<p>I am a college freshman so I don't have amazing things for my resume yet. I am interested in systems engineering. Well the thing is in school on my track team I was team captain but also we won the conference that year and also I was voted one of the best in south jersey. Would I put stuff like this on my resume?</p>
<p>Also how should I mention on my resume that I am teaching myself a programming language?</p>
<p>That first job is always a tough one, and if you haven’t had any jobs by the time you’re in college, you’ll have a little difficulty in the regular old private sector. </p>
<p>Resumes aren’t laundry lists of accomplishments, and being team captain of a conference winning team could mean that you got the title and did nothing with it just as much as it could mean that you truly led the team to victory. If you actually did something as team captain (managing people, coordinating logistics, etc), it is worth including it on your resume. If you didn’t, then it serves no real purpose… being a good runner doesn’t help you ring up groceries or pour coffee.</p>
<p>If you are teaching yourself a programming language, that means that you don’t KNOW the language, which means that it is not a portable skill, which means that it serves no purpose on your resume. Once you have developed skills and have done something with them, you can and should list it on your resume: for example, I claim proficiency with VBA and am entirely self-taught; I use VB for work every now and then, but the vast majority of the knowledge I have obtained has come because I wrote my own personal finance management system, which I have used for three years; because I have produced tangible results in various areas, I know that I have a portable skill and can include it on my resume (or at least in a cover letter).</p>
<p>If you have literally nothing to put on your resume, that’s not a big deal… college is a GREAT place to get experience. Join some clubs; if you work your way into leadership, you will likely do things that are worth putting on a resume (e.g. I was on the publicity committee of a group my freshman year, and I helped increase ticket sales by securing a newspaper interview; that is worth putting on a resume). Also, get some low level jobs… working as a barista at a campus cafe gives you something to use to get a better job next year. The job you get next year gives you something to get a better job the following year… and so on, so forth.</p>
<p>Just to show you how a resume can develop over the years, here’s my work experience:</p>
<p>Summer, 2003 (age 14) - Camp Counselor ($5.15 an hour) for the city of Philadelphia - on resume until 2007
Summer, 2004 (age 15) - Camp Counselor ($5.55 an hour) for the city - on resume until 2007
Summer, 2005 (age 16) - Lifeguard ($8.00) for the city - on resume until 2009
Fall, 2005 - Food runner ($8.00) for a country club - on resume until 2006
March, 2006 until September, 2007 - Busser/server for a small restaurant ($8.50) - on resume until 2008
Summer, 2006 - Assistant Manager ($9.00) for a swim club (used resume with lifeguard experience to get the job) - on resume until 2009
March, 2007 until September, 2007 - Server at the Macaroni Grill ($2.13 + tips) - on resume until 2009
Summer of 2008, 2009 and 2010 - Server ($2.13 + lots of tips) at a small restaurant at the south Jersey shore (used resume with foodservice experience to get the job) - on resume currently
Academic Year 2007-2008 - Publicity Committee of campus group (no resume needed to get the position) - on resume until 2009
Academic Year 2008-2009 - Secretary/Librarian of campus group (used publicity committee experience to get elected) - on resume until early 2010
January, 2009 until September, 2010 - Store Manager ($10.00) at a campus store (used a combination of experience to get the job) - on resume until 2011
Academic Year 2009-2010 - Publicity Manager of campus group (used prior group experience to get elected) - on resume until 2010
September, 2010 until March, 2011 - Research Assistant ($15.00) for a professor (used a combination of experience to get the job) - on resume currently
Academic Year 2010-2011 - Vice President of campus group (used prior group experience to get elected) - on resume currently
March, 2011 until the present - Consultant (full time, salaried job) at a tech consulting company (used restaurant experience, management experience, research experience and leadership experience to produce a well-rounded application and then prior interview experience to secure the position) - Current position, so obviously on my resume currently</p>
<p>The point of all of that is to show that you need to get experience somewhere. I started early, and each job I took was a little bit better than the one before it… and hopefully that trend will continue.</p>
<p>Protip, also… as you update your resume, save the old versions. It’s really interesting to look at how you have evolved as a person, and different iterations of your resume is a simple way to do that!</p>
<p>Thank you for your long answer its much appreciated. I see it would just be silly to put that I’m learning a language. But i believe I did effectively lead the team to win. I was like a coach on the field. passing on my knowledge and wisdom so I think I’m going to put that and just explain everything</p>
<p>Definitely put that you was team captain for track. It shows commitment and leadership. As you build more experiences and get older you eventually remove it from your resume. I would say you should remove it from your resume sometime during your sophomore year. I got an internship with the IRS my freshman year and my resume was only HS stuff. GPA wasn’t spectacular.</p>
<p>As for programming language , if it is relevant to the field I would put that you have Beginner, intermediate, or advanced knowledge of it.</p>
<p>Freshman year you should be looking to gain leadership experience on campus in something you are interested in. Never something just to put on a resume.</p>