The Fall semester is an amazing time of year. New classes, new spaces, and another round of opportunities to join all the clubs, groups, and initiatives you regretted not doing before. All this isn’t just good news for your personal growth, either. Every one of these opportunities can be awesome for your resume.
1. Join A Club/Organization You Really Care About
One of the things employers love most in potential candidates is passion. It’s a combination of dedication, enthusiasm, and curiosity that’s really hard to find in people—especially when you’re just looking at their resumes.
But finding something that you really care about and giving it your all can lead you not only to better social circumstances, but also better professional ones. What if you become the A Capella superstar your school always needed? What if you’re the national debate champion? All of these things make you feel more confident in yourself and give you plenty to talk about during interviews. They’re also ways of demonstrating your commitment to your commitments—especially if you can manage to be a good student while also being a great fill-in-the-blank.
Even if there’s no competitive aspect to the organization, there are still ways to excel. Seek leadership roles, organize fundraisers and events, and try to get your hands on some management skills while you’re at it. You can make friends and build valuable work skills. After all, they’re gonna want to hear about more than just your summer internship during your next job interview.
2. Get A Part-Time Job/Fall Internship
Summer is the season of internships, but the needs of businesses don’t just disappear in the fall.
Now’s the time to grab the reins and get yourself an internship or a part-time job for the fall semester. Few things look as good on a resume as work experience and who doesn’t need a little extra cash? And, given that there are usually fewer interns in the Fall, you can almost always make quality connections with important people in the office.
3. Volunteer With Your Spare Time
Volunteering is good for everyone. The people (or animals, or planet, or body of water, or body of cultural artifacts etc.) will certainly be grateful for your help. Plus, you’re building practical skills. And, at the end of the day, it’s much easier to secure a spot volunteering somewhere than it is to secure a very competitive internship. And it will certainly help you on that path, too.
Most non-profits and organizations that accept volunteers are also comfortable accepting other types of volunteering, like offering them social media consulting or helping them run their website. Stuff like this gives you valuable professional experience and also helps a good cause in a way that you might not have considered before.
Ask your local charity if they need any help running the organization. Tell them what you study and why you want to contribute your talents to their cause. You’d be surprised what kinds of opportunities might come your way.
Another great thing about volunteering is that it’s a very flexible, possibly very small time commitment. You can do it once every two weeks or even once a month and still do something good while beefing up your resume.
4. Dive Deep Into Your Classes, Study Hard, And Get Amazing Grades
Fall semester is also a time for, you know, school. Killing it in your classes will give you an easy way to demonstrate a lot of these important traits like determination, intelligence, curiosity, and all-around responsibility.
A lot of the most competitive employers ask for your GPA (even if it isn’t the most important factor) and having the 3.8 jump off the page at them is an awesome way to make a good first impression!
Plus, you might actually learn something that you can use later in your life.
Whatever You Do, Just Do Something
Don’t let the semester disappear without you getting any new, enriching experiences. What you do in fall semester can make excellent material for the job interviews that come in the Spring and Summer. You’ll also have the opportunity to make friends and connections you’d have never otherwise met.
For more tips, tricks, and hacks for crafting the perfect resume, acing the interview, and securing your dream job, check out the WayUp Guide for more!
