If you’re a fresh graduate, the word resume would be haunting you. It is a necessary document you need to apply for any job in any career. The fact that you have graduated and had zero experience whatsoever makes the resume formation ten times harder. But you don’t have to worry anymore because this guide here will help you form a resume that will minimise your rejection chances!

Resume versus CV

CV and resume are two words often used as synonyms. Most jobs require either of the two, but the applicant would send whatever they have without bothering about the difference that CV and resume have. Basically, there is only a slight difference, but that is the one thing that will save you as a beginner in the professional world. Long story short, a resume mentions your educational background, personal or professional experience of any sort and other general details. A CV indicates the same information.

The difference is that a CV provides this information in a little more detailed way so that the employer can learn of your prior skills. On the other hand, a resume is exact. This will let you get away with the fact that your experiences section isn’t too full.

What to mention

Your resume will need a lot of edits throughout your professional life. In fact, you might have to make several different resumes according to the job requirements. However, as a beginner, you don’t have much choice of what to add in and what to not. You pretty much need to fit in every single detail of your life in the resume. This information can be divided into a few main categories.

Educational background

Your education is your primary asset at this time. After all, you spent all these years graduating from college so that your degree would have a value. Start with your new educational institute and go back to your secondary school. Other than your subjects and majors, mention your extracurricular activities as well. If you were part of any society, don’t forget to add that. All sorts of educational achievements are welcome in this section. Your GPA, grades from school, etc. should all be added.

Skills

Over your time in university, there are specific skills you must have learnt even if you didn't have an internship. These include communication skills, presentation skills, writing skills, time-management, punctuality, etc. Although these sound very general, these are actually instrumental skills in the professional world, and your employer must know that you possess these. You can mention any personal talents too.

Any work in any field

A lot of college students are encouraged to do volunteer work. This can be inside the school or in some social welfare organisation. Other than office work, you could have worked for a school society. Anything from the marketing of school events to photography that was done solely as a hobby, mention it in your resume under the title of work experience.

These are the tips that will make your resume look professional even if you just finished college!