what you want to bring to the company, not what you want the company to bring to you.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Cheers

 

[danago]

Thank you very much for the reply!

In regards to academic awards during high school, i guess the "biggest" that i have won was the Dux award in my final year for graduating with the highest overall grades of my year group. Would you include something like this if you were in my position?

Also, what is your opinion on mentioning grades for university units that i have recently completed? Obviously if i was on a 50% average, i would definitely look elsewhere when trying to sell myself, but my grades have been quite above average. Would i seem a little pretentious to include these?

 

[dacruick]

Yes, I would include that award that you got in some form like this.

Recipient of the Dux award for graduating with the highest overall average in my year

And yes, you want to tell them what courses you have completed. They want to get a feel for your skills. It is not even a bad idea to include a relevant assignment project completed in university. If you have a comprehensive project as I know a lot of engineering programs have, or you have done something creative and interesting that shows off your skills, you can include that as well.

But yes, pick relevant courses that you see as fundamental to the job you want to get.

As to your last question, it is a very good one. In my university, if you get over an 80 average you are on the Dean's list. If you get above a 90 average, you are on the presidents list or something like that. So in your awards type of section, include what recognition you have received for your academic success, without stating exactly what percentage you have. You are right, you want to come across as impressive, but reserve some humility.

 

[danago]

Alright, thanks again for your help -- I really appreciate it.

Ill get started on putting something together, and if i have any more questions in the process, ill post back here

 

[dacruick]

sure thing.