ResumeFilter

August 7, 2006 8:17 AM

ResumeFilter: As a new college graduate how much of my collegiate career should I place on my resume?

I just recently finished my undergraduate career and was curious as to how much of my collegiate activites I should include on what amounts to a "brand new" resume. I know that internships and such are a must but what about other aspects of my collegiate career? Should i include fraternity membership (president), sports (lacrosse), socities, distinctions? Where do I cross the line from pertinant information a prospective employer may be interested in and excessive, "who cares", type info?

posted by ASM to work & money (21 comments total)

As long as you can keep your resume to one page, I don't see a problem including it. It shows that you are motivated and multi-faceted. It can just be a section at the end called "Other Activites" with bullet points.
posted by kimdog at 8:21 AM on August 7, 2006

After going through a slew of recent graduates' resumes, I'll suggest that you do not include your GPA. As an employer, I really don't care about applicant's what-point-whatsits. Maybe you can leave in your honors, but no more than that.

Memberships where you had a role or responsibility would be helpful. So if you were the head of the birdwatching society, great, but if you just saw the most plumed wide-beaked sparrows, then leave it off.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:22 AM on August 7, 2006

As a counterpoint to robocop's, I was told repeatedly in college to include your GPA if you're a recent graduate. They claimed that resume reviewers would notice the lack of a GPA and would assume the worst (that you felt the need to hide bad grades) and throw you on the "toss" pile. I don't know if I agree with this advice, but there it is. And your GPA takes up less space than the year that you graduated, so it's pretty easy for someone who doesn't care to just ignore it.

As for activities, robocop's got it.
posted by Plutor at 8:29 AM on August 7, 2006

Tailored brevity, sir. We just rejected a candidate because his resume was close to 30 pages, listing any association with any group, and a large list of books, poems and pamphlets authored. Were we hiring for poetry society editor or &c, perhaps this would be useful. The position called for deep technical knowledge and experience in technical writing.
posted by boo_radley at 8:37 AM on August 7, 2006

If your field is technical (e.g. engineering, chemistry, computer science...), a brief list of your coursework and research may be relevant. This does not need to include introductory courses that everyone takes; it should include advanced courses, electives, and projects. Just the title of each course is sufficient.

You could also include non-technical coursework if it's particularly relevant to the job you're seeking.
posted by mbrubeck at 8:42 AM on August 7, 2006

I would include the leadership positions and distinctions without a doubt (again, staying within reasonable space limitations). I see a lot of resumes where people tell me they're into knitting (or whatever, knitting is just an example), which seems totally random to me and somewhat turns me off, but if I were into knitting, perhaps I'd take an extra look at that one. I also wouldn't completely throw away a capable candidate because they had hobby that I didn't have. I know a TON of people, myself included, who had an extra edge because some activity on their resume resonated with whoever was sifting through the resumes. Whether it's a shared interest, both of you were in the PeaceCorps, the same fraternal organization, same hometown, etc. So I guess I'm waffling, but I think if you've integrated it well, you'd be okay. People who aren't into that stuff might get turned off, but you could end up opening some doors by having it there. As long as it doesn't sound like a personals ad, you're probably alright.

On the GPA note, I had mine on there when I graduated and I survived :) , but a former career director at my grad school said she tells everyone to take it off, why give people another yardstick with which to measure you? Particularly because you wouldn't want an employer choosing someone that is .1 higher than you if you're otherwise equally capable but the other candidate has a higher GPA, since that .1 is meaningless.
posted by ml98tu at 8:45 AM on August 7, 2006

As for what to include, to some extent that depends on to which group/org you're submitting your resume. Generally my rule was to include those activities where I had a leadership role, and then I also include an "interests" section for hobbies, etc. That part can be controversial, and for some jobs it's irrelevant, but since I tend to apply to small office settings, I have found it can be relevant because the people doing the hiring get some idea about who I am and whether they would like to work with me. Also, I make sure my "interests" are not too generic - e.g. "music enthusiast" is too general, bc most people enjoy music, but "avid music collector particularly jazz and blues" is better.

GPA - same as above - totally depends on where you're applying, and what they like to see. Granted, to some extent you'll never be able to figure this out, bc some of this varies by the human being reviewing the applications, but certain professions tend to want to see GPAs whereas others tend not to.
posted by Amizu at 8:47 AM on August 7, 2006

Certainly put in anything that speaks to leadership, such as your fraternity and any societies. The above posts get it right - a simple bullet point will do. Make sure you mention the fraternity name, too - as much as all employment is "fair", I've gotten some interesting opportunities and interviews because the HR person was either Greek too or even one of my fraternity brothers from a different school. Years later and jobs later, that former employer is still one of my best networking assets. As for GPA, I always learned the 3.0 rule: if your GPA is above 3.0, it needs to be on your resume. If it is under, leave it off. Just make sure to practice your interview skills, because a lower GPA is a turn-off to many employers and your charisma and workplace skills will need to shine through.
posted by galimatias at 8:54 AM on August 7, 2006

As long as you can keep your resume to one page

I would just like to reemphasize this. There's no reason why a recent graduate's resume should EVER be more than one page long. None.

Very few things irritate me as much as a three (or even two) page resume from someone whose only actual work experience is a summer job at Hotdog-on-a-Stick.

In fact, very few resumes at ANY level should be more than one page, although different insutries do have different conventions.
posted by dersins at 10:23 AM on August 7, 2006

insutries

err..."industries..."
posted by dersins at 10:27 AM on August 7, 2006

And don't forget to spell check your cover letter!
posted by theantikitty at 10:28 AM on August 7, 2006

The best advice I can offer is to tailor your resume to the position for which you are applying. This means you will possibly need more than one version of your resume', which is not a big feat to pull off what with word processing and such.
posted by Mister_A at 10:36 AM on August 7, 2006

to tailor your resume

Amen! I started keeping ones for different emphases (the technical emphasis, the policy emphasis, the international emphasis), as well as a "master" - this is the one that has everything on it but which I'm not likely to actually give out to people (because it's more than one page).
posted by whatzit at 10:40 AM on August 7, 2006

And spell check your resume, too!

My GPA wasn't too shabby in college, but I still have never put it on a resume. I figure that if an employer wants to know my college GPA, they'll ask for a transcript.
posted by phatkitten at 10:40 AM on August 7, 2006

Indeed. Just over the weekend there was this article about how bad spelling can ruin your chances for a job. Echo what everybody else said about one page. Don't put down anything about your age, race, sex, marital status, religion. If such things are directly relevant put them in the cover letter ("As a Catholic Woman, I feel drawn to the type of work you do at Catholic Womens Services and would be honored to work as part of your ministry...") Yes, much of this information can be divined from your resume. I can guess that a person named John is probably a guy, and that if he graduated high school in 2000, he's probably about 24 now. Make me do the logic. Save lines for more important things.

As an employer at a very small company, I would like to say that I could care less what your GPA was, and being a frat president would probably be a strike against you. Fine, you can socialize. What does that have to do with getting stuff done? Major exception: if you were heavily involved in a professional frat/org that is directly related to the types of job for which you are applying. EG, musicians should put down that Sigma Alpha Iota membership, chemists should note that they were on the ACS Chem Magic show, service groups if you are applying to a charity, etc.. Likewise, don't mention your sporting career unless you are hoping to have a very shallow boss or are applying to work at Sports Authority. Nor do I care about your interests except as they relate to getting the job done. Another exception: if you have done something truly remarkable (climbed Mt Ranier, walked cross-country, won the Bulwer-Lytton Writing Contest, been a contestant on Jeopardy) go ahead and put that down. Sometimes being an interesting person is enough to get you an interview.

Otherwise, put down honors, distinctions, courses, only as they are relevant. I'd rather see a list of things you can do, and better yet concrete examples. It's the difference between "Courses taken include Graphic Arts...", "I am skilled in x, y, and z graphic arts skills," and "examples of my graphic arts work are attached/at this url."

Oh, and if you are using one of those templates, just delete the section about "goals" or "objectives" unless you are willing to rewrite it for every resume you send out. More of my totally random advice on resumes and job search here fwiw.
posted by ilsa at 11:41 AM on August 7, 2006

I see hundreds, maybe thousands of recent-grad resumes a year. Mostly, they suck, but only because students don't put much effort into them. Sometimes it seems like some of them are more interested in the appearance of trying to get a job than in actually landing a future career for themselves.

a) Absolutely spellcheck both the cover letter and resume. Get someone who already has a job like you'd like to have read it for you and give you honest feedback.

b) Customize your cover letter to the job or don't bother applying.

c) ALWAYS include ANY job you got paid to do, *especially* if it's Pizza Hut or McDonalds or helping out at your brother's plumbing business or whatever. That shows me if you worked your way through school, which at our company is the only way we let recent college grads in the door. (We hire about thirty-five of them a year.) I don't care about your clubs or sports unless you can show me they're relevant to the job opening at hand, but I can always understand hard work.

d) If you didn't work your way through school and you did a lot of other stuff, be sure to highlight your relevant activities, but also try to sound like you know you have a lot to offer, *and* a lot to learn. Anyone who hires you will be taking a chance on you, since you have no real work references, so you'll need to work the future mentor angle or use family/friend networking. There is nothing wrong with this, don't let your "I'm so grownup, I don't need anybody" pride stand in the way of landing a decent first job.

e) Again, anyone who hires you will be taking a chance on you, since you have no work history. Once you get a job, work very very hard to make the person who hired you look good, and voila! You have your first reference when you move onto a job that you like better.
posted by pomegranate at 1:16 PM on August 7, 2006

Actually, in ASM's defense, being a fraternity president is a lot of work. I am female, but have known a few fraternity and sorority presidents. Being president is all about being responsible and getting things done. From what I can tell, it is a totally crappy job and I'm impressed with anyone that can put in the hours, deal with the administration and brothers/sisters, and generally keep things running smoothly. It has nothing to do with how well you socialize (though you surely won't get elected if everyone hates you). Sorry for the derail, but I think it is important to point out why something like that should be included on a resume. Being the president of any organization in high school or college requires a lot of work, and whether it happens to be a social organization or some other student group is slightly irrelevant IMHO. Perhaps including some of the leadership/responsiblity/getting things done that were part of the presidential duties would be useful in that section of the resume though if you have room.

Also, I'm not totally trying to disagree with ilsa, but it is my understanding that people put sports on resumes because it shows teamwork, dedication, edurance, responsibility, etc. I'm not an athlete or even remotely sporty but that's my understanding of why people put it and how people read into it.
posted by ml98tu at 1:20 PM on August 7, 2006

I was totally not a sorority president. Just realized my post looked like a whiny rant from a former president. Sorry bout that.
posted by ml98tu at 1:21 PM on August 7, 2006

dersins: There's no reason why a recent graduate's resume should EVER be more than one page long. None.

What if you've racked up a lot of experience prior to graduation? This is my situation now - I've just restarted uni (did a year of uni elsewhere before taking some breaks, am now back) and already with work and internships and other things I have enough to fill 2 pages.
posted by divabat at 2:06 PM on August 7, 2006

Frankly I don't see why anyone under the age of 40 should have more than one page to their resume. It's supposed to be an at-a-glance summary of why you're right for that opening.

Everything the OP mentioned is fine for a resume, as long as it all fits on a page. The only things I left off my first after-college resume were waiting tables and warehouse work. But I guess according to pom I should have left that on, too.
posted by lampoil at 2:29 PM on August 7, 2006

What if you've racked up a lot of experience prior to graduation?

Depends on your field, of course, but I see plenty of one-page resumes from people with 10 or more years of work experience, and that's in a field where people seldom stay in the same position for more than a year or two.

If your resume takes up more than a page, you are probably (not always, but PROBABLY) being too wordy.
posted by dersins at 2:32 PM on August 7, 2006