Students & Summer Jobs - Professional Resumes

If you’re currently studying toward a diploma or degree, do yourself a favour – make sure you accrue as much practical work experience as you can prior to graduating!   

However, attaining these summer jobs may not be as easy as it used to be.  A recent Vancouver Sun article shed light on what a B.C. economist claimed would be a tough summer for students looking for work.  Citing an underperforming economy and higher youth unemployment levels than four years ago, Bryan Hu of Central One Credit Union told the Vancouver Sun that “There's uncertainty on the part of businesses. As a result, they're not hiring and for businesses that are hiring, they may be looking for more seasoned veterans in the workforce that have the experience necessary for the positions.”

It may not just be in Canada where students looking to add invaluable work experience to their resume could struggle.  In the UK where the coffee house is one of the traditional strongholds of the summer student, a major national coffee house chain advertised for 8 roles and received 1700 applications.  This is clearly worrying for those seeking to bolster their resumes and bank balance prior to returning to their studies. So what can be done?  Create a professional resume, put on your best suit, and walk into each and every retail store in your area and personally deliver your documents.  Give employers the opportunity to see you, talk to you, and understand what you can do for them.  Failing that, set-up your own on-line business selling trinkets or gadgets.  Show some initiative…it can all go on your resume!

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New Graduates & Work Experience

As a certified professional resume writer, former executive recruiter, and recruitment consultancy owner, I understand the value that work experience on a resume can confer upon graduates seeking entry-level roles within their chosen profession upon graduation. 

In spite of a recent CBC documentary highlighting the plight of many graduates, unemployed or underemployed with mountains of debt, I still receive requests for resume assistance from undergrads with zero work experience.  Usually, the reason given for the lack of work experience on their resume is that they wanted to focus on their studies, or that they received advice from an elder that working in the usual coffee houses or restaurants is beneath them and wouldn’t look good on a resume.

Nothing could be further from the truth. To be clear, having no work entries on your resume at the time of graduation will put you at a severe disadvantage when competing with thousands of other applicants for your entry level role.  An employer respects the drive and determination shown by graduates who can demonstrate an ability to balance their academic studies with regular part-time employment.  It looks good on your resume.

A recent client who worked at a well-known coffee house gained experience of working in a customer-facing role in a highly-dynamic working environment.  He had responsibility for delivering outstanding customer service, supervising junior staff members, enforcing corporate policies and procedures, adhering to safe workplace practices, opening and closing the store, processing orders, handling cash, and producing daily operational reports for management. He even won an award for outstanding customer service.  Not working during your studies is not an option.  If I were reviewing resumes with a view to recruiting graduates, I’d exclusively seek out candidates with work experience on their resume.