Writing about yourself in your resume is tough. I have always found it difficult, because I want to stay humble, but you are supposed to show yourself off, so I sometimes overthink it. So, what do I do? I write about the experiences that are most meaningful to me.
I entered college with a disorganized mess of a resume. I had many random activities I did during high school, but it was not formatted well, the grammar was not up to standard, and most importantly, it did not tell a story.
If I had not met with a Peer Career Advisor (PCA), I would never have figured out what writing a resume was all about. I learned it was about telling your story, tying your experiences together into a one-page document that showcases you.
The largest improvements to my resume occurred during my sophomore year when I started from scratch, listing the activities/experiences that impacted me the most, and free-writing on them. Then, I organized them into bullets, with the most important ones getting 4-5 and the others 2-3. Always use action verbs, state your involvement and tangible impact, and be yourself. Too formal and wordy is not always better. I’ve always found the STAR Method super helpful in telling my story.
Finally, writing my resume in this way has prepared me to tackle any interview. Interviewers always go through your resume, asking you questions about it, and if you write them in a way that aligns with your story, it will be super easy to talk about. Always have your interests at the bottom of your resume, because you can end up talking about soccer for the whole interview, like I did one time!
Refer to the Loeb Center’s Resume How to Guide and Sample Resumes to get started. The sample resumes are extremely helpful in showing you where you need to be. However, always start with nothing; a blank slate will allow you to tell your own story in a way that is most meaningful to you.
