Why Getting Involved On Campus Can Benefit the Job Search

By Melissa Wyatt, Toppel Peer Advisor

Many people believe that only jobs and internships should be a part of your resume – but  especially for college students, this just isn’t true! Getting involved on campus is one of the best things you can do to aid your job search. Though work experience is still crucial, on-campus leadership will develop a skill set that an internship never could. Instead of answering phones or running errands, an on-campus leadership position provides experiences that will benefit you for years to come.

Campus involvement gives you the opportunity to take charge of an organization and demonstrate your leadership, communication, and conflict management skills. By organizing a campus event, you can hone your problem-solving skills, learn how to coordinate resources, and become an effective manager. By being a part of an executive board, you learn how to negotiate with and persuade both your peers and administrators. In an interview, you’ll be able to back your skill set with examples!

By being involved on campus, you can show employers that you’re ready for a professional environment. Taking on responsibility in your extracurricular activities demonstrates your accountability, execution skills, and capacity to be a leader.

So how do you put this on resume? Better yet, how do you discuss your campus involvement in a job interview? Describe your positions with Project-Action-Result statements. Don’t just state what you did; explain your unique contributions to a project and what you achieved by completing it. This will demonstrate exactly what you can contribute to a company, and it will show employers why they should hire you.

To sum it up: getting involved on campus gives you the opportunity to hone your skill set and spearhead projects – something that usually doesn’t happen in an internship. Differentiate yourself from other candidates, and show employers that you can handle responsibility and achieve proven results. Good luck!

Take it From Chuck! 5 Ways Chuck Norris Can Help You Be a Better Student

Written by Thien Van Tran

“There’s no way all those ridiculous facts about Chuck Norris could be true, they’re so far-fetched,” said no one ever. Everyone wants to be like Chuck, in every way. And while that’s so highly impossible that it’s completely laughable, there’s something we can all take away from this. It’s like when people say aim for the stars and hit the moon; we should have our aspirations of mimicking Chuck, and hopefully learn something that we can apply to our own lives. Me? I just need to apply more tanning oil. These guns could use some color.

Chuck Norris Was Never Aware of the Filming of Walker, Texas Ranger

He had no idea that his daily life was being watched by millions of adoring fans who followed his every move. Rather than caring about what others thought about him, he continued to be an awesome, hyper-masculine human being. But people judge. That’s just human nature. You know there’s that nerdy club with all the engineers, the muscle-bound frat boys, and the weird music school Acapella groups. While these stereotypes aren’t always true, some people get caught up in how they think others will view them. Forget that, do what you want. Study what you want, and be happy.

When Chuck Norris Left for College, He Told His Dad, “You’re the Man of the House Now”

Sometimes you have to leave your home or your comfort zone in order to discover new interests. You may not know anyone in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, but that shouldn’t stop you from joining in order to partake in the many design competitions and projects. And this applies to any activity or group! You don’t have to be super smart or a science genius to join the robotics club. Some of us are cut out for math, and some aren’t. I found out at a very young age, when a teacher asked me, “If you had 10 lollipops and I took half away, what would I have?” A broken arm.

When Chuck Norris Gets Bored, He Tells Himself Jokes He’s Never Heard Before

Don’t just sit around and twiddle your thumbs if you find that you have some down time once in a while. Never sit still. Either start your work early so that you are ahead, or find some other activities to do. Find an on campus job! Join an organization! Make some angel hair pasta! Go to the gym! Being like Chuck will take some work. I mean, Chuck Norris has muscles in places where I don’t even have places.

When Life Hands Chuck Norris Lemons, He Makes Grape Juice

I have no idea why the “When life hands you lemons…” saying even exists. How does that signify taking a negative situation and turning it into a positive one? Lemons are PERFECT for making lemonade! When life hands you lemons, you say THANK YOU. But in any case, when life hands you something you don’t want, you can still make the best of it. If you get stuck with an 8AM class that you have to take, so be it. Schedule your other classes earlier in the day so that you’re finished sooner. If the sorority you wanted to join didn’t give you a bid, so be it. Kill them. Cry about it. Drown your sorrows. Knit. Rush another sorority! Maybe that one wasn’t the right one for you anyway.

When Chuck Norris Was Born, the Doctor Said, “Congratulations, it’s a MAN”

Be confident in yourself! This applies mainly to interviewing situations. Everyone gets nervous to some degree, but remember: the interviewers want to talk to you for a reason, so there is something they like about you. You have some skill set or some strength that drew them to you, so just be yourself.