Resumes are the\u00a0gold standard of job applications\u00a0but\u00a0we have been using them for so long that we simply\u00a0accept it as the way it is, even when it is not effectively selling students to employers.<\/p>\n
Here are 6 ways the resume is failing todays student:<\/p>\n
A resume is a summary of an individuals past; an overview of their personal, educational, and professional qualifications and achievements that are relevant to\u00a0an employer. Unfortunately for students, they haven’t accumulated much professional or even personal experiences and their education is often their most employable asset.\u00a0Relying on a document that focuses on articulating\u00a0a candidates past is in itself positioning students to put their worst foot forward.<\/p>\n
I’ve seen thousands of student resumes and spoken to recruiters across most\u00a0industries and one thing is abundantly clear: most student resumes look the same. Unlike experienced professionals who can display unique accomplishments at prior companies, typically a student’s most defining attribute on a resume is their education, the problem is that everyone else who graduated from the same program (and similar programs from competing schools) lists near identical degrees.<\/p>\n
Most students sell their education as a\u00a0single line on a resume. Take a look and ask yourself if these examples\u00a0adequately reflect the knowledge acquired\u00a0in\u00a02-4 years of full time education and $20K+ in tuition.<\/p>\n
DEGREE NAME | MAJOR NAME | UNIVERSITY NAME | YEAR<\/span><\/p>\n hBA | Management & Psychology | University of Toronto | 2015<\/p>\n BA | Creative Industries | Ryerson University | 2015<\/p>\n BFCM | Computing & Financial Management | University of Waterloo | 2015<\/p>\n What does this mean to an employer, more specifically what makes them special to an employer or hiring manager who is reviewing the\u00a0resume. Students\u00a0understand the ins and outs of what makes their program special, however that knowledge isn’t universal. There are so many programs and degrees today\u00a0and more\u00a0added every year, that employers simply cannot keep up the unique value of each. A lot of knowledge is\u00a0accumulated in post secondary education\u00a0and the resume does an abysmal\u00a0job positioning education as the asset it should be seen\u00a0as.<\/p>\n One of the most important things\u00a0employers are looking for today are soft skills. Skills like\u00a0strong communication, the ability to be effective in a team, and how their personality fits in with company culture. These are next to impossible to convey through a resume and employers typically need to wait\u00a0for the\u00a0interview stage to assess, but at that stage employers have already lost out\u00a0many talented candidates because\u00a0those skills aren’t\u00a0visible during resume screening.<\/p>\n Some of the most exciting things about hiring students is the element of fresh, new, and an infusion of excitement to a team. These are potential employees who aren’t set in their ways,\u00a0can be more easily moulded to fit the companies processes, and can provide employers with\u00a0a fresh point of view. Employers want to see how badly a student wants to work for them, it is a great indicator of drive and that the student will go the extra mile for the employer. Students resumes don’t convey any of these qualities.<\/p>\n The saying “Show me. Don’t tell me.” rings especially true for todays student. Most students are telling the same story through their resume. Everyone is a team player, action oriented, has excellent time management skills, is proactive, and has\u00a0excellent communication skills. I’ve heard countless times from employers where a candidate was a rockstar on paper, but when they came through the door for an interview and didn’t even come close to possessing the skill sets their resume said they had. Again, think of the students who actually had those skill sets who were overlooked by the employer because the resume didn’t give the employer a way to adequately assess those skills. Showing employers concrete examples of the skill sets listed on your resume is a powerful way to differentiate yourself and show employers you are the real deal.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Resumes certainly have their place and it is important that students understand how to create them but it is becoming increasingly clear that resumes on their own are not cutting it for students. We need to explore new ways to augment student\u00a0resumes to show employers the value\u00a0students and new grads are capable of providing. Things like\u00a0work examples, video introductions, awards, convenient access to social links & skill related websites, and more compelling references to name a few. It’s time for students and employers to go beyond the resume and start connecting on a level where students can showcase the full value of their education and employers can make smarter more relevant student hires.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Resumes are the\u00a0gold standard of job applications\u00a0but\u00a0we have been using them for so long that we simply\u00a0accept it as the way it is, even when it is not effectively selling…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,13,8,10],"tags":[15],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.acadiate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.acadiate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.acadiate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.acadiate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.acadiate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.acadiate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.acadiate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.acadiate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.acadiate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.acadiate.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}4. Resumes Don’t Show the Skills Most Employers are Looking for: Soft Skills<\/h4>\n
5. Resumes Don’t Show\u00a0Enthusiasm,\u00a0Ambition, or Energy<\/h4>\n
6. Resumes Tell, Students need to Show.<\/h4>\n