Stand Out to Employers with the Ultimate Online Student Resume

Sings in Saddle Club: "Hello world, this is me".

This article was updated on 10/01/2024.

When I was in high school, I wanted to get a job.  

So, I did what everyone did—I put my name, age and a little bio saying I was looking for work in a Word Doc, printed out 20 copies and walked the streets handing out this archaic piece of paper to local businesses. 

“Thanks, but we’re not hiring,” the shop attendants said. 

“What about that sign on your door that says you’re hiring?” I asked.

“Oh, whoops. Was meant to take that down last week.”

After a few of those encounters, I resorted to Plan B which was working at my uncle’s cheese factory.  

Yep, I weighed cheese on a factory line listening to Katy Perry for eight hours a day. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t ideal either.  

Of course, I know those shop attendants were lying now. They were hiring, they just didn’t want to hire me based on this simple truth: I had a bad resume. 

Since then, I’ve learnt a lot about standing out to good employers, so I’m going to share some insights into better ways of communicating your value, so you don’t end up at a cheese factory. Unless you want to, that’s cool too. 

Whether you want to flip burgers at Maccas, code at Apple, or get into your ideal uni, this will work for you no matter what your goals are. 

Get the ultimate online resume. 

Now, awesome tools like the Student Edge Passport exist, so you can bypass the unsophisticated Word Doc. 

It’s public, online, on-demand, looks good, and showcases everything your future employer needs—like your experiences, values, skills and interests.  

It’s a lot more comprehensive and, in turn, far more effective because you can download your Passport and it automatically transforms into a resume at the click of a button.

What to put in each section.

Think about all the details in your Passport as what you want to advertise about yourself.

A lot of the sections are pretty self-explanatory but we've got a stack of tips here anyway to make you stand out even further!

Let’s start with your photo. Employers will be asking 'would I want that person on my team?' so make it a nice profile pic with nothing in the background (and no ironic poses).

Get creative with a background image too.

As for your bio, this is not the same as writing a bio for social media because your Student Passport has one purpose: To communicate your value to your ideal employer or recruiter. So with that, our tips:

When it comes to values, your identity is shaped by them and companies are shaped by theirs. You want to work at a place that has the same values as you and vise versa. So think carefully about the things you hold dear as this will signal to the right company that you’re the ideal fit.

You should also share your personal qualities because these form the way you work in a team and they're great assets to your colleagues.

Don't forget your skills (only the ones applicable to your ideal job), qualifications (all of them), awards (even a hot dog eating competition is impressive), hobbies, education and work experience. 

Now for the more specific stuff.

Referees 

Your future employer might want to double check you're not a phony by calling up referees who can vouch for you. A referee can be a past employer, a teacher, a coach, or any mentor or adult that isn’t your direct relation.  

Micro-credentials 

Got Student Edge Plus? When you complete courses, you get cool credentials. If you don’t have Student Edge Plus, think about getting it. It makes all these career and life things way less scary. 

Co-curricular experiences 

In a chess club? Run a writing group? Play in an elite sporting group? Put them in too. And if you don’t do any co-curricular experiences, maybe add some to your schedule.  

Volunteering history 

If I was an employer and I had two good online resumes in front of me, but one had volunteered to help the Under 12s football club and the other had no volunteering experience, I know who I’d hire.... 

Portfolio 

Enjoy photography? There’s nothing stopping you from getting work experience or even getting paid as a photographer. You just have to start building a portfolio of work. So start now and upload your work to the Student Edge Passport.

And there you have it! A Passport that will make it hard for anyone to look past you. Sign up now.