Should high school stuff come off your resume? Part III

I've answered questions about when should high school stuff come off your resume before. This seems to be quite the popular topic among first generation and low income college students (and I suspect all college students). Another reader commented:

"Im in my second year,in a four year degree.Ive done nothing in college....il be applyng for some petroleum company most probably,which does mean leading/working abroad mixing etc. So this is all from school- A 20 day student exchange trip to germany for learning educational and culture differences (government sponsored) and being Selected by my state for learning in an under-18 National tennis camp (also government sponsored) and won junior state titles and was capatain of football/cricket teams and best athlete in final year.Also very good chess player..... can i include these things or they will all be rather called 'sucesses' than 'learning experiences'"

So your first problem is that you've "done nothing in college." By the time you graduate from college, you should have at least three relevant experiences related (at least somewhat) to your career goals. Definitely take advantage of what your college has to offer and get involved on campus, take on leadership role or position, get an internship, and do some volunteer work.

Generally speaking, employers look much more favorably on students with related experience rather than just good grades, so go out there and get yourself that related experience. Start now.

As for the experience you are currently listing, some of it can stay and some of it should go. You can put the student exchange experience under education. It might look something like this:

Education
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
University of ABC
Expected 05/2013 

Cultural Exchange Program
XYZ High School, Berlin, Germany
05/2009

• Learned educational and culture differences during 20-day student exchange trip

For the sports activities, stick with the leadership aspects. In other words, if you are going to list being captain of a sports team, make sure you focus on the leadership skills and concrete things you did to lead your teams rather than the sport-related stuff.

For example, if you led team meetings, coordinated fundraisers to buy equipment, or assisted the coaches to develop game strategies, concentrate on that sort of thing rather than on-the-field activities. Think broadly about your experiences and pull out the aspects about them that matter to employers or are related to the position you are applying for.

You can add an Achievements section to list your sports awards, but these awards should come off by the end of the year as you gain more college experience. Also, only include these awards if you think they will be seen as valuable by the person reading your resume. The Achievements section might look like this:

Achievements
Best Athlete in Final Year award, XYZ High School Football Team, June 2010
Junior State Title, XYZ High School Cricket Team, June 2009

No matter what you're applying for, it always boils down to tailoring your resume for the positions you are applying for. Remember, it's not what's important to you, your resume should be tailored to what is important to the person reading your resume.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

How to network on campus

Making connections with classmates, faculty, and staff is an essential part of the college experience for first generation and low income college students. Building and utilizing those connections is what networking is all about--and networking is going to benefit you personally, socially, academically, and professionally.

Hopefully, you have building your own campus network without even knowing it. Even if you haven't, here are # tips on how to network on campus:

Think about your goals. Before you can identify people to network with, you have to think strategically about who would be best to include in your network. To do this, think about what it is you want to accomplish on campus and after graduation. How are your goals social, personal, academic, and professional? Use those goals to influence who you try to network with. And don't think about it like an "either/or" choice because you can pursue multiple networks.

Talk to people. At the beginning of every class, strike up a conversation with your classmates. Go to office hours and talk up your professors. Meet with an advisor and get your questions answered. Ask department advisors or office managers about student groups and faculty advisors. After a few comfortable chats, ask to exchange contact information and be clear about why you're interested in connecting.

Join a group. Seek out student groups in your major department or campus organizations in your interest areas and join them. Join study groups for your classes or start your own. You can even use these tips to start your own campus organization. If the group has a faculty or staff advisor, talk to them too in addition to the other students.

Be active. Just joining groups is not enough, so go to their activities and events too. Participate in any activities that you can (like workshops, conferences, retreats, and community service), especially early on in your involvement. Really, having a good time and sharing common experiences are both ways to developing strong networks.

Step up. After you have been in campus groups for a while and feel comfortable, consider volunteering for a leadership role like leading a committee, planning an event, or being an officer. You'll find that stepping up to more responsibility within a group will help you build even stronger connections in your network.

Keep in touch. With all the people you are meeting, don't let them forget about you if you are not in regular contact. Send them the occasional email or text message to let them know you are still interested in staying connected to them.  If you come across something you think they might like (like an activity, article, or book), let them know about it.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

Get leadership experience and skills

College is awesome, but your academic experience isn't the only experience you should be concerned with getting. I highly recommend that you have at least three career-related experiences by the time you graduate from college, such as internships and least one solid leadership experience.

Really, you should be actively trying to develop your leadership skills. Leadership experience and skills will help you long after graduation, in your career, in graduate or professional school, and in life in general. But where can you get leadership experience and skills? Here are a few ideas for sources of leadership experience and skills building:

Know thyself. To understand what leadership skills you need to build, it's always a good idea to know where you're starting from. You can learn about your current skill set by taking a skills assessment at your school's career center. 

Get involved on-campus. If you're involved in any student organizations, campus groups, or on-campus jobs, these are all great places to take on a leadership role and boost your skills.

Take it off-campus. Internships, jobs, or volunteer experiences are all opportunities to gain leadership skills. Step up to take on a special project or lead a team whenever possible.

Learn from others. A great way to gain leadership skills is to get mentored by a leader you respect and absorb as much as you can. Having a leadership role model will help inspire you to gain more experience and build your skills further.

Showcase it. As you are gaining leadership experience and skills, you want to visit the career center to help best showcase your experience and skills on your resume.

Now go out there are get some leadership experience and build those skills.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

How do I stop feeling stressed and homesick?

A reader writes:

"I have just moved to a new town. It is not far away from were i used to live, but all my extended family live there. Sometimes at night i just want to be back their with all my cousins and my Grandparents and everyone. Starting a new school is so hard, and it makes it worse that this is my first time moving schools. Now, at a different school i feel more stressed than ever with: finding new friends, fitting in school work, doing tests and just fitting in with a new and much bigger school!! how do i stop feeling stressed and homesick?"

You are dealing with issues plenty of first generation and low income college students face. We've talked about dealing with stress and homesickness before, so please check out these older posts for some guidance:

How can I stop feeling homesick?
Dealing with stress

Also, when you move from a smaller school to a larger one, it can be kind of intimidating. To help with that you can try to find that smaller school feeling at a bigger school by joining a campus group or organization. Having a smaller group of people to relate to can make a big difference as you adjust to a new environment. 

I hope you can feel better and less stressed away from home.You're not the only one feeling this way!

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

Is it too late to get involved on campus?

A reader writes:

"I'm a sophomore and I think I made the mistake of not joining any clubs yet. I was just wondering if it makes any sense for me to join a club next semester. Do people generally just join all their clubs freshman year or is there still time for me?" 

Yes, yes, yes, it absolutely makes sense to join clubs next semester. Joining a club or other student organization is a great move for many first generation or low income college students to get involved on campus. And it is never too late to get involved on campus!

Generally speaking, most clubs and student organizations will always be welcoming to new members year-round and there is no perfect timeline to join. I'd say the only exceptions are fraternity and sororities, which tend to have specific times to join (known as "rush") or freshmen-only groups like a support group.

Also, most college students join (and leave) clubs throughout their time in college, not just during their first year. As your interests or goals change, chances are the clubs you want to join will also change. Don't feel like you have to figure it all out now. Feel free to explore different clubs before you commit. Have fun getting involved!

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.

Getting involved on campus... as a commuter student

Woo hoo, a student out there asked Ask an Advisor my first question today!

A reader writes:

"Hi. I'm a commuter student at a school with a lot going on on campus. I wanna be more active at school. Any tips on getting more involved?"

This is a great question! Quite a few first generation and low income college students are commuter students because it is often cheaper to live at home with family and commute to campus, so I suspect there are a lot of folks out there wondering the same thing...

First off, don't think of campus activities as the only way to feel like you're apart of campus life. Eat meals on campus (even if that just means brown-bagging it). Make friends with folks that live on-campus and visit the residence halls every now and then. Find a place to study on campus beside the library. Use campus computer labs. Attend sporting and performing arts events. Doing these things in addition to campus activities will help you feel more integrated into the fabric of campus life.

That being said, a lot of campus activities will be advertised heavily to students living on-campus and can make off-campus or commuter students feel left out. So what can you do?

Do not, repeat DO NOT, only come to campus for class and then leave. This is probably the number one way that commuter students shoot themselves in the foot, and surely you don't want to do that! I assume that not only do you value your foot, but it would be much more difficult to commute and get involved on campus with a self-inflicted injury...

To get involved on campus, you first have to figure out what is available at your school. Look into community service, intramural sports, student organizations, campus recreation, Greek life (fraternities and sororities), student government, research, on-campus employment, and internships. Check out your school's website and pay a visit to the student activities center if your school has one to get this information. Look out for transfer, re-entry, and commuter student services also.

Now that you know what's out there, here are two ways to go about it. 1. You can get into activities that fit into your current schedule or 2. You can adjust your schedule to get more involved with activities. Either way, the more flexible you are the more likely you are to keep something up and stay involved.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.