Summer is almost here! Besides buying new sunglasses, a fun beach towel, and more sunscreen, how about polishing your resume?

Yup, that’s right, it's time to make sure you have a standout resume. Are you graduating in June and applying for that first job? Are you looking for a part time job or internship? Summer is the ultimate time to do it! School will be out soon and you can't spend EVERY day at the beach. Why not combine pleasure with a just a little bit of writing this summer?

Don't forget to sell your college experience. As a student or new graduate, you might not have a lot of career experience. Grades and part time jobs are important but you have a whole page to fill. Think about expanding on your outside activities, which demonstrate skills in time management and other interests.

Here are 4 things you can do over the summer that will help build your knowledge base, get you better prepared, and give you more experience to put in your resume: 1) Internships; 2) Student Groups; 3) Volunteer Opportunities Abroad; and 4) Go visit a Career Counselor at the UCLA Career Center.

1 - Internships. Right now internships are hotter than sitting in 405 traffic with a broken air conditioner. Everyone wants one! While you are still a student, it would be extremely difficult to balance school and a full time career. But with an internship, you can get valuable experience for the career field in which you are interested, without such a time commitment. Employers and recruiters say they love to see internships on resumes because (1) it shows experience and (2) the person was willing to work for free (no joke, they all seem to say it). I think they mean that it shows a level of interest, commitment and dedication to intern.

And what better time to intern than the summer? Without all the schoolwork, you will get the feel for the true work experience. When you do apply for your first real career, you will already have a taste of the "real world" and you may have picked up some good contacts, too! There are tons of companies looking for extra help in the summer, and internships are the easiest way to get experience. Companies may not be willing to pay you for such a short time, because most of the time they would rather take the time to train someone well, who will be around for a while and make it worth their time and money. But don't look at it as working for free, but rather free career training and a resume booster for you! Plus, if you are strapped for cash, there are paid internships out there; you just have to look for them.If you don't have time this summer, there are internships available during the school year, too.

In fact, this article is one of the projects for my marketing internship at the Career Center. It is a yearlong internship with the goal of advocating, promoting and advertising the services of the Career Center to the UCLA student body. You get tons of hands-on experience, and it is on campus, makes it incredibly convenient. Be on the look out for info early fall quarter via posters, the Career Center web site, or just walk-in and pick up an application from the front desk of the Career Center office. The deadline will be somewhere around 3rd week.

Stop by the Internship and Study Abroad offices on the second floor, right outside the elevator and look through binders of internship listings. Or sign up with BruinView™ through the career center web site. Not only can you look for internships/jobs/part time jobs specific to your needs, companies can use the web site to look for you!

No need to stop there. Look up a company or job that interests you, and approach them. Call them up and see if they might be interested in taking you on as an intern. Who wouldn't want extra help for free? You have nothing to lose. Have questions about how to go about this? Drop-in counseling at the Career Center can help.

2 - Student Groups. There are over 3000 different UCLA student groups with a wide range of interests (and that is an understatement). From community service organizations, to ethnic clubs, to fashion groups, there’s something for everyone! There are over 90 organizations that start with the letter “A” alone. And there are still 25 more letters to go! These organizations can give you experiences that look great on a resume, such as leadership, community spirit, organizations skills, plus it is a great way to make contacts. Check out www.studentgroups.ucla.edu to search for a specific interest or scroll through all the different UCLA student organizations!

3 - Volunteer Opportunities Abroad. There are many different international volunteer programs available, as specific as the pre-med oriented, or broad, all-ages programs. Gain unique experiences for your future career, or gain new perspectives on your future career. Volunteering abroad would show future employers you are resourceful, worldly, and have initiative. You could also check out the myriad of study abroad programs offered for UCLA students. To learn more, head to the Internships and Study Abroad offices on the second floor of the Career Center, right outside the elevator.

Here's an interesting testimonial from a UCLA student about these programs: “Without a doubt, my 2 week medical service mission in Costa Rica and Nicaragua was the best experience of my life. The first couple of days were a complete culture shock for me. Not only was I in a different country, but also I was in a completely different world. I had gone from comfortable, safe Westwood to the poverty stricken, middle of nowhere villages of the Central American outback. In the short amount of time we were there, I was able to interact with, examine and diagnose dozens of patients. We were trained in how to identify tropical diseases and we got to work one-on-one with doctors. Throughout those two weeks I experienced a range of emotions from fear to excitement to sadness. There was never a dull moment and I am grateful not only for being able to get such hands-on training in the medical field, but for the greatest adventure I could ever imagine.” -Kimberly Jong, 3rd year pre-medical student

4 - Go visit a Career Counselor at the UCLA Career Center. Now, the final step! If you have more questions regarding how to go about putting together your resume together, or if you are all set and just want someone to look it over, it is time to make an appointment with a Career Center counselor. This is their job! They know resumes like we know our class work (ok, maybe we want them to have a slightly better grasp on their material than we do...) Not only can they help you create your resume, they can revise it, and even provide a mock interview! All of these services are totally free for UCLA students up until 3 months after graduation. (That's right seniors, you better get on it!) Good luck everybody!

Published by the UCLA Career Center on 6.4.03.