9 Key Elements To Include On Your College Resume

As the job market increasingly gets more and more competitive, you must think of ways to better yourself and to stand out among thousands of other students looking for internships or jobs.  Consider including all of these elements, aside from your work and internship experience, when perfecting your resume.

1. Achievements.  You need to brag about yourself!  List any scholarships you have received.  List all of the semesters you made the Dean's List.  Share which honor society you have been inducted into or which Honors College program you are completing.  State any certifications you have obtained (ex. Hoot Suite University Certification).

2.  GPA.  If your GPA is higher than a 3.0, definitely put that at the top.  State your exact GPA.  For example, write 3.691, not 3.7.  Employers can read your transcripts if they complete a background check, so be sure to always update your resume with your most current GPA.  It's bound to fluctuate each semester.

3.  Awards.  If you have won any awards for outstanding achievement, participating in a club, for being a leader or from a contest at work or your internship, be sure to specify.  State the exact award won, the organization that awarded it to you and the date you received it.

4. Relevant Courses.  As you get further into your major, you will take more intense, relevant courses where things you learn will be applicable to an internship or job.  Choose at least 4 and up to 8 relevant courses to include and continue to update them as you get further into your coursework.

5. Sample Projects.  This is not totally necessary, but definitely something worth including if you don't have much relevant experience to list and want to fill space.  If you are a communication or business major and did a semester long advertising project that you got an A on, state the project title and a brief 1-2 sentence description of what it entailed.  Any successful campaigns completed for an internship would be great to showcase too.

6. Special Skills.  Basically everyone knows Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, so list skills that not everyone has.  If you are familiar with specific programs, software or social media platforms, list those.  Some examples are Cision, Adobe In Design, Photoshop, Illustrator, iMovie, Radian 6, Hoot Suite, and Bitly.

7. 'Creative Extras'.  If you have your own personal blog, author page on an online publication, website or online portfolio, you must provide these links.  These creative pieces differentiate you from others and show that you take pride in your work or are passionate about a specific topic.

8. Clubs and Activities.  State the clubs, teams or sorority or fraternity you have been a part of.  Include your dates of participation and a very brief sentence on how you were an active member.  If you held a leadership position, state that position along with your responsibilities and accomplishments.

9. Volunteer Experience.  If you are in a sorority or fraternity, I'm sure you are dedicated to at least one charity.  List that organization and what you have done to contribute.  If you do charitable work on your own, indicate which organization and why you are devoted to it.

Anything I left out that is essential to include?  Leave a comment and share with other readers!

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Summer 2015 NJ Marketing & Communication Internships to Apply for NOW!

Summer break is nearly three months away, so now is the time to start looking and applying for internships!  I will continue to share new internship postings with you as they come available.  For now, I am sharing five marketing and communication internship opportunities with some of the biggest and best corporations right here in New Jersey.  I encourage you to look into them further and apply as soon as possible!  Best of luck in your search and continue to look for new listings every few days.

Communications Intern
Johnson & Johnson
New Brunswick, NJ
Responsibilities: a summer-long project that includes media research in Cision, on site support at events, editing and proofreading materials, contributing to campaigns, handling a wide range of communications: internal announcements, memos, intranet articles, meeting notes, press releases, media pitches and tweets.
Apply: http://jobs.jnj.com/job/New-Brunswick-Communications-Internship-%28Summer-2015%29-Job-NJ-08901/248884500/?feedId=41100&utm_source=Indeed&utm_campaign=Postings_Indeed

Administrative Intern
L'Oreal USA
Monmouth Junction, NJ
Responsibilities: Creating production plans, creating purchase orders, communicating with supply vendors for materials, assisting inventory management, performing analyses and monitoring material requisitions.
Apply: https://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_thebodyshop/loreal_ext/gateway.do?functionName=viewFromLink&jobPostId=99471&localeCode=en-us&source=Indeed.com&sourceType=PREMIUM_POST_SITE

Communications Intern
Wyndham Worldwide Corporate Services
Parsippany, NJ
Responsibilities: Developing and posting content to company and digital channels, daily media tracking, assisting with research, writing for the Wyntern blog, and short writing for the communications team.
Apply: https://wyndham.taleo.net/careersection/11080/jobdetail.ftl
*Note: There are a few other marketing and communications internship available at Wyndham Worldwide. Check their career website!

Marketing, Communications and Media Relations Internships
NBC Universal 
Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Requirements: Must possess a basic understanding of all mass communication platforms, especially social media, have exceptional writing and interpersonal communication skills, and think critically and creatively.
Apply: http://www.nbcunicareers.com/our-career-paths/campus-2-career-internship-program

Marketing & Content Development Intern 
ADP
Roseland, NJ
Responsibilities: Tasks include performing market analysis, writing and editing internal and external communications, and assisting with strategic and tactical marketing plans.
Apply: http://www.aplitrak.com/?adid=YmJnZW5lcmljLjIzNjcyLjE3NjBAYWRwYmRhcy5hcGxpdHJhay5jb20


Check back soon.  More to come!!

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How To Create A Professional Contacts List

In college, you are guaranteed to meet more people than you ever have before.  Between all of your classes, events, dorm parties, club meetings, work, internships and professional events, you need to keep track of all of the significant people you meet along the way.  Upon ending my junior year, I realized that I desperately need to organize my contacts after meeting so many new people.  Sure you have added everyone on Facebook, connected with professionals on LinkedIn and followed new friends on Twitter or Instagram, but you need to have all those contacts in one place for easy access.  You may not even be connected with some people on social media because they don't have Facebook or LinkedIn accounts.  You may have only talked to them via email.  Regardless, you must compile all these connections together.  You never know when you will need someone and as graduation approaches and you are looking for a job, a professional contacts spreadsheet will truly come in handy.

Here are the necessary steps for successfully creating a professional contacts spreadsheet:

1.  Go through all of your social networks.  Find Facebook friends, Twitter followers and LinkedIn connections that you think are most valuable.  Start writing names down on a sheet of paper of anyone that you would benefit from keeping in touch with for professional reasons. 

2.  Go through your email.  Search "intern" or "position" in your email or look for professionals you have previously reached out to regarding internship or job opportunities.  You may not be contacted to all of these people, but they are important to include in the spreadsheet if you had friendly conversations with them.  For example, I emailed a recruiter at Dolce & Gabbana about an internship about a year ago.  They already filled the position, but she told me to reach out again for another semester.  Although I never interviewed or fulfilled the internship, I built a friendly relationship with this recruiter and would include her on my list. 

*Your list of connections can include:

• Friends with the same major or interests (classmates)  
• Recruiters you have previously contacted 
• Internship supervisors
• Fellow interns
• Co-workers
• Professors
• Advisers
• Club and team leaders 
• People you met at professional events or conferences

3.  Now that you have your list of names, open up a new spreadsheet in Excel or Google Drive.  Create different categories to organize your contacts for easy use.  Here are the categories I recommend including (in whatever order that best suits you): 

• Full Name
• Position
• Company
• Relationship (how you know them) 
• Email
• Phone Number
• Social Media links (optional) 

4.  Next, complete your spreadsheet by filling in all of your contacts' information.  You may not have every person's email and phone number, but be sure to get at least one or the other.  If you don't have either one, you need to ask them for it.  If you cannot get an email or phone number, there is no use in including that person on your list. 

5.  Double check that you spelled each person's name right and copied email addresses and phone numbers correctly.  

6.  Alphabetize the list in ascending order by full name or company to help you easily find contacts. 

7.  Save your spreadsheet as "Professional Contacts List 2015" and be sure to update the list when necessary or every few months. 

Good luck creating your spreadsheet! Please leave a comment if you have any questions. 

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4 Things You Must Do After An Internship Interview

Some of the things you do after an interview are just as important as the interview itself.  An interview is a process.  It does not just start and end from the moment you get there to the moment you leave.  You must do a few things beforehand and afterwards to ensure the best outcome.  You need to sell yourself on the interview first, but also do a few things afterwards to stay fresh in the employer's mind and standout among the rest. 

1.  The first thing you should do if you did not do this beforehand is connect with the person that interviewed you on LinkedIn.  This way, they can get a better feel for you and see more points that may not have been included on your resume.  LinkedIn has many more fields and room for detail, so take advantage of that.  Your summary is a significant component.  There is no summary on your resume, so take the time to write a well-structured, error-free paragraph about yourself, your strengths and your interests.  Make sure to include any links to articles you wrote or that feature you, an online portfolio or website, blog or any other media.  Also, if you met any other employees during your interview at this company and received their business cards or remember their names, connect with them too. 

2.   Send thank you notes!  Not only via email, but handwritten ones too.  You need to differentiate yourself from the other candidates so you should buy nice, professional thank you cards at your local pharmacy and hand write a personal note. Your emailed thank you note should go out within 24 hours of the interview and the handwritten one should reach them within three to five days of that interview.  

     In your email thank you, go into detail about why this position would be beneficial to your development as a young professional, what you can learn from it to better your understanding of your major, and how your skill set and mindset can benefit the interviewer and their team or company.  Of course you need to sincerely thank them and you can ask if they would like you to send them any further information or portfolio pieces.  You can also add things that you may have left out during the interview that you think they would appreciate knowing.  At the bottom of the email as a 'P.S.' you can say, "Hard copy to follow".  

     In your handwritten thank you, first make sure to thank the interviewer for their time.  Then, write only two or three more sentences.  I would suggest one sentence to be about something you liked about the potential position or company, another sentence about one task you would excel at doing, and the last sentence should say something like; "I hope to hear from you soon".  Address it to the interviewer and put the company under their name. You are all set! 

3.   Send a follow-up email.  Typically at the end of an interview, the interviewer will tell you when he or she hopes to make a decision by.  Make note of that date and follow-up around that time, if you haven't already heard anything.  From my experience, most employers make a decision for interns within two or three weeks, unless it's a huge corporation with several thousands employees.  In your follow-up email, state that you are indeed following up about the position and be sure to let he or she know that you are still very interested. 

4.    If you were told that you were not offered the internship, but ended things on a good note with that person, keep in touch.  Since you are still in college and only interning, there might be an opportunity during a future semester or you might want to contact this person prior to graduation to inquiry about any entry-level positions at their company.  It is important to stay in touch and end this interview process on great terms.  Stay connected on LinkedIn and continue to interact with them.  If the interviewer liked you enough from the initial interview and sees that you are growing and evolving as a student, he or she will keep you in mind for future opportunities. 

Implement these steps into your own life after you conclude an interview for your best shot at an internship position.  Best of luck on your search for an internship! 

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