Recent College Graduates: How to Highlight Skills in Your Resume

If you are a college graduate who is looking for a job right now, you are probably getting a little bit nervous. The job market doesn't look great, you have a lot of new bills to pay like health insurance and rent, and repayment is going to begin on your student loans soon. There are a number of ways you can improve your resume to better highlight your skills and land the perfect job.

Resume Tips: Highlight Skills Used in College

When your main qualification for a job is that you have a college degree, that should be something that you highlight in your resume. However, not only do you have a piece of paper that says that you graduated, but you put a lot of work (4 years, in fact) into getting that piece of paper.

If you did any large projects, such as a senior thesis, or research work, these are fair game for putting in your resume. If you worked on group projects and papers, these show that you have skills in teamwork, both as a leader and a follower. If you did oral presentations or taught class sessions, these demonstrate that you have public speaking skills. Treat your college experience as a job, and tell employers what skills you developed while you were in school.

Resume Tips: Focus on the Top Half

Employers start reading from the top of your resume, so make sure that your best qualifications go up there. If your work experience is not very relevant to the position, but your education is, then definitely put your education at the top of your resume. However, if you worked the perfect job that is just like what you are applying for now, then that should be toward the top of your resume to show potential employers that you are qualified.

If you don't manage to catch their attention early in your resume, potential employers will probably just skim the rest, making it likely that they will skip over details hidden in the bottom half.

Resume Tips: Use Action Verbs

When employers are looking at your resume, they don't want to know that you "did" something, but rather, they are looking for what specifically you did. Use action verbs in you resume to show what you are skilled in. If you are a good organizer or administrator, then use words to reflect your actions.

Resume Tips: Differentiate Yourself

Everybody who is applying for a job is a hard worker and is dedicated to their job, but there are some ways in which you are different from other people. With each job you are applying to (or category of jobs, if you are sending out a lot of applications), consider exactly how your experiences in school and work will transfer to this particular job in a way that is different from others. Doing this will give you a better chance of getting the potential employer's attention and landing you an interview!