Job Readiness Programme
Hearing about resumes does not change one. Rewriting it does.
Most students have sat through a talk on resumes and then sent the same document the following week. In a clinic each student brings their own resume, a reviewer who reads resumes for a living marks what a recruiter would stumble on, and the student rewrites it there and then, with a second look before they leave.
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The problem is rarely the template.
Students spend hours choosing a resume design and minutes on what it says. The resumes a reviewer sees most often share the same faults: no target role, projects listed by title only, a long list of technologies the student touched once, and a generic objective that could belong to anyone.
None of that is fixed by advice delivered to a hall. It is fixed by somebody reading this student's resume, pointing at the line that does not work, and watching them rewrite it. That is what a clinic is.
What the reviewer checks
32 topics across 6 areas. Six passes over one page.
The First Few SecondsWhat a busy reader sees before deciding to read on.6
- Name, phone number and a professional email address
- A target role stated plainly in one or two lines
- The most relevant thing near the top
- One page, for most freshers
- A single column with standard headings
- Real text rather than images or tables
Plain layouts are easier for people to read and for screening software to parse.
ProjectsEach one explained, not just titled.6
“Library Management System — Java, MySQL” becomes a sentence a reader can ask about: what it did, and which part this student wrote.
- The problem it solved
- What was built
- The student's own part, if it was a team project
- The tools used
- What happened, or what was learned
- A link to the code, a demo or a report, if one exists
SkillsOnly what a student can be questioned on.4
- Have I used it in something I can show?
- Could I talk about it for three minutes?
- Is it relevant to the role I am applying for?
- Is it a skill, or the name of a course I attended?
Every skill listed is a question the interviewer is entitled to ask.
Experience That Students Leave OutWork that counts even when it was not an internship.6
Students often think only internships count. Written plainly — what the work was, and what they were responsible for — this kind of experience shows reliability, which is what an employer of freshers is trying to judge.
- Part-time jobs
- Helping run a family business
- Tutoring
- Club and event roles with real responsibility
- Volunteering
- Freelance or paid project work
AccuracyThe resume will be checked against the documents.5
- Dates that match certificates and marksheets
- Marks or grades stated as they appear on the marksheet
- No copied project descriptions
- Job titles stated as they were
- The same story on LinkedIn
Background checks compare what is written with what colleges and employers confirm. A small exaggeration can cost an offer.
Tailoring for One OpeningOne master copy, a tailored version for each application.5
- Read the posting and mark what it asks for
- Use its words where they are honestly true
- Move the most relevant project to the top
- Remove what does not help for this role
- Keep the file name and format the employer asks for
What students bring
- Their current resume, printed or on a laptop
- One or two job postings they want to apply for
- Links to any project work
- Dates of their courses and any internships
- Students without a resume start from a simple one-page outline
What students leave with
- A marked-up copy of their resume
- A rewritten version, done in the room
- A list of changes still to make
- A master resume to tailor from
- A clear idea of what to say about every line on it
How the clinic runs
A short opening on how a recruiter reads a resume, then small groups, each with a reviewer — an HR professional, a hiring manager or somebody who screens applications in their job. Each student's resume is read with them, they rewrite the weakest sections in the room, and the reviewer takes a second look before they leave. The number of students depends on how many reviewers can attend, so we agree group sizes with the college in advance rather than promising a figure. Reviewers are volunteers and may not sell anything.
What your students leave with
- Each student's own resume read and marked by a reviewer
- A clear target role stated at the top
- Projects rewritten to say what was built and what the student did
- Skills cut down to ones the student can defend in an interview
- A master resume, and the habit of tailoring it for each opening
- A short list of changes still to make that week
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Every student leaves with a resume they have actually changed.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.