While experienced professionals and seasoned experts think how they can possibly squeeze all of their career history and skills into 2 pages college grads are concerned with how they can develop a solid 1-page resume. We have shared many articles on executive resume writing and how people who achieved great things professionally can reflect that on a 2-page document. This time we would like to focus on the things that will help recent graduates write an effective resume and land a decent job. Students who are soon to graduate don't think about their resume unless there is a day or even a few hours from sending the application. This fact alone often makes it impossible to create a resume that will help its author get a chance for an interview (and we'll explain why). However, the most popular question recent grads ask is "What kind of information should I add to make it lease 1 page?". The problem is that students usually don't have any work experience and as a result, they have no idea what else they can add to their resume... It is even more difficult to write a college student resume though so college graduate shouldn't be the most dreadful experience.
Great Tips to Make Your First Step
1. Don't include a career objective unless you can be specific and offer some value to your employer. If you are a recent graduate, most likely you won't have much to offer so it is better to leave out statements like "looking for a management position with a reputable company". The thing is that such objectives do not do any good whatsoever. There is no valuable information in that kind of statements so employers tend to ignore them anyway. And it doesn't really matter whether you are a recent graduate or an experienced professional. Whatever doesn't help hiring managers understand your key strengths and weaknesses will contribute to the failure. Instead, consider adding a summary section where you can include statements of relevant skills (or even relevant experience if you had any) in the form of bullet points. 
2. Educational credentials. There is nothing wrong with placing your education at the top of your resume, especially if you don't have any professional experience to offer. More than that, if you are a recent grad it would make sense to list your educational credentials at the top. You should include the name of the educational establishment, degree/diploma earned, and graduation year. Any honors or high GPA could be a good addition too. If your course work is relevant to your career objective and, more importantly, to the job you are going to apply for then don't hesitate to list it as well.
3. Don't underestimate your work experience. Most recent grads say are convinced they don't have any work experience and, therefore, they don't really know what else they can include in their resume. However, some extra-curricular activities can be considered work experience. It all depends on how you approach to describe them... So consider placing internships, babysitting jobs, involvement in social clubs, volunteering, etc. as your work experience. The fact that you didn't officially receive any salary there doesn't mean you didn't work. Keep in mind, that potential employers are interested in what you did and what you can do, not how much money you earned in the past.
4. Look for opportunities before graduating. You can gain experience before you have to write your resume and that is the most valuable advice you probably can get. If you are still a student, start thinking about your future employment now. There are many internship openings that can help you gain valuable experience and skills. Take time to search for opportunities behind the college door to get practical experience. This way, you will have many things to say on your resume, unlike your fellow graduates. In other words, start working on your resume before even starting to draft one. Because if you are to submit your resume by tomorrow, there is no way you can create an effective resume since you've got nothing to offer in terms of practical experience and skills. Therefore, start early to make sure you have a solid head start to your career.
