Whether you choose to try out a new club, take on a part-time job, or just get more active within your major, involvement can do amazing things for your resume and career. Here’s what getting involved can do for you:
Marketable Skills
The groups and organizations you are involved in closely resemble most future workplaces more than anything else you do in college. When employers are reviewing candidates for a position, the most desired traits are leadership, teamwork, communication, and interpersonal skills. (Find the full list of the top ten most desired attributes here: https://career.missouri.edu/resumes-interviews/desired-attributes/.) Not only does your student involvement give you opportunities to develop these skills, but your experiences will provide examples that you can highlight in interviews to show employers how and where you have used these skills.
Tangible Experiences
On your resume, facts and figures can speak louder than titles. Student involvement provides many opportunities for you to create tangible outcomes within an organization while working with others. With the possibility to make a real impact, these experiences can often be expressed in numbers and specific results from your efforts in your organization. This can be a range of results from how many students you led to how many events you organized and so on. Details like these can showcase your potential to employers.
Networking Opportunities
When you join a student organization, you are likely to meet students, faculty, and/or community members who share similar interests and goals. This is a great way to effortlessly find out about future opportunities like summer internships that are more likely right up your alley. The groups you work with outside of class will often be great people to speak on your behalf and connect you with others in the same field.
Career Exploration
Finding your ideal career is about yourself more than your area of study. In your student involvement experiences, you will inevitably find yourself in a variety of roles. This is a wonderful way to explore your strengths and figure out where you are strongest within a team. Involvement also allows you to explore specific interests that can be tied into future careers.
Get Involved in Your Community
Student involvement is a great way for you to find service-learning opportunities and even improve the community around you. Community engagement provides very valuable experiences to speak to future employers about. This type of involvement can also be an effective way to network with potential employers, too.
Getting involved can look like so many things! As you find your path here at Mizzou, keep these career benefits in mind. Try something new, run for a leadership position, or find ways to make a difference where you are already involved. Be sure to check out Engage for involvement events of all kinds!
