5 Ways to Improve Your Resume From Home
This blog was written by Komal Saini (First-Year Representative at DSC UTSG) and Elizabeth Abraham (Mentor at DSC UTSG).
Whether you’re just starting your university career or nearing its end, we know how stressful it can be to perfect your resume. You might feel like you lack skills and experience. You might be wondering how you can make your resume stand out in a crowd of thousands of applicants. All of this becomes more stressful when you’re applying to jobs in the middle of a global pandemic. We’ve got you covered.
In this article, we’ll be highlighting some steps you can take to add some skills and experience to your resume — all from the comfort of your own home.
Note: A few of our recommendations are catered specifically towards students at the University of Toronto. However, you can likely find their equivalent at your university or educational institution.
(1) Take a course on Coursera, Udemy, or EdX
Taking a course related to your field of interest can show companies that you’re taking the initiative to learn on your own. Here are some courses that we found interesting:
- Machine Learning offered by Stanford University
- The Science of Well-Being offered by Yale University
- HarvardX’s Computer Science for Web Programming Professional Certificate
Bonus: A lot of the courses on these websites are free (but you may have to pay for certification). If you’re a UofT student, check out Coursera Access through UofT.
(2) Do a virtual internship at a top company
There are lots of organizations like Forage that allow you to do quick, self-paced virtual internships at top companies. You can showcase your certificate on your resume and LinkedIn, especially if you’re interested in working for that company. These programs are free for students and allow you to gain practical skills and experience. Some of our favourites include:
(3) Take on an executive role at a club or start your own!
Getting involved with clubs is a great way to emphasize your leadership and communication skills. There are lots of clubs at UofT that you can check out on Ulife. DSC is currently recruiting executive team members for 2021–2022. Apply here. Starting your own club is also a great way to show initiative and passion. Clubs can be started at both your own university as well as outside and open to the public. Student Life at UofT already has a PDF available to students that explain the process of creating your own campus club and aiming towards ULife recognition. Check it out here.
(4) Start a blog
If you’re reading this article, then you’re already one step ahead; you’re on the perfect platform to start a blog. Blog-writing is a crucial skill to express yourself and share your knowledge with the world. Whether you’re into tech and want to write blogs about your favourite programming languages, or you’re into philosophy and want to share your thoughts with the world, writing blogs can sharpen your communication skills. This experience can even be used toward learning how to copyright and write professionally, a unique skill that will make your resume stand out.
(5) Attend CLNx workshops!
Log in as a student on CLNx and check out the variety of workshops offered daily each hour! A lot of the workshops are career-related, and some even offer certifications. There are resume review workshops as well if you’d like to get some feedback on your resume!
❤️ Thanks for reading! Check out Developer Student Clubs @ St. George
Join DSC’s Discord Server to stay up to date on news, opportunities, resources and more: https://bit.ly/dscutsg
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dscutsg
Check out our website: https://sites.google.com/view/dscutsg/home
