ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF RESUMES,
NAU Career told me:
HIGHLIGHT UNIQUE EXPERIENCES,
WRITE ACCOMPLISHMENT STATEMENTS,
Use STRONG ACTION VERBS,
MAKE YOUR MARGINS EVEN,
THREE TO FIVE KEY QUALIFICATIONS,
ONE TO TWO FORMATTED PAGES,
AND HAVE A SOLIDLY CRAFTED RESUME!
NAU Career presents…12 Days of Resumes!
Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle this holiday season while trying to build your resume! Turn on the fireplace, grab yourself a cup of hot cocoa, and read through our TWELVE DAYS OF RESUMES jingle to show every employer why you’re the best elf for the job!
We will be releasing a series of blog posts and videos leading up to December 25th with important information, so don’t miss out!
Check us out on all our social media channels (@naucareer) for more information and to see the NAU Career staff offer you the gift of their lovely voices this year to celebrate!
Day 7: Highlighting unique experiences
Has an express train to the North Pole ever pulled up in front of your house in the middle of the night? Did you decide to get on and ended up receiving the first gift of Christmas?
Well, if so, that would make a GREAT movie — you should consider pitching it to a producer and/or director!
If not though, that’s okay! Try to think of another unique experience and/or opportunity that you can highlight on your resume.
Unique experiences to consider including
We recommend that you choose experiences that not only make you stand out but also connect your skillset to what the employer is looking for by targeting to the job posting.
- Relevant courses and projects
- This section can be useful if you have limited work experience relevant to your target job
- In addition to the names of courses (course numbers will not mean anything to an employer), you can include brief descriptions of course projects
- If you have a senior thesis, capstone, or other types of final projects, add those!
- If you have participated in and/or conducted any research for your major, consider including that, too
- Paid AND unpaid experiences
- Internships
- Part-time jobs
- Full-time positions
- Temporary/contracted employment
- Volunteering (one-time or continuous)
- Extracurricular and co-curricular activities
- Clubs and organizations
- Professional memberships and/or affiliations
- Study abroad
- Honors
- Scholarships and/or awards
- Other types of community involvement
- Training and certifications
- You can list current (not expired) certificates, trainings, or memberships you hold that are also relevant to your goals
- Digital badges and online credentials are a great highlight to include here, too
- Presentations, Publications, and Conferences
- You can list presentations you have facilitated or delivered to showcase your public speaking abilities
- You can also list any publications you have to highlight your written communication skills and attention to detail
- You can even list any conferences that you have attended and/or presented at
The good news? All of these sections and experiences are optional!
You never have to include these sections, but you may consider it to highlight things you believe reflect something important (and unique) about you.
Check out the NAU Career Development Pinterest account for some excellent resources and ideas!
For even more information or to see some finished examples, be sure to visit our website or schedule an appointment via Handshake! Happy holidays!
– NAU Career Development!