|
Hey guys, I'm currently a college freshman looking to apply for some more competitive clubs and campus jobs, and most require a resume in addition to an application. My question is, what is okay to put on my resume?
Specifically, what I'm talking about is what if any high school activities are okay to put on my resume. As a first year, there aren't that many things of note that I've done outside of joining one or two clubs/taking classes. I'm pretty sure that high school club membership should be left off, but what about officer positions? Or am I still in college application mode with this thought process...
Examples: Club Officer positions (Future Business Leaders of America) Awards/Achievements (placing at competitions, Eagle Scout) High school GPA/SAT score (self explanatory) High school long term volunteering (volunteering at a hospital)
Times like these makes me wish I got some (well, any) work experience in high school... High schoolers get a job!
Also, any resume/cover letter tips would be appreciated
|
Things to include on resumes will at any level will include your most recent, applicable, experiences. Those examples are all very good things to include. You should also include any previous jobs you have had, internships, experience, applicable education classes, etc. . . As for the highschool club memberships -- it depends on that club I think as to whether you would put it on a resume. For instance, if you were a member of your local rotary club, I would put that down. The issue you will run into with resumes (once you reach a point where it is long to begin with) is how long should they be. For instance, I just got through doing one myself for a government job -- and that ended up being 4 pages long (small print) and I still have to send in amendments to it (no person's should ever be that long except in specific applicable cases -- human resources use key words to grade resumes and toss them into a second review pile or a "no" pile -- and that's just the way it works in the large companies).
Truth be told though -- with campus jobs (unless it is an undergraduate research position or something like that) -- the resume will probably not matter much as human resources understands at traditional colleges that many freshmen simply do not have work histories.
|
Freshman/Sophmore year its ok to have high school stuff.
I would put: Current College GPA Any College Clubs/Activities Any high school leadership Any high school volunteer Any high school jobs/internships
I would not put: High school GPA ACT/SAT scores
Don't worry about work experience, no one expects college freshman to have a huge resume. If it seems like other people all have a huge resume, they don't. Only the people who have huge resumes like to talk about having a huge resume, definitely the vocal minority. No one really likes to talk about having no work experience and stuff.
|
As the poster above me says, high school scores and GPA don't matter to an employer but they might be interested in your college GPA currently.
That's not to say that you can't put any of your high school experience, some of it might definitely make you look better, just not anything related to scores.
|
Courses you concluded and are enrolled with;
Objectives for professional life (like getting experience, etc)
Previous experience if you have any;
Proeficiencies (like other languages, programming languages, certificates);
Try to keep it brief as possible with no scores. If you ever enrolled in a course with more than a 1000 hours and it teaches specific subjects (such as tech school) remember to bring a copy of the curriculum (usually behind the diploma) attached to your resume or in your pocket for good measure during the interview.
Nobody really gives a shit about High school clubs or anything like that TBH, but volunteering at a hospital sure is an attractive thing to put on a CV.
Good luck
|
You can put down any major awards in high school. I still have national merit winner on mine and I'm graduating this semester. Generally, the less explaining you have to do, the more likely it should be on there.
|
Don't just list things, use them to illustrate the qualities that make you a good candidate for the job. Everything on you application should be selling you.
Things like high school club officer roles should be okay to use until you have the chance to take on similar roles at university. Widely recognised awards in Scouting or similar groups are good too. Volunteering at a hospital should definately go on there. It shows that you can commit to things, are willing to devote your time and energy to doing something you believe to be good, and that a hospital trusted you enough to let you volunteer.
Club membership alone is useless unless public requirements for membership are sufficient that you can use membership as evidence of your talents or good character. If you can just join because you want to, it's useless on applications. With participation in club activities, think about whether anything you were involved in actually stands out - if more than 1% of your peers have done something similar, it doesn't stand out. The same goes for other discrete events. Exceptions would be participation in performances, be they musical, sporting, or theatrical - if you are applying to a drama club, having been in a performance of Midsummer Night's Dream is relevant.
A work history would be nice, but it's not necessary for most college jobs and clubs, especially if you've used your non-working time to be active in clubs and volunteering. If there are no specific technical requirements for the position, holes in your CV can be covered by an explanation if necessary - people do need to prioritize; you can use the lack of a work history to show that you know your limits, and would rather do fewer things well than all to a mediocre standard.
The most important thing to do is to tailor both your cover letter and your résumé to the application. You should have enough accumulated achievements by now that you can pick and choose the ones that best demonstrate your suitability for the position.
+ Show Spoiler +
|
Everything you've written in your OP is good to include, as for the cover letter you basically want to cover 3 main points (as well as the usual who you are and what you do and what job you're interested in etc):
You are hard working and punctual You are capable of independent work (self-motivated) but equally happy working as part of team You have good interpersonal skills (you know how to talk to people politely and effectively)
Other than that, when it comes to your first couple of jobs people aren't really looking for specific things, it's more whether they like your attitude and whether they think you will fit in
|
Everything that has been suggested is pretty good. However I would also add something not on the topic of the resume.
Try to get to know who you are looking to work for. (IE: people who are doing the job, make friends with them.) When a spot opens up they mention your name to the person in charge of hiring your name etc. That is really how you get picked out of the crowd. So get to know the people, your chances of getting the job probably improve tenfold.
When I was going through application processes I think I read a statistic about almost 70% of new hires happen from networking rather than standing out in the application/resume process.
Good luck to you.
|
Make sure the resume format looks really pretty and nice.
Look like you spent more than 15 minutes putting it together.
good luck!
|
Contemporary media and modern culture analyst = Watching Youtube clips.
New media trendwatcher = Watching Starcraft 2 streams.
Cross media promotion experience = Uploading clips to Youtube.
Well experienced in the field of macro economics = Doing your own shopping.
Informal inter-personal account management = Getting drunk at a bar with friends.
|
work experience, volunteer experience, awwards, leadership training, university marks (gpa), club activity
|
|
|
|