Build Your Skills

Recruiters typically spend 10 seconds or less scanning a resume for immediate evidence of core competencies like Critical Thinking, Teamwork, and Leadership. They aren’t looking for a passive list of tasks. Your resume should demonstrate a clear connection between the skills an employer says they are looking for in the job description and those you have gained through your education and experiences.

3 web-ready resume tips

1. Ditch busy templates: Fancy graphics, sidebars, and columns can break the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) large employers use to parse applications. Stick to a clean, single-column document that reads left to right, top to bottom when applying online.
2. Keep it to one page: As an undergraduate student, prioritize impact over length. Select the current roles, past internships, course projects, and/or volunteer experiences that best demonstrate the competencies relevant to the position you are applying for to list on one crisp page.
3. Focus on competencies, not responsibilities: Don’t just state what you were “responsible for” in your resume bullet points, but instead on how you applied your educational background and skills to achieve real outcomes. Use the formula below to turn passive job duties into active evidence of your career readiness: 
   • {What you did} + {How you did it} + {Why you did it} = {The impact it had}
     • Weak (task-focused): Responsible for managing social media account and making flyers.
     • Strong {competency-focused}: Managed Instagram account for a 200+ member student organization using Canva and Hootsuite, creating unique content for 12 posts, stories, and/or reels weekly, which boosted engagement by 35% over a 3-month period.

Pro-tip: Don’t guess if your resume will pass the test! Upload your draft along with the job description you are applying to into Big Resume. This AI tool will instantly scan your document to highlight missing keywords you can build into your bullet points, and flag spelling, grammar, and/or poor formatting issues you can correct before you hit “Apply”.

For additional resume guidance visit the Creating a Tailored Application section of our Undergraduate Career Guide.

Cover letters are not simply a recap of your resume, but instead, a chance to tell the employer why you care about and are the right fit for their open role. The examples you provide throughout your cover letter should demonstrate how your specific career readiness competencies will help solve their future challenges.

Anatomy of a 3-paragraph cover letter

1. The Opening (Paragraph 1): State the exact position you are applying for, express genuine excitement about the organization’s mission or a specific project they’ve worked on recently, and summarize what you bring to the table in terms of education and experience. 
2. The Body (Paragraph 2): Pick two or three key stories that explicitly demonstrate the key competencies outlined in the job description. We recommend you use at least one in-class (class project or key concept) and one out-of-class (job or internship, volunteer role, student leadership position, etc.) example as evidence.
3. The Closing (Paragraph 3): Reiterate your enthusiasm for the position, mention your attached resume for additional information, invite them to contact you for an interview, and wrap up with a professional sign-off.

Pro-tip: Check your draft for the “I” trap. Shift the focus from what you want to what you can contribute:

Me-focused: “I want this internship to build my project management skills.”

Employer-focused: “My coursework in Human Development & Family Studies has developed my skills in critical thinking and equity and inclusion, allowing me to immediately contribute to your after school youth programming team.”

For additional guidance on writing cover letters visit the Creating a Tailored Application section of our Undergraduate Career Guide.

Your LinkedIn profile isn’t just a digital resume. It’s a 24/7 lobby making professional introductions for you while you sleep. Since recruiters actively source talent on this platform, you want to ensure your LinkedIn profile accurately reflects your professionalism and communication skills to prospective employers.

4 steps to optimize your profile

1. Upgrade your headline beyond simply “student”: LinkedIn sets your headline by default. Stand out from your peers by customizing it to showcase your academic focus, skills, passions and/or interests, and target role or industry.
   • Generic headline: Student at University of Wisconsin–Madison
   • Custom headline: Personal Finance Student at UW–Madison Skilled in Financial Analysis & Client Communication Seeking Internship in Wealth Management 
2. Transform your “About” summary: Use your ”About” section (3–4 short paragraphs) to tell your professional story. Briefly highlight what attracted you to your major, call out 2–3 core competencies you’ve developed through your coursework or campus leadership, and explicitly state what types of professional opportunities you are eager to pursue. Do not let this prime real estate sit empty.
3. Feature tangible evidence of your work: Don’t just list where you’ve worked in your Experience section. Show what you’ve created as well. Use the “Featured Section” right below your bio to pin slide decks from capstone presentations, PDF of your research papers, portfolio links, or media from student org events you’ve led. This proves your Critical Thinking and Technology skills.
4. Tag Skills Directly to Experiences: Rather than dropping 50 random skills at the bottom of your profile, attach specific technical and interpersonal skills directly to your individual education, internship, and volunteer entries. This shows recruiters the exact context in which you built and applied those competencies.

Pro-tip: Use the LinkedIn Alumni Tool on the UW–Madison school page to search by major or location to see how Human Ecology alumni frame their careers, discover where grads from your program work, and reach out for informational interviews!

For additional tips visit the Building a Great LinkedIn Profile section of our Undergraduate Career Guide.

When an interviewer says “Tell me about a time when…”, they are explicitly asking how you have used skills like leadership, communication, and teamwork in challenging, real-world situations. How you’ve handled something in the past, and what you learned from it, provides them with critical information about how you might handle something similar in the future.

Structure your story using the STAR Method

When answering behavioral based questions, structure your stories using the STAR Method to manage your speaking time like a pro:

[ Situation: 15% ] ── [ Task: 15% ] ── [ Action: 50% ] ── [ Result: 20% ]

Situation (15%): Briefly set the scene. What was the context?

Task (15%): What was the specific goal, constraint, or problem you were trying to solve?

Action (50%): Detail the exact steps YOU personally took to help solve the problem using “I”, not “we”, even if it was a group project. Highlight decisions you made that demonstrate your competencies as they relate to the role you are interviewing for. This is the bulk of your answer.

Result (20%): Don’t forget this part! What was the positive outcome or key lesson learned? Use numbers to quantify results if possible.

Pro-tip: Knowing the STAR method in your head is very different from delivering it under pressure. Before your interview, log into Big Interview and record yourself answering behavioral based interview questions. Use the webcam recorder to time your response and try to keep it to two minutes or less. Then review the AI feedback about your eye contact, speaking pace, and hidden filler words like “um,” and  “like.” Refine your responses from there.

For additional interviewing tips visit the Your Guide to a Successful Interview section of our Undergraduate Career Guide.