Resume: how to talk the talk?

[Collin Li]

I've been looking for scholarships I can apply for, and I've noticed that so many scholarships want you to display evidence of "leadership potential." I have never written a proper resume before, so I'm not very good at this. Can anyone help me thinking how I can market my leadership potential?

I have no professional work experience, or any previous serious captaincy (primary school and year 8 SRC don't count, I'm guessing). In years 7 & 8, I was part of a "Junior Technician" program at Brunswick Secondary College, where I would help out when IT failures occurred. I have done 20 hours of community service at a nursing home as well, and I have tutored for a year (2007).

Who can help me flesh out the leadership qualities in these past experiences? Also, please suggest anything I could do to improve my current portfolio before February (when applications open).

How much bullshit will they lap up? If I mention that I am going to summer school, could I manage to turn that into a story about a commitment to personal development, and an example of my keen approach to studies? This is where I need your help. How much can I crap on, and for those who have successfully fluffed up their resumes before, please show me your expert tips

[Eriny]

The fact that you're a tutor would suggest that you have "leadership potential", so if I were you I'd milk that one . As a tutor you need good communication skills and tact, the ability to assess the strengths and weaknesses of others, etc. (I'm sure you could think of more) which are qualities inherent in good leaders.

Year 8 SRC is worth a sentence at least, it shows you can listen and represent other peoples opinions. Your volunteering would be indicative of an altruistic nature and a community-spirit as well as good organisational skills.

Summer school may be something you would add, but only as a minor, later point in conjunction with how well you're doing in your studies. I guess it would indicate commitment and determination. You could probably crap on there for a few sentences, maybe a paragraph if you're good at bsing

As for other things you can do, I don't really know... become a Big Brother? Oh, doesn't Melbourne Uni have a program where it tutors disadvantaged students over the summer? Is it too late to sign up for that? Look out for volunteering opportunities, especially ones where you would need to organise things, work in a team, communicate ideas or delegate tasks.

Hopefully that's helpful to you

[Collin Li]

Thanks! This is helpful. I just need some inspiration to get started.

I also plan to apply for the Shell Personal Development Awards, which requires you to undertake a particular 'activity' that demonstrates your pursuit of personal development. Examples they provided were: learning a musical instrument, honing new skills in sports, or going overseas to consolidate language skills, etc.

I'm trying to think of something that interests me, like economics. I have intentions to have some sort of influence in the government, whether as a political representative, or as an economic advisor. What sort of 'activity' could I take to promote my development in this area? When you mentioned the UoM program, I thought of how this could be pursuing my goal to become a better tutor (haha, even though I would secretly intend to stop tutoring by the end of 2008). I think the "pursuit of tuition skills" is a good one, because I can cite my volunteer help at FSN, and say that I considered the UoM program but chose summer school instead (well, I probably wouldn't say that).

[melanie.dee]

year 8 SRC hahaha? well i certainly don't put down any <yr 10 "leadership" positions. i think they look like you're clutching at straws trying to find something to write.

did u do any volunteer type things during school? or even like we had a thing at school where we worked with the junior school kdis etc. or like u no that friday nite school tutoring disadvantaged kids thing? (i wrote that on my resume haha. anything volunteer is impressive)

you can also play up leadership and independence through things like travel. have u done any exchanges, time living overseas etc? this is what i rattled on about for my gap year application.

languages are always considered as a "desirable" hobby. except i dont think u do any do u hahaha. damn u coblin!

[Eriny]

I'm trying to think of something that interests me, like economics. I have intentions to have some sort of influence in the government, whether as a political representative, or as an economic advisor. What sort of 'activity' could I take to promote my development in this area?

Are any internships available to you? Or you could see if it's possible to volunteer/do work experience at the RBA or ABS or something. Also, it could be possible that foreign aid organisations (Oaktree, Stir, World Vision) would be interested in a volunteer who has a good understanding of economic issues.

year 8 SRC hahaha? well i certainly don't put down any <yr 10 "leadership" positions. i think they look like you're clutching at straws trying to find something to write.

Heh. I wrote an application not long ago when I mentioned my year 9 SRC involvement, although I guess it was mentioned as an aside, like "I have had several leadership roles at my school through my involvement in SRC, House and in performing the duties of Vice Captain in my final year. [insert elaboration as to how that relates to what I'm applying for]".

[Eriny]

lol . Well, at least the other organisations I mentioned are secular (as far as I know...).

[Collin Li]

lol . Well, at least the other organisations I mentioned are secular (as far as I know...).

Haha, I deleted my post because I realised I was looking at World Vision USA. WV Australia has no such requirements. I have applied there, and I am going to apply for many more now. It's a shame that the two main scholarships I'm looking at are only for first and second year undergraduates, which means I will probably not get any, but it will be good for the resume at least.

[bebobebo]

for one thing i applied for, they asked for evidence of leadership skills. anything co-curricular is evidence of leadership skills as it shows initiative and desire to contribute to school, the community yada yada. for my application i quoted 'heal the world' 'children are the future' 'al gore' and many other hysterical sources so there would be the slightest doubt in the minds of the committee that im mocking them and their stupid selection process.

here's a checklist:

have u done debating at school?
sporting activities at school?
any school camps?
duke of ed?
scholarships?
maths or science tests/competitions (westpac or similar)?
out of school sporting teams?
src?
charity?
work experience done at school?
any certificates or awards from school?
won any competitions?

[Collin Li]

How does going on camp count? What could you possibly say about going on camp? I might exclude it in order to avoid overcrowding my "Extra-curricular Activities" section. Here is what I have so far:

Work Experience

3/2007 – Present
Private tutor
•   Knowledgeable with the current VCE syllabus for maths and science subjects.
•   Identifying and correcting conceptual and logical flaws.
•   Preparing tailored and structured study designs.
•   Communicating ideas and strategies to solve problems.
•   Mentored struggling students through examination pressures. [does this line make sense?]

Extra Curricular Activities

10/2007   – Present
FreeStudyNotes.com moderation team
VCE student forum
•   Moderating a dynamic student forum home to more than 350 users.
•   Producing worked solutions and explanations to users’ posted problems.

3/2005
Athletics Carnival, Melbourne Park
•   Finished in first place for the 4x200 metre A-grade relay.
•   Participated in the A-grade 100 metre heats.

9/2004
Lonsdale House, Westgarth
Aged care
•   Volunteered to accompany the elderly for a couple of days of the school holidays.
•   Talked to veterans about their experiences and helped to feed the disabled.

1/3/2004
Red Cross Appeal, Melbourne CBD
•   Collected donations throughout Melbourne’s CBD with many other students.
•   Raised a combined amount of about $12,000 for disaster victims and people in need.

I have older achievements from 2002, such as the "Junior Technicians Program" and year 8 SRC which I have not written yet. Should I include a "Technology Skills" section? If I do, I would exclude it from irrelevant job applications, but if I have one, what should I put in it? This is what I have now:

Experienced and quick computer user, especially in Microsoft Office

Proficient in web technologies: CSS2.0, JavaScript and PHP
Working knowledge in Perl, C++, Pascal, VB.NET

Typing Speed: 90 WPM / 27000 KSPH

How much should I put in my education section? Should I put any grades (or ENTER)?

I want to have an "Achievements" section, but I don't have any scholarships or prizes (yet). Should I include the old Westpac competitions? I've got thousands of high distinctions piled up (Maths, Science, Geography) that I wouldn't think are useful on a resume. Should I just make a passing mention of them?

Thanks for all your help guys!

[Mao]

3/2007 – Present
Private tutor
•   Knowledgeable with the current VCE syllabus for maths and science subjects.
•   Identifying and correcting conceptual and logical flaws.
•   Preparing tailored and structured study designs.
•   Communicating ideas and strategies to solve problems.
•   Mentored struggling students through examination pressures. [does this line make sense?]

mmm if i were you i'd drop point 1 and 2, as your employer probably wouldnt care about VCE syllabus, and they generally dont like critiques...
point 3 and 4 looks very nice
and the last one i'd reword, in my resume i try to avoid all negative connotations...
how about "mentored students to achieve excellence in their subjects" or something amongst those lines...?

10/2007   – Present
FreeStudyNotes.com moderation team
VCE student forum
•   Moderating a dynamic student forum home to more than 350 users.
•   Producing worked solutions and explanations to users’ posted problems.

tell me more!! how about all the help you've been giving? describe how the members feel about you? all your karma wouldnt be for nothing, maybe dont quote stats but describe it!!

3/2005
Athletics Carnival, Melbourne Park
•   Finished in first place for the 4x200 metre A-grade relay.
•   Participated in the A-grade 100 metre heats.

mmm, i'd create a section with "achievements", put all your awards/high achievements in there

9/2004
Lonsdale House, Westgarth
Aged care
•   Volunteered to accompany the elderly for a couple of days of the school holidays.
•   Talked to veterans about their experiences and helped to feed the disabled.

this should be in the work experience section...
and in point two, try to squeeze in a "worked closely with residents and cared for them with their daily activities" or something or rather..

1/3/2004
Red Cross Appeal, Melbourne CBD
•   Collected donations throughout Melbourne’s CBD with many other students.
•   Raised a combined amount of about $12,000 for disaster victims and people in need.

describe the drive behind it, describe why you did it, and describe what YOU have achieved

um... i wouldn't put camp in unless its one of those crazy school organised "leadership camp" where school captain hopefuls go to...

and anything prior to year 9 i'd leave out... thats probably back when you were still young and impressionable

Experienced and quick computer user, especially in Microsoft Office

Proficient in web technologies: CSS2.0, JavaScript and PHP
Working knowledge in Perl, C++, Pascal, VB.NET

Typing Speed: 90 WPM / 27000 KSPH

working knowledge is bad~~
instead of quoting your typing speed i would say in simple terms "fluent typing on keyboard", you're not applying for pure data entry job, right??

in education i'd suggest you quote your score and what they mean, the employer may not understand what SS:49 amounts to

I want to have an "Achievements" section, but I don't have any scholarships or prizes (yet). Should I include the old Westpac competitions? I've got thousands of high distinctions piled up (Maths, Science, Geography) that I wouldn't think are useful on a resume. Should I just make a passing mention of them?

include them! maybe not all, but do certainly include all the prominent ones, a long list of awards (even if somewhat irrelevant and partially meaningless) will give you that edge
but the authority behind the competition is important, dont just say "westpac maths competition", include the uni that was behind it too, (if memory serves me right it is UoM?)... also include what your achievements mean, like a percentile or ranking
this is my format:
- High distinction [top 2 percentile national] in Rio Tinto Big Science Competition (organized by UoM), intermediate division, 2005

just my 2c

[Collin Li]

Thank you very much! A lot of your points are useful, and I have made some immediate changes to my resume already, and placed notes on where to edit later. I've gotta go to university now, I slept in!

I will probably avoid putting in the old awards and I think the study scores might be a bit irrelevant. I'll make a copy of my resume with the suffix "_bloated" and one that is just normal, and in the bloated one I'll have all the study scores and high school awards, .

[Mao]

Thank you very much! A lot of your points are useful, and I have made some immediate changes to my resume already, and placed notes on where to edit later. I've gotta go to university now, I slept in!

LOL no worries

off-topic:
no wonder you slept in

« Reply #8 on: Today at 04:00:29 AM »

[Collin Li]

Is it worth making a point about my ENTER (in the non-"bloated" version)?

Here is my education section:

2007 – Present   The University of Melbourne
•   Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical) / Bachelor of Commerce (Economics, Finance)
o   High distinction average
o   Expected completion date: December 2011

2003 – 2006   Melbourne High School (Exam-based selective entry)
•   Completed the Victorian Certificate of Education with an ENTER of 99.00

2001 – 2002   Brunswick Secondary College

I'm still not really sure how I would present my university results (7 out of 8 H1's, or H1 average, or...?)

Here is my revised dot-points for my tutoring part:

•   Mentoring students to achieve excellence throughout their VCE program.
•   Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of students.
•   Preparing tailored and structured study designs.
•   Communicating ideas and strategies to solve problems.

Good or bad?
[dumped: •   Recognising and correcting conceptual and logical flaws.]

In my sister's resume, she has a section called "Other Skills" which had something like: "A team worker with frequent experience in team-based situations; also able to work autonomously and independently." Sounds like bullshit but apparently employers dig it (even though it isn't substantiated). Do you recommend a line like this, and if so, should I incorporate a bit that talks about how I can mentor people as well?

Also, I think I will cleverly write "2002   SRC Representative" so that they don't immediately think it's year 8, and they probably won't bother to trace it back anyway. Does this go in Extra-curricular activities or..?

[Mao]

i'd say H1 average, but do describe what it actually means. employers most probably dont know what H1 amounts to

that enter is impressive as is anyone literate will understand what it means
but i'd reword it, "victorian Certificate of Education" isnt something impressive...
how about:
"Completion of VCE with a tertiary ENTER of 99.00"? nice and plain
and probably drop that "Exam-based selective entry", you have something MUCH more impressive than qualifying for entry in MHS

•   Mentoring students to achieve excellence throughout their VCE program.
•   Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of students.
•   Preparing tailored and structured study designs.
•   Communicating ideas and strategies to solve problems.

I wouldnt include that point, its not a value employers look for in their employees if you know what i mean...

a section called "Other Skills" which had something like: "A team worker with frequent experience in team-based situations; also able to work autonomously and independently." Sounds like bullshit but apparently employers dig it (even though it isn't substantiated). Do you recommend a line like this, and if so, should I incorporate a bit that talks about how I can mentor people as well?

definitely, but you are well aware that claims without evidence dont go very far, put in examples.

oh, and SRC is extra curricular also manage to bulldust some "leadership" skills in that description as well

[bebobebo]

my school had an optional camp which had lots of leadership seminars