So now that I'm slowly starting to drag my GPA up to a slightly more respectable level (man I was an idiot for my first 2 years of study...), I really need to start looking for internships and work experience. I have a pretty strong interest in working in finance/banking/IB and more specifically equities research/asset management/etc. The problem (other than pretty mediocre grades) is that the extent of my resume is pretty much just a bunch of different bike shops for the last 6 or 7 years.
Any advice on getting some resume "filler"? What extracurriculars should I be partaking in? Community/volunteering work? What specifically?
Firstly, certainly use some creativity when describing working in bike shops.
Does the Uni offer any student leadership programs? always looks good on a CV.
Volunteer work, there should be a few options around the uni, especially good for meeting the ladies as well.
First aid - yup pretty generic, but it all adds up.
Is there any tutoring work (volunteer or payed) - student services often have random jobs / volunteer stuff as well.
Is there any research work (specific to your study) you could help with, this experience can lead to paid work and a reference with a PhD behind the name looks great.
Basically you just want to show while some of you early grades are average, you are keen to work, enthusiastic, team player... all that sort of crap.
I personally volunteered for everything within the faculty I studied in, yes I lost some weekends here and there, I also volunteered at Yorralla for a year (very confronting) and help with as much research as I could - and actually learnt a lot of lab skills, planning and implementation because of this. When I went for a job at a hospital, I had a very good referee who was a professor, lots of hands on problem management (thanks to the kids at yorralla) and was skilled in computers and data analysis due to all the research work, got the job comfortably.
Good grades are important, but just as important is getting some varied experiences on your CV.