Leadership in College: Why It’s More Than Just a Resume Builder

I recently had the biggest weight lifted off my shoulders as a college student - finding a full-time job post grad. The job market is tough in 2025, especially for new grads who might not have any job experience. How did I do it? Leadership.

When it comes to this competitive job market, on-campus leadership in college is an easy way to gain experience and can make a huge difference. Leadership experiences are more than just bullet points on a resume, they’re opportunities to grow and create impact. Throughout my time at the University of San Diego (USD), I have been in multiple leadership positions including President of the American Marketing Association (AMA) USD Chapter, USD AMA Director of Social Media, Co-Founder of the USD Club Pickleball team, and a Media Committee member for the USD Bull Pit. These experiences have each grown on each other and have cultivated a challenging but extremely rewarding element to my college experience.

Leading student organizations is more than planning events or leading practices. In my role as AMA Chapter President, I’ve learned effective communication, time management, and how to motivate a team to reach ambitious goals. This experience has given me transferable skills that directly translate to my work as a paid social marketer such as strategic thinking, delegating, quick thinking, and presenting. Additionally, my leadership roles being a co-founder of the Club Pickleball team has taught me foundational skills in branding and building community. Building a team from the ground up meant establishing its digital presence through colors, fonts, cadence, and contents for social media. Creating such foundational elements for the brand in a low-stakes environment proved pivotal for my confidence in my marketing knowledge and confidence. Leadership through the team has also helped my public speaking and organization skills after running practices and planning tournaments. 

Of course, classroom experiences through projects and internships are essential to helping chances of getting a job in a tough market, but student leadership brings an additional level of passion. Leadership roles are purely volunteer, meaning doing the work because you are passionate and believe in it, not just doing it to get a good grade. Campus leadership is about taking responsibility, being a go-getter, and pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone and college bubble, proving to hiring managers that you’re worth taking a chance on.