Are college students over-optimising their resumes?
The article explores the trend of college students over-optimizing their resumes with excessive certifications and activities. It argues that quality and a clear professional narrative are more valuable than a long list of disconnected achievements.
Why it matters
This highlights a shift in recruitment expectations, emphasizing depth of experience over superficial resume padding.
Consider two undergraduate students applying for their first serious internship. The first’s resume runs to two pages. It is packed with achievements: three online certifications in different areas, two short-term internships, membership of four college societies, a volunteering experience, a college-level competition, a webinar series, a few workshops, and several certificates of participation.
On paper, there is very little blank space. Yet, when asked what she is actually interested in pursuing, she struggles to articulate an answer. Her experiences span marketing, social work, finance, event-management, and content creation, but there is little continuity between them. Each appears to have been added because it seemed like something a “good college student” ought to have on a resume.
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