Classes, Clubs, Careers: Turning College Into Resume Gold

The minute you set foot on campus, you’ve already started writing your resume for your first job after college. Yes, even on that first day when you’re figuring out how to swipe into the dining hall and trying not to get lost on the way to Chemistry 101. Those little choices, what you join, what you try, even what you decide not to do, become part of your story. Think of college as four years of experiences waiting to be turned into bullet points that employers and graduate schools will care about.

Why? Because every decision you make.  What classes you take, what clubs you join, even how you spend your free time can be part of the story your resume tells. Whether you’re aiming for graduate school, a research career, or that dream job, intentional choices matter. It’s not about being perfect or knowing your career path on day one, but about realizing that each semester is an opportunity to build toward something bigger.

The Graduation Day Exercise

In my first-year seminar, I do an exercise with students. I ask them to close their eyes and imagine themselves four or five years from now. They’ve just crossed the stage at graduation. Their names have been announced. Their families are in the stands, ignoring the rule to please hold your applause until the end. (Spoiler: no family ever holds their applause until the end. Uncle Joe is clapping and yelling before your foot hits the stage.)

They’ve done the post-graduation celebrations, and now, they’re walking into their first real job on day one. I ask them to picture it: the office, the lab, the field site, wherever they see themselves and to think about what they need to be successful in that moment. What skills do you wish you had mastered by now so that you walk in prepared and confident? This visioning exercise makes the future real enough to act on in the present.

Soft Skills vs. Job Postings

At first, students usually say things like: be a good communicator, a great leader, a solid team member. Parents love hearing those answers. It’s the kind of stuff that looks good on holiday cards and makes you nod approvingly at the dinner table. But here’s the reality check: when we look up actual job postings together, employers aren’t just asking for “good communicator.” They want specifics, Python, C++, AutoCAD, Trello, SolidWorks, GIS mapping, Canva, research methods, lab techniques, or whatever technical skills matter in that field.

That’s when the lightbulb goes on. Students realize that being a “good communicator” is important, but it won’t land them the job on its own. Employers expect you to have both.  The hard, tangible skills that prove you can do the work, and the soft skills that make you a great teammate. You can’t list “good with people” on a resume and expect that to be enough. You have to show it through the roles you’ve taken, projects you’ve done, and results you’ve delivered.

Reverse-Engineering College

So the challenge is this: how do you leave college with those skills already on your resume? The answer is to reverse-engineer your college years. If employers in your field want you to know Python, you should find a way to learn Python.  Maybe in a class, maybe in a coding club, maybe in a summer project. Waiting until senior year to “get around to it” is like cramming for a marathon the night before the race.

If they want teamwork and project experience, then join that robotics team, volunteer for that design project, or step into a leadership role in a student organization. Every co-curricular choice can become a line on your resume that shows you’re not just book-smart, but job-ready. These experiences also teach you how to fail, adjust, and succeed.  The kinds of lessons that rarely come from a textbook but matter deeply in the workplace.

The Early Advantage

Here’s the bottom line: the students who start thinking about their resume early don’t just graduate with a degree. They graduate with a story, a resume full of experiences, skills, and accomplishments that connect directly to the jobs or grad programs they want. Employers can see the intentionality, and it sets those students apart from the ones who only wake up to this reality at the end of their senior year.

Parents: encourage your students to start early. Cheer for the big wins (like internships), but also the small steps (like joining that professional club or completing that certification). Students: remember, Netflix will still be there after the resume workshop. Starting early doesn’t mean giving up fun; it just means having a strategy so that the fun and the work both count for something bigger.

Your resume doesn’t get written the week before graduation. It gets written the minute you set foot on campus. And the earlier you start thinking strategically, the easier it will be to hear your name announced, cross that stage, and walk into your future with confidence.