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Career Corner
Work History: Don’t Trivialize Your Past Experiences!

Gavin Redelman -- Don't short-change yourself when it comes to highlighting your work experience, even if it's limited. You may actually have more to offer than you realize. A lot of part-time and temporary jobs that students tend to hold actually provide valuable skills and experience that employers are looking for on resumes.

After writing numerous resumes for students and recent graduates, I found that the vast majority of them tend to omit part-time or temporary jobs from their resumes. A lot of students have experience working in either the retail or hospitality sector, and because these jobs are not “real jobs” or full-time positions, a lot of students do not feel the need to include them. “Why would I write that I worked there on my resume?” a student recently asked me, referring to a retail store.

The answer is -– a lot of part-time and temporary jobs that students tend to hold actually provide valuable skills and experience that employers are looking for on resumes. Employers are aware that you probably have little to no work experience, so any experience is usually viewed as a positive.

The important thing is to demonstrate this in an effective way on your resume. Don’t just write “folded clothes” or “processed transactions” when referring to a retail position. Instead, include that you built and maintained relationships with customers or that you regularly met or exceeded your sales targets. There are tons of other skills you could have acquired, but it all depends on the way you present yourself. Sell yourself and make your position stand out amongst similar positions from other candidates.

Just remember -– don’t trivialize your work experience. There are skills to be learned from every job, and it’s important to show on your resume that you’ve acquired skills that are relevant to jobs you’re applying for, especially when you have little to no work experience.

An internationally recognized and respected career expert, Gavin Redelman, founder of RedStarRésumé and White Knight Content Marketing, splits his time between the USA and Australia. Known as a career strategist and master of “Achievement Based” resume writing, Gavin is also a prolific blogger and writer and has had articles published around the world in newspapers, journals, student and graduate publications and magazines, and recently published his 6th career EBook. For the past decade, the team at RedStarResume has been creating award-winning resumes that get noticed by hiring managers. Custom-made, high impact resumes are written specially to match the goals and objectives of clients. Let the team at RedStarResume help you find your dream job today! For more information on résumés that get you noticed, visit RedStarResume.com

© 2016 RedStarResume Publications

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