How to Write a Résumé

By Aditi Adhikari

So you’ve found the perfect job, internship, or summer program. Congratulations! As a classic overachiever from Joyce Ivy, you’ll have no problem applying there! You look through the application materials to see that they need an official transcript (pshhtt not a problem), a recommendation (easy peasy), an essay or two (you’re used to writing these by now), and… a résumé. If you’re like me, that’s where you stop and stare. A résumé? How do you even write one of those?! Aren’t those for old people?!

No, unfortunately they’re not. To apply anywhere for anything, you’re going to need to know how to write a stellar résumé that leaves employers and admissions officers in awe, and that’s where I come in. Hopefully by the end of this post, you’ll know where to start so that when your time comes to write up a résumé, you won’t be staring at a blank screen for ten minutes like I did. So here are a few tips to help you along the way:

Before You Write

1.     Start Making Lists of your achievements and activities. Sometimes it can be hard to remember which award you won in freshman year, or what year you started dance classes. To avoid asking yourself questions like “was that Smart Person Scholarship given to me in 2012 or 2013?” it’s a good idea to start keeping track of every activity as soon as possible. Write everything down because you can always delete the less relevant things later.

2.     Figure Out What Type of Résumé you need. If you’re applying for a job, focus on experiences that are relevant for the position. If the program wants an academic résumé, make sure to include all the advanced classes you’ve taken as well as any test scores or academic awards.

3.     Let Your Parents Know that you’re writing a résumé. They’ve probably written tons, and will be able to give good advice if you ever get stuck. They make for great proofreaders, too!

Meet Janice Awesomestudent, who is applying for a summer internship at a newspaper. This is her résumé. She plays the oboe, is on the soccer and golf teams, loves animals, and wants to be a journalist when she grows up. We will be looking at her résumé to learn some things as we go!

While Writing

1.     Group Your Activities into categories. Put academics first, and then clubs and sports, then experience, and finally other activities. You want to make this the easiest thing in the world to read, so a person should be able to look and it and say “hey, this girl is academically sound, does a lot of extracurriculars, and even has some experience!” before they even read the details. Notice how Janice has grouped her information into different categories. Some things may fall into two categories; just use your best judgement.

2.     Keep it Short because nobody wants to read an essay. Many programs may even explicitly ask you to keep it only a page long, so write as concisely as possible. At the same time, don’t make it too short. If you have to format the spacing and font size to make it fill the page, do so. Janice made sure to only include explanations where she needed to by trying to fit as much information on one line of text as she could. Only add descriptions if you think the details of the award/club/etc are unclear.

3.     Put Things in Chronological Order with the most present activities and honors on top in each category. That way, the reader will know what is recent and what you’ve been doing for years. The dates of Janice’s activities are listed on the left. Some people may list these on the right. It doesn’t matter as long as they’re there. Notice how she also included if they continued to the present. That’s important too!

4.     Find Where to Expand depending on where you’re applying. For activities that are more relevant to the program you’re applying to, a more detailed description may be a good idea. You can include what you did, or what skills it taught you. You don’t have to include ALL of you academic information, just the highlights, because most of it will be on your transcript anyway. Since Janice is applying for a newspaper internship, she made sure to include descriptions of the writing awards she has received and the journalism classes she has attended. She has not provided descriptions of her other activities because they’re not as important.

5.     Don’t Be Afraid to Include Fun Things that you think are a part of your character. If you have space, of course. Janice added in the backpacking trip she took last year because she thought it helped her grow as a person, and she enjoyed it a lot.

6.     Include Contact Information such as an email, phone number, or address. Pick your most professional-looking email address (Awesomesauce123@slightlyembarrassing.com vs Janice.A@school.edu) so that they can contact you if necessary. And don’t forget to put your name on it! Janice has included her email and her school’s address at the top of the page next to her name where it’s super easy to find.

After Writing

1.     Look at Templates Online so that you have multiple ways to format your résumé. I have provided Janice’s here, but it’s always a good idea to look around and see if you like other templates better.

2.     Proofread your résumé like crazy. Have your parents proofread it too, or a teacher. They ALWAYS have good advice, and even if you don’t follow all their ideas, at least you’re not left in the dark. It would be really embarrassing if you made a huge spelling error that could have been avoided with a little extra fine-tuning.

3.     Attach it! I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve forgotten to attach a document to an email before sending it in (A little secret: I did it with my Joyce Ivy Fellow application. Oops!). Forgetting to attach it the first time doesn’t mean you won’t get the spot, but it’s definitely a cringe-worthy mistake. It’s always a good idea to fill in the ‘to’ field last, so that even if you press ‘send’ on accident, you’re safe! So when you’re all ready to send it in, double check to make sure the résumé is attached.