Undergraduates should do an internship, volunteer and/or a major study
We don’t write many undergraduate resumes. The reasons are varied but in the main it comes down to money.
We charge around $200-$250.00 to write or upgrade a resume and for most graduates, that’s a lot of cash.
Graduate resumes are one to two pages and 90 per cent of them can be written by themselves.
In a hyper-competitive job market, a degree alone won’t be enough to land you a job. You’ll need to have ‘extras’ to sell yourself.
Let me give you some free career advice and it doesn’t relate to the resume.
Always do an internship or practical placement. That gives you real experience in the field and you can often gain a referee or testimonial.
People have landed jobs from their internships.
While a graduate might know a lot about theory, employers want to know that they can actually operate task-specific software, use high-end communication and negotiation skills and get on with people.
People who volunteer in their field, whether it is nursing, social work, project management, etc, demonstrate to a recruiter that they are motivated to work in that discipline. It only needs to be a few hours a week or weekend. That’s a big tick.
Employers and recruiters often look for people who have completed a major research project in their last year. Sometimes this comes from the internship or practical placement. It tends to have a ‘real life’ application.
Often graduates come to us because they’re getting knock backs time and time again. It’s not the resume. It’s because they haven’t done an internship, any volunteer work or a major project.
Below is a crib on how to write a short cover letter for a graduate internship.
Your cover letter should be tailored to the specific internship and should include examples from your work, academic, and extracurricular experiences.
Use a business format when sending a cover letter. Include your contact information at the top, the date, and the contact information. Be sure to provide a proper salutation at the bottom. If you are sending a cover letter by email you do not have to include the contact information at the top.
Make sure to write a unique cover letter for each internship you apply for. Highlight skills and abilities that relate to the specific internship. Convince the reader that you will be an asset.
One way to individualise your letter is to use keywords from the internship listing. For example, if the listing says the intern needs to have excellent “time management skills,” include a brief example of how you have demonstrated those.
In the letter, you can mention academic experience, especially if you have limited work experience. For example, if the internship requires you to work as part of a team, provide an example of a successful team project you worked on during one of your school courses.
Also include details about your relevant experience from extracurricular activities or volunteer work. For example, a reporter for a school or university newspaper can point to interviewing and writing skills.