resumes

Putting together a resume is daunting if you've never done so before. I know, since I've had six years of practice, starting with graduate school!

What goes on the darn thing, how long should it be, what kind of paper should I use? What is the purpose of this thing? God, gods, goddesses, please make sure there are no grammatical errors that kill my chances!

Where should I go for examples, for advice, besides this class? Once I am outside these walls?

1. Microsoft Word 2008 has a great template, and I will show the class an example resume . . .

2. Academic Institution websites! If you're like me and are a bit independent and like to figure things out simply by looking at examples, or don't have time to make multiple visits to your school Career Services office, look at their website.

I suggest, though, consulting a few school websites, simply because each Institution has their own thought process and might give extra insights not seen on another. Also, you'll be able to get a sense of what things are most valuable by seeing repeated formats, etc. Click on these links, read and imitate!

Columiba College's Resume Helper

Northwestern University's Resume and Cover Letter Helper

Contrast these two school websites with East-West's:

East West Career Services page


For those worriers, here's a little story:

My first resume, when I was 21-years-old, was pretty boring-looking, and I didn't have a lot of relevant experience in my field, since I was applying to graduate school and finishing up my last semester of undergrad. I had no writing internships, no academic teaching experience, no jobs in a writing field (which is all one reason I wanted to go directly to grad school). And yet, they expected us to hand in an academic resume to go along with the rest of the application!

So, I had to think, what could I put on my resume that will show that I am a writer and deserve to be in this program? Luckily I had a few academic scholarships, and I had taken a butt-load of different literature courses and social science courses.

Since I lacked real-world experience, I had to show that I had a well-rounded and intentionally-broad learning palate!

Anyways, long story short, I highlighted my critical thinking skills and academic success since I lacked experience . . .