3 Digital Student Resume Tips to Get an Interview

These days a student's social media presence – and the activities that they partake in online – can play a major part in their career. It’s becoming increasingly important for students to start building an online presence that highlights their accomplishments and is a positive representation of themselves, as soon as possible. We reached out to internship recruiters, employers, college experts and advisors and asked them for their best digital advice on building a student resume and online activities that can help students get an interview.

1. Clean up social media accounts

Allison Wignall, College Raptor

Schools and future employers will check the social media accounts of students and make judgements based on what’s posted. So create a LinkedIn account to showcase your talents and achievements! Also ensure that you tailor your student resume for each employer. Every employer is different—some might appreciate a creative student resume, others a more traditional one. Don’t be afraid to use resume template websites to help build one of your own.

2. Practice creating a student resume

Joe Flanagan, Velvet Jobs

It’s important for teens to start practicing the art of crafting a resume so that they can become familiar with explaining their accomplishments and highlighting their job or volunteering responsibilities. Ensure that your teen researches job responsibilities for different careers so that they gain early insight into which type of job they may want to do.

3. State specifically what you can do for each opportunity

Luz Claudio, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

If you are applying to a particular internship program, make sure that you qualify for that program and that you fill in all application requirements properly. I can't tell you how many applications I get for these very coveted internship programs from students who are not even remotely qualified. For example, college students who apply for postdoctoral-level internships, or applications lacking a key requirement such as inclusion of a school transcript. Always, always, always follow the instructions carefully and provide all required information. If you are not applying for a particular internship program, state specifically what you can do for the person that you are approaching. For high school students who do not have much experience but are willing to volunteer in order to be exposed to their field of interest, I would advise that they submit an email stating specifically what they can do. Do not submit an email stating, "I am the son/daughter of So-and-So, and he said that I should contact you." Or worse yet, parents, please do not contact your friends on behalf of your child. Help your child draft a strong email stating that they would be helpful and that they have realistic expectations. For example, if you are approaching a doctor whom your child wants to work with, a good letter of introduction would say that the student admires the work of this doctor, wants to observe them working, and would like to do this on a volunteer basis.