I know better than anyone that summer should be a time to relax and just enjoy being young. However, lately I've been thinking a lot about my future; long story short: I'm terrified of the future and being an adult, and I decided to look into future career options. The best way to explore career options is interning. I recently applied for an internship which required a resume/cover letter and I was very nervous because I have little to no experience with writing a resume. I knew one day I would have to write one, but I also knew that once I did I would feel many emotions. If you're as unfamiliar with working on your resume as I was here's some things I felt and learned from it.
1) Doubtful
"What if they don't want to see that? What if they don't like what I put. What if this isn't the right internship or job for me."
Honestly, it's ok to be a little doubtful of yourself and question everything you put, but you should still go for it! Anything you put is probably better than none.
2) Inexperienced
"Does living count as experience?"
This I was most worried about. When I started college I felt kind of empty and less motivated. Most of my energy was drained from taking the train everyday and the anxiety of staying late in the city made it hard to want to stay for clubs. So when I started my resume I felt as if my time in college was waisted because of my fears and anxiety. But honestly, any experience you write about is still ok. As long as you say what you learned from that experience and how it can help with what you'll bring to the internship you'll be fine!
3) Under-qualified
"Does looking up cat videos and internet stalking count as valuable work skills?"
It's hard to think of what you're good at when you're sitting on the couch being lazy. But when you sit down, go through a list of things you've done, and actually write them down you'll realize that you're a lot more valuable than you think you are. Talk to someone who knows you, whether it's your best fried or a close family member. They most likely have a better understanding of who you are than you do.
4) Nervous
When you finally decided to go through with applying and working up your resume you're probably going to be a little nervous when you actually apply. You'll probably second guess your resume layout or what you put down for skills and experience. The best advice I can give is to have someone read it with you. When you've been staring at your resume for so long you'd think you'd be able to notice the mistakes until someone else reads it and they tell you what you can improve, what you misspelled, and what you can add to better your resume.
When I was done I had one last thing to work on. My Cover Letter. This I actually looked forward to because it's a personal statement of who I am and where my personality can shine through. From what I believed I "lacked" in my resume I thought I could make all that up by showing I truly was through my CV.
I don't know if I'll get the internship. I don't even know if I'll at least get an interview. But I feel a sense of accomplishment. I finished my resume and I decided to put my name out there for people to see and they can decide whether or not to give me that chance. I feel better knowing I'm starting to take charge and really take some control over my life.
