Five skills that cannot be missing from your CV as a university student – and how to achieve them while still in college.
Maybe you’re looking for a part-time job to earn some money while you study at college, or maybe you’re ready to start your professional career with a full-time, permanent position. Regardless of your case, there are some skills that every student should have on their resume to attract attention in the job market, especially if you don’t have any professional experience yet .
Student CV
Below, we list five essential skills for anyone who wants to get a job as a university student (and which are skills that are actually valued by employers regardless of your stage in your career).
1. Troubleshooting
No matter what type of work you choose, there will always be times when you need to overcome a problem (or several). It may be that a customer is not satisfied with the final product; a project is about to miss its deadline and has not yet been completed; or two colleagues are not getting along well on a daily basis.
If you can find viable solutions to these and other problems that can certainly appear in everyday professional environments and work tasks, and make sure they don’t get worse, you will have the attention of employers.
In your resume, give real and practical examples of how you have already managed to solve a problem. For example, perhaps you had a group assignment to complete during your college studies, but some members of your team weren’t doing their part. Here, you would explain how you identified the problem, came up with ideas on how to solve it, implemented them, and achieved a satisfactory result.
2. Customer service
The ability to work well with others is an important part of most jobs, so highlighting any customer service skills you have on your resume can help you stand out.
This can be identified in your patience, good communication and attentiveness – so try to give applicable examples that show your success in these areas.
But if you don’t have customer service experience, consider doing some temporary work in retail or tourism and hospitality to help hone these transferable skills to different industries later on.
3. Time management
It goes without saying that time management is a crucial skill in any workplace. After all, you will need to arrive at work on time every day and complete your daily tasks within a set work schedule .
A great way to prove these skills on your resume is to show a time when you managed multiple projects at the same time. It may be that you have a part-time job alongside your studies or that you have been involved in sports clubs and student societies at your university, which has taken up a lot of your time. It could also be volunteer work experience during your studies or a community activity.
By showing that you can manage your time successfully and achieve great results, you are sure to impress employers who read your resume.
4. Teamwork
The way you interact with your colleagues and work together to complete the project is crucial in both a university and professional environment.
Did you or do you go through group work during your studies? Talking about this in your CV will show potential employers that you can work both independently and as part of a team, and better yet: in harmony and with satisfactory results.
After all, organizations want to employ people who fit into their existing culture and who get along well with other co-workers. They don’t want to bring someone on board who is going to rock the boat.
5. Optimism
Employers tend to favor individuals who have a more optimistic outlook. Negativity can spread like wildfire in the workplace, so employing people who have a good attitude towards work can make all the difference.
Try to use positive action words in your resume that prove this, as well as examples of times when you exceeded expectations or went the extra mile.
Ready to write your perfect resume?
These are just some of the skills to include on a student’s resume, but it is certainly not an exclusive list. Remember that you should always adapt your CV to each role you are applying for and, with this, the need to highlight different skills for different roles.
And good luck!