Author: Tayler Salvatore

7 Ways to Write the Best Resume Ever Over Winter Break

Writing a good resume can be one of the most daunting and intimidating parts of applying to jobs; it is hard work, and it can take a lot of time.

Luckily, college winter break is a time when classes are over, all the hard work is done and students have anywhere from two to four weeks full of free time. In addition to relaxing, a great way to use this time is to get things done, especially things that could make your spring semester easier. One task to get ahead on? Resume writing. How do you get started? Use these seven tips.

1. Get Advice from Your Elders

Winter break is the holiday season for many people, and that means seeing a lot of family members that you don’t typically have access to. Ask your aunts, your uncles, your older cousins, your grandparents and family friends about your resume.

Ask them about what they have on their resumes and what they think is important. Ask them how they organize their thoughts, what employers liked and what employers didn’t like. While some of the advice might be outdated or not relevant to your industry, you’ll definitely receive lots of food for thought that’ll get you in the zone to write your resume.

An added bonus: This is a great way to start a conversation and skip that awful “What are you going to do with your life?” stuff. Trust me, they will be proud and impressed that you are thinking ahead.

2. Word Vomit Your First Draft

A “word vomit” draft is essentially a draft of your resume where you literally write everything that is going on in your head.

Type out everything you have ever done for work, from your job mowing lawns in middle school to your latest internship at a world-class laboratory. Write out any leadership experience you have had: High school sports, college clubs, your Greek organization, everything. Don’t stop to reread or to edit; just get it all down on paper, save it and walk away. Winter break is typically at least two to three weeks, so you can afford to write it all down one day, and then go and look at it a few days later.

3. Organize Your Resume Appropriately

Once you have figured out what you’re looking for in terms of industry, it’s time to tailor your resume for that industry.

If you’re interested in going into education, for example, make sure you talk about your experiences with kids. On a different resume for a lab internship, you may want to emphasize previous science experiences instead of your work teaching kids. You can apply for anything you want, but the important thing is to make sure you organize your resume in a way that makes sense for the role you’re going after.

4. Keep It Short and Achievement-Oriented

Once you have your word vomit draft and have organized your experiences based on the roles you want, go back in and edit your resume to make it as “to the point” as possible. Be blunt. State what you did, the result of that action and how that improved that club, organization, or company. Emphasize the specific choices you made, the actions or steps you took and the result of those actions.

Even if it is something as simple as making photocopies or entering data, explain what that data was used for or how those photocopies improved to organization of the team meeting. Keep your writing and descriptions clear, and show your worth as a candidate through your actions. Identify your strengths, highlight your specific actions and accomplishments and “sell yourself” (but be concise!).

And we’ll say what we always say: Keep that resume down to just one page!

6. Cut the Fluff

Your resume doesn’t need to be “pretty” or elaborate. If it doesn’t directly relate to the role you are applying for, cut it. If a section is overly descriptive or wordy, shorten it. Whatever isn’t absolutely necessary or related to the job you are applying for has no place on your resume. Employers want to get a picture of who you are as a worker as quickly and directly as possible. Hiring managers spend an average of six seconds on your resume (and some see hundreds or even thousands of resumes every day), so make it easy for them!

7. Keep Editing (Especially If You’re Rejected)

Applying for a job is a lot like applying to college: You aren’t going to be accepted everywhere, you may be rejected for something arbitrary and you may not get your first choice, but don’t get discouraged! Just keep applying; send out as many resumes as possible, network and keep going on interviews. If you get rejected, don’t be afraid to ask why or ask how you can improve your resume; it’s good to show your determination to improve and to work on your weaknesses.

Overall, these tips are essential, and they eventually need to get done. My advice: Get the hard work done while you have the time. Starting your resume during winter break will definitely help you get an internship in for the spring or summer. By doing this early, you will be able to simply upload and apply to jobs once you get back to campus and have other things on your mind.

4 Ways to Crush the Sophomore Slump (Or Any Slump)

When you first get to college, everything is new and exciting. Freshmen are ready to engage, get involved and devote all their spare time to activities.

Subsequent college years are a little trickier. As college goes on, people have their core friend groups. They are less likely to reach outside their comfort zone, as the “newness” of college has faded off and classes start getting harder.

This combination usually leads to a debilitating condition known by some as “senioritis,” but don’t be fooled by the name. Seniors are not the only people susceptible; juniors and sophomores are too. This creates what is known as the “sophomore slump” or the “junior drag” (a term I have heard but is less well known.), and good news: These conditions are not uncommon. I, for one, had a major issue with the sophomore slump, as did many of my friends.

Based on my experiences getting through these difficult times and watching other students do it too, here are some tips to help you get through a similar slump, or even avoid one altogether.

1. Get Active

Ever since I was a little girl, my mom has told me that running fixes things, but I was stubborn. Running, or any type of cardio exercise, is hard, so I ignored her. Big mistake!

As usual, moms are always right, and now I, too, believe that running (or really any movement) fixes things. Exercise is a great way to clear your head and be productive and also avoid work. It is good for your physical health, mental health and emotional health (especially during the colder months), so getting active is the perfect first step to breaking your slump.

2. Keep Yourself Busy

One great way to break the slump is to avoid it all together. Get busy. Join student groups, run for positions on the club board, sign up to do community service, take on an extra project or get an internship or job (hint: WayUp has thousands of listings for you!).

Keeping yourself busy (like exercising) encourages you to be productive in ways aside from school work, allows you to use different parts of your brain and increases your overall motivation.

When you are busy and have commitments, it ensures that you can’t spend the whole day sleeping or avoiding your work. Everyone needs a break day every now and then, but when a break day turns into a daily excuse, things get dicey. I challenge you to step outside your comfort zone: Plan an event no one has attempted before, apply for a job or try something totally different. When people are depending on you, it makes accomplishing tasks and taking on responsibilities much easier and much more rewarding.

3. Set Goals for Yourself

You’ve got to take everything step by step. Whenever I get behind on work, I know that I easily become overwhelmed. If this has happened to you, the best way to avoid massive amounts of panic is to step back, take a breath and do each assignment one by one.

“Divide and conquer” is the name of the game. I am not sure who said it first, but dividing up your work and setting smaller, more tangible goals for yourself will help you avoid becoming stressed or overwhelmed, no matter how far behind you are.

4. Get in a Routine

It is scientifically proven (at least my friend who is a biology major says so) that people with a routine are happier and more productive than people without one. Additionally, science has proven that getting on a routine sleep schedule with a set bedtime and set wake up time, is one of the healthiest things a person can do for their body.

Set times for yourself, and even schedule in your breaks. Routines will help you avoid stress while also allocating time for each assignment or activity so that you never get “too caught up” at work, on a paper or on a project and ignore your other work. This will also help you study or do work ahead of time!

These methods really helped my friends and I break our slumps, and I hope they can help you too! Just remember, there is always a way if you are committed, and no matter how far behind you are, how out of shape or how disorganized, it is never too late to fix it.

4 Things to Remember If You Haven’t Had an Internship Yet (and You’re Freaking Out)

Every year, expectations get higher and students are expected to do more. For example, gone are the days when all you had to do was take a few tests and write a few essays to get into college. Now schools want to see students with volunteer work, extracurricular activities, work experience, diverse hobbies, high GPAs and so much more.

And guess what? The job market is no different.

More and more people are talking–actually, obsessing–about internships, and so many people are freaked out if they:

  • Had one but it wasn’t very impressive (or worse, they hated it).
  • Were only accepted to an unpaid internship.
  • Haven’t had one, and can’t seem to get one.
  • Haven’t had one, and chose to do other work instead.

If you fall into one or more of these categories, I am here to assure you that you’re not alone.

There are plenty of reasons people don’t get internships, and there are plenty of reasons  why people haven’t had them yet, but the one thing to remember is not to freak out! Just because you haven’t had an internship yet doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get hired in the future or pursue your dream career.

Here are some key things to remember if you haven’t had an internship yet and are nervous about what that means.

1. Your Personal Experience (Whatever It May Be) Is Useful

Like a college application, most employers are looking at your resume as a whole, and they are taking into account your volunteer work, your work experience, your extracurriculars and everything else.

Hiring managers want motivated and highly engaged employees, and your resume, even if it doesn’t have an internship on it, will show that. Whether you were a club president or a club member, the class president or a member of the class, your personal experiences are unique and can bring positive change. Our experiences help us to develop useful skills, and that’s valued.

If you want more help crafting your resume to show your skills and experiences, get more information on the WayUp Guide and check out this article on ways to tweak your resume.

2. Work Experience Doesn’t Count For Nothing

Okay, maybe you haven’t had an internship, and maybe you haven’t had a job that made you commute, sit at a desk or do any of the typical requirements. Maybe, like me, you were a camp counselor, tutor, nanny, dog walker, pet sitter or something completely removed from an office experience. Guess what? That’s OK! In fact, it is more than OK; it’s great.

Employers understand that a lot of internships are unpaid, and a lot of students (like me) need that money they make over school breaks. They also understand that regardless of the experience, those skills are transferable.

For example, say you were a nanny and now you are applying to work in marketing. Perhaps you haven’t had to work on a social media campaign deadline, but you are great at being flexible and adapting to your surroundings; when a kid cries, you jump into action, you think quickly on your feet when some sort of ruckus occurs and you’ve even learned to lead. Getting kids to listen to you is a huge challenge, and if you can do that, then you can definitely get your co-workers or whichever client you are pitching to listen to your ideas.

3. Work Ethic Goes a Long Way

One thing that employers love to see is employees willing to put in the extra work and go that extra mile. Maybe it means coming in 10 minutes earlier every morning, formatting a presentation style because you found out that the company you’re pitching to uses red in its logo or working hard and grinding away at everyday tasks. 

I challenge you to take that extra step. Show your employer that you can put in that extra effort, get up a littler earlier or work a little later and notice little details that may help in the long run and perhaps prove to be essential. Hard work really does go a long way!

4. Willingness To Learn Is Essential

Don’t be afraid to be wrong. Take chances, make mistakes and ask questions. Before you go into an interview, make sure you look up the company beforehand, have questions ready for the employer and show them that you are excited to learn.

When an interviewer asks you questions about experience in areas in which you may have none, ask them where you could learn to do that skill, figure out who you could talk to, where you could take a course or even just tell them you are willing to learn.  Most managers want to see employees with ambition; they want their workers to take initiative, and with this go getter attitude, you are sure to impress an interviewer; it’ll help the team improve as a whole, so don’t shy away!

If you haven’t had that dream internship yet, don’t freak out; there’s still plenty of time to get one if you want or need one, and you already have a lot going for you!

Here Are the 3 On-Campus Career Resources Most Students Ignore

When I was a freshman in college, I heard about the career center, and while I passed the door to the office every day on my way to class, I never dared to venture inside. It wasn’t until the middle of my sophomore that I made an appointment with the office, and my only regret is that I didn’t go sooner. Other students I know have other career regrets and wish that someone had given them the heads up when they were just starting college.

While every college differs, there are lots of career opportunities on campus that I guarantee most students are not leveraging. What are the top three? Check them out for yourself.

1. Talking to Someone in Real-Time About Specific Career Questions

If you have any anxiety about interviews or the interview process or want someone to double-check your resume for typos, don’t fret; many career centers can set up mock interviews with professional counselors, and they have staff on hand who can give your resume that final look. This will help you prepare answers to frequently asked interview questions while also working on your etiquette and attire, and they can pick up on things you didn’t catch in application materials.

Furthermore, don’t underestimate how much other people on campus, like professors or administrators, can also answer questions you may have about a specific field. The bottom line? There’s a lot more help out there than you think, and you should take it!

2. Learning About On-Campus Events

Before I went to the career center at my school, I didn’t even know where to start. I didn’t know that it had a website or a student portal where I could sign up for lectures, workshops, information sessions, or conferences.

Many students aren’t aware of the breadth of opportunities available to them on campus that could really help their careers. For instance, the career center or an academic department could bring a renowned expert in the field you hope to pursue to you. Why wouldn’t you take the chance to see what that industry is all about? Keep an eye out for posters, and see if there’s a specific email list or Facebook group you can follow to get these types of updates.

3. Getting in Touch With Helpful Alumni and Parents

Additionally, the career center or alumni office can put you in contact with alumni, both recently graduated and further along in their careers, with similar goals and aspirations as you. You can also get in contact with parents of fellow students so you can find out if their companies are hiring.

In addition, finding out your dislikes is important, and talking to as many people as possible (and using their connections to snag a job or internship) can be crucial. The career center and your college’s alumni network don’t just want to just help you find a job that pays the bills; they want to help you find a job that you will love. To do that, it is important to understand what you don’t want to do.

For example, I have an older friend who was dead set on majoring in biology, so for two years, she took nothing but science courses. After checking out her options, she got some help getting internships working in labs, shadowing doctors, typing up reports, the works. She had all these great opportunities and experiences, but through them, she realized that the professions that suited a biology major were not for her. She changed her major to creative writing and never looked back, and she wouldn’t have been able to do that without the exposure she got.

And let’s face it, all of us college students really want to prove that our parents are wrong and we are, right? Right?

Forging ahead with your career while on campus is an overwhelmingly positive thing that will do nothing but enhance your overall college experience. Get started sooner rather than later!