Archive for College

Student Savings and Discounts 101

How Students Can Get Discounts And Savings Just By Being a Student

library full of students studyingThere’s no doubting it; college is expensive. For most students, the cost is worthwhile because of the earnings potential that exists on the other side, but what about the here and now? Did you know being a college student could get you all kinds of discounts? Here are three excellent places to save with your college ID. 

1.) Save big on Amazon Prime

Amazon offers a specialized Amazon Prime discount that’s just for college students. For those unfamiliar, Amazon Prime is a membership program that offers free shipping on most products sold on Amazon. Just by providing them with a .edu email address, you get 50% off a yearly Prime subscription. Since you can share Prime with up to four other people, you could split the cost with roommates or family to get the cost even lower.

Amazon Prime also includes its own music streaming service (so you can stop paying for Spotify), its own online video service (goodbye Netflix), and even some free before-market e-books! With that range of services, plus free shipping, Amazon Prime for students might be your budget’s best friend.

2.) Trim the travel costs

Visiting home, going on spring break trips and traveling to potential employers can really eat through your budget. Fortunately, there are several programs designed just for college students that can help you out. The Student Advantage, ISIC and ISE cards can all help keep the costs down at least a little bit.

The Student Advantage is the highlight for domestic travelers. These cards costs $22.50 and require verification of enrollment. In return, you get a 10% discount on Amtrak, a 20% discount on Greyhound and discounts on some hotel bookings. These are far from luxurious ways to travel, but the prices can’t be beat!

The International Student ID Card (ISIC) offers lots of benefits for student tourism. Educational excursions, like guided tours of historic European sites, are deeply discounted, as are domestic and international train travel. The ISIC card also includes discounts on Amtrak and Greyhound, along with some online and local retailer discounts. These cards cost $25 and require proof of enrollment. A photocopy of your ID will do.

The ISE card is another option for the international traveler. It costs $1.99 for a mobile card, but requires both proof of full-time student enrollment (a transcript) and proof of identification (the information page of your passport). This card includes many more deeply discounted tourist destinations as well as savings on airfare, rail travel and other modes of transportation.

3.) Save on software

Colleges tend to be all about sharing (or software piracy, depending on your perspective). Major publishers, recognizing this trend, have gone on the offensive by offering discounted versions of their signature products to college students at phenomenal discounts.

You can find Microsoft’s Office Suite or new versions of Windows for a fraction of retail prices. Adobe’s Creative Cloud software (which includes Photoshop) can be had for nearly 70% off the retail price. Norton offers a seriously reduced fee for antivirus software and computer security, too. These are programs you’ll need anyway, and with a student email address, you can get them at a price you can afford.

SOURCES:

https://www.isecard.com/5_1.php
https://www.myisic.com/isic-card/
https://www.studentadvantage.com/enrollment/?promoCode=SAMHOME02
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/60-awesome-student-discounts-on-clothes-tech-travel-and-more/

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Creating Your First Resume

Filling out a simple application may have been enough to snag that part-time summer job at the ice cream store during high school. But now that you’re in college, it’s time to graduate to a more advanced job-finding tool: the professional resume.

Creating your first resume can seem daunting, especially since your professional experience may be limited. But the sooner you master this skill, the sooner you’ll have a document you can easily send out whenever you happen upon an internship or employment opportunity.

When starting out, don’t be intimidated. No one expects a student resume to contain long lists of accomplishments. Instead it should convey your interests, goals and potential — all within one page. Use short, declarative phrases and action verbs instead of full sentences and try to keep the tone positive and upbeat.

Start by including your name, city of residence, email address and phone number — typically centered at the top. If you have a LinkedIn account, you can include that, but be sure to leave out any other personal social media accounts. This is a professional document, not a showcase of your social connections.

Include a summary statement outlining your goals. Perhaps you’re an art major looking for a chance to develop your graphic design skills, a computer science major interested in work as a programmer, or a marketing major seeking a chance to work on marketing campaigns. The key here is to demonstrate you already have some knowledge in a given field and are looking to expand it by gaining practical experience.

Stick to a traditional resume format, using a commonplace font such as Calibri or Arial. Save the crazy, hard-to-read fonts and wild colors for your art projects. Sure, you want your resume to stand out, but you want it to stand out for the information it contains, not its oddball appearance.

Next, add an education section. Make the entries reverse-chronological, beginning with your current studies. Be sure to include your degree objective and your planned date of graduation.

After education, add the professional experience section. This is the place to list any jobs you’ve had, even if they were babysitting or summer jobs. Include the beginning and ending dates and briefly list your main responsibilities. The idea is to demonstrate that you’re responsible, conscientious and can follow directions.

Including an accomplishments section can help paint a fuller picture of who you are. This is the place to note any awards or distinctions you have received. You can also include any high grade point averages, projects you completed at school or volunteer experiences. Basically, list things here you’re proud of or which would reveal aspects of your character to a potential employer.

You may also include a skills section if you think it’s warranted. This is the place to list any computer software proficiencies you’ve used or office skills you’ve developed. Make sure the skills you list relate to the types of positions you’re seeking. For example, forklift driving would not be a useful skill for a sales position unless you’d be selling forklifts.

Finally, take time to edit and format your resume. A resume filled with typos and formatting errors does little to convey that you’re careful and conscientious. Have a friend or your parent proofread your resume to make sure you didn’t miss any typos and to get their opinion.

View your resume as a work in progress. It will remain an important professional tool throughout your work life, evolving and growing as you graduate college, get your first full-time job, and progress in your career.

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