Top Mistake in Entry Level Student Resume

In the last article, I wrote about 28 questions students ask while writing resume.. To find a job U.S. after Graduate Degree, itself is a full time job. Resume plays a important role in the job search. When the student looking for the job dosen’t have any job experience, then things gets really interesting. But, having resume that attracts interview call is important and in this article, I will discuss about the top mistake made by the students while writing the resume.

I was reviewing few resume last week and I saw almost all the resumes I came across had one common mistake. Resume, I was reviewing were from Entry Level students with no job experience. When students don’t have job experience, their project experience and internship experience will help their resume stand out from the other entry level student resumes.

Employee’s will try to match the experience you had, working on college course work projects, team work, communication skills and technical skills. It has to be reflected in the resume. Resume has to be crafted to say what you have accomplished. Combined with good resume template, it will help you get that job interview call. I call those resume as “winning resume”

Project Description vs Project Accomplishments

Project Description and Project Accomplishments are completely 2 different things. But, majority of the resume, students write about Project Description. Employees are not much concerned about Project Description. They are looking for quantitative project accomplishments.

Example Project Description

• wExpose for Windows: wExpose for Windows is the tool that replicates for Expose feature of Mac OS in Windows OS.

Example Project Accomplishment

• Designed and Implemented wExpose for Windows OS using Perl.

You will see the difference in Project Accomplishment. Quantitative values can also be associated to the project accomplishment.

• Implemented the wExpose for Windows using Perl in 1 week.

Employers will be looking for: what students have accomplished in the past and evaluate if their actions will fit in the company’s culture and work environment. So, when writing resume. Make sure you include the project accomplishment, not the project description in the resume.

That’s the another reason why resume are more than 2 pages in length. When students write about project description, it exceeds 2 pages. I have seen resumes from students with 1-2 years work experience and then applying for Master’s program, have 5 pages resume. The reason being, they write description of the client, description of the project and no words explaining, the accomplishment in the resume. those kind of resume usually turn the employees interest down.

In mean time if you haven’t started job or internship search, you can look at most effective way to search of jobs using linkedin and 10 best sites to for job search.  Job search must start as early as possible. So, you will know what to look for, where to look for jobs and how to search. I have seen students struggle when they start the job search after they graduate. So, go ahead and get started. I will be suggesting different ways to search for jobs.

Related posts:

1. Entry Level Student Resume : How to highlight your skills
2. 28 Quetions About Resume
3. 6 Mistakes That Can Kill Your Resume
4. Is $180 for Resume Writing Too Much? Maybe Not!
5. Should You Use Resume Writing Service?