A Break-Up Of Your College Application Resume
As you must already know, a resume is a well-written summary; an overview of your academic qualifications, skills, certifications, accomplishments and professional experience. Below are the key elements that can help you make sense of your profile to create a solid resume! These tips will allow you to form a skeleton that you can build on.
Personal Information:
This should include your name, address, phone number and email address. Include website links to your portfolio - basically relevant work that will add value to your application and is aligned with your goal.
Education:
Add details about your educational profile - name of school/university, year of passing, class ranking or percentage. Plug in notable details, for example, if you fall within the top 10% of the class or have stood first, condense the same and add it as a crisp note.
Co-Curricular and Extra-Curricular Activities:
Your co-curricular activities are a round-up of all your student-related activities like drama club, sports club etc. Extra-curricular activities are separate from school activities, like tutoring, fundraising, etc.
Employment:
This will cover all your internships, part-time jobs or full-time, if any. Include name of the organisation, designation and job tenure.
Anushka’s & Arya’s Tip: Remember to cover every single internship or project no matter how inconsequential it might seem to you. Real-world experience always counts!
Volunteer Experience:
This is important. If you haven’t volunteered yet, we encourage you to do so. Showcasing this makes it known that you care about social causes, which can further strengthen your resume.
Skills + Achievements + Interests
In crisp bullet points, note down not more than 5-6 under each category.
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Tips To Help Format Your Resume
Now that you have your skeleton in place, it’s time to refine it. Here are a few tips that might help.
- Choose a professional template - something simple with clean lines.
- Include a summary statement to highlight your best attributes and accomplishments.
- Follow college guidelines and keep your resume between 1-2 pages.
- Focus on highlighting your education, work experience, skills, volunteer work and extracurricular activities crisply.
- Showcase how the skills you possess make you the perfect choice for the program.
- Make it brief, sharp and succinct.
- Pay attention to the formatting, use a consistent font. Play with bold, caps and italics only when necessary.
- Ensure the text is left aligned or justified - this makes it easy to peruse.
- Use active voice and action words to show accountability.
- Avoid inserting a photograph or adding information that may not be relevant to the program/college you are applying to.
Proofread till it’s perfect. Then read again before you send it!
Following these guidelines will help bring structure and quality to your resume. It’s time to stop procrastinating and get cracking on that resume. If you think you need help formatting a winning resume, feel free to get in touch with us here - https://www.applicationally.net/contact-us