Now you’re living a new stage of your life – the first days of college, new meetings, experience, and you’re looking forward to seeing and feeling where it all will lead. But you have one problem – you do not know how to create such a summary that will open up your real strength and abilities.
As a first-year student, you probably do not have any (or you can have a little) experience in the profession you’ve opted for. And even if you already have this work experience, you probably do not know how to present it the way it will fully demonstrate your professional potential.
We can give you traditional tips on making up an excellent summary, but we doubt it can help since they work for those who already have some work experience. As a freshman, you need other summary tips since all your achievements are connected with your school, extracurricular activity, or hobbies.
So, in this article, we will figure out what the first-year-student resume is and what it should include, plus some tips on how to write it.
The first-year-student summary: what does it mean?
So, as you’ve already guessed, the freshman (or first-year-student) summary means a summary created by the first-year student.
At the beginning of your studies, you’re only starting to understand the things you want to do professionally in the future. And to gain this clear vision, you need to work on many things starting from your identity and ending with your place in the job world.
During this transition to the adult world, you’re only starting to get the necessary abilities, knowledge, experience, and, very importantly, the vision of the proper professional behavior. You do not have any excellent experience or abilities yet, but you’re not required to have them at this stage.
In many job and studentship applying processes, the summary is one of the key elements. So, if you want to get a job or a grant, you need to have a good resume. And when you get a job, it will help you get the necessary abilities and improve your summary.
Now, let’s see what you should include in your first-year-student resume:
- Your contact information: It’s the first thing that your potential employer must see when looking through your resume. That’s why you need to place on the easiest-to-find spot. This point should include the following information about you – name, phone number, address, e-mail, links to social media accounts, and blog link or portfolio (if you have it).
- Your summary or resume purpose: Located at the layout’s top, this point serves as a quick and convincing introduction to your summary’s content. Here, you should describe your aims, the position you’re applying for, and your abilities and experience to help you reach the objectives. Please don’t make this point too long (it should include not more than 150 characters), ambiguous, and too concentrated on your expectations. Here, you should be concrete and clear.
- Your education: Start with a point describing the things you’re specializing in, or you’re more focused on. It will give a reader a vision of the abilities that you’re working on. Then you need to name the educational establishment where you’re studying and indicate the expected graduation date. Besides, you need to say about all your academic achievements and rewards you’ve already gained. You can also name the relevant classes and thesis that have a relation to your applying position.
- Your job experience: Probably (and it's expected) that you do not have any job experience yet. But if you have it, you should include it in your summary. When describing your previous job experience, you need to make it in reverse chronological order (from the last one to the first one). This point should include the following information – your post title, the period when you've worked there, the company's name, your responsibilities, and your achievements in this position.
- Your appropriate abilities: The best way to describe this point is to adapt it to the post’s description. Here, it would be best if you named all your abilities appropriate to the applying position. You can name all hard and soft skills. Please give more information about your hard skills, since they’re more concrete and more convincing to prove your professionalism.
- Your extracurricular activities: At this stage of your life, you probably, have your achievements bases on your extracurricular activities. It can be everything – music, sports, painting, theatre, school self-government, and others. For a first-year college student, these activities can significantly open up your professional abilities and personality.
- Nonobligatory information: There are some other things that you can also include in your summary. These things are your hobbies, language skills, volunteer work, and honors. Before having them, ensure that this information is relevant and appropriate.
So, now we’ll give you three critical recommendations on how to make a first-year-college-student summary:
- Make a strategy of what sections to include: Before writing a summary, think about everything you’ll include in your summary. Make a list of these things and then mark those that, to your mind, are the most useful. After that, take all marked points and divide them into categories. And building on this, you should decide what sections you’ll take for your summary. When making a strategy, be sure that you do not repeat anything.
- Write effective vital points: In every section, take the details and descriptive info and unite them into critical points. While writing them, always remember the words used in the position’s description and use them. Don’t write much – give only concrete and precise information. Every key point should be one line (or two ideally). Never write from the first person. Use the active and colorful verbs.
- Apply the correct form: The summary’s layout and look aim to help the reader better understand who you are and how you want them to picture you. That’s why you need to choose the colors and structures that are more appropriate to your purpose. But there are some rules you need to follow: use the easy-to-read and consistent prints (no more than two different prints), make the margins to at minimum an inch and write your name the way it’s the most significant piece of text.
