Tag: Resume

What Makes a Good Resume: 101

What Makes a Good Resume: 101

 

A cartoon hand shakes and quivers while holding a resume.

Many of us may need to start working on our resumes whether it is for a job, an internship, applying to a school, etc. Now what is the function of a resume you may ask? It is a concise summary of your education, work/volunteer/internship experiences and other qualifications relevant to your audience’s needs. Employers use resumes as a first impression and will use it to compare you to other candidates. NOTE: a good resume does not guarantee you a job, it just allows you to be considered. A resume demonstrates the skills and capabilities that the reader would value and it is essential for you to demonstrate your abilities and is showcases a sense of direction in your career.

How to layout and format a good resume:

There are a few basic resume types but lets focus on some things that are particularly helpful –

  • It is recommended to format chronologically so that the reader is able to see organization qualities as well as being able to follow your experience.
  • Aim to fit your resume on 1 page – unless you have more experiences that are relevant to the job, you should limit it to one page because it is a general overview of your skills and capabilities.
  • AVOID using templates as a basis for your resume because sometimes they can be difficult to alter and limits you from standing out if your resume looks just like everyone else’s. (Remember, the person reading your resume is most likely reading soooooo many others.)
  • Use CAPS, bolding, underlining, bullets, and indentation to direct the reader’s attention and separate different sections of the resume.
  • Do NOT use graphics or unusual fonts and colors to “dress up” your resume. It doesn’t look professional and you need to limit your space as well because you only have 1 page remember.
  • Use margins between 0.5″ – 1.0″ which leaves enough blank space on the page so that the document is comfortable to read and enough margin to allow for different viewing software and printers.
  • It would be better to save your file as a pdf before submitting electronically so that it preserves the format.

 

Sections within your resume:

 

Contact information

  • Include your name and email address as well as the phone number and street address you would prefer to be contacted at

Introductory Statement 

  • “Objective” statements are often considered awkward, obsolete, or unnecessary.
  • If you use a summary statement, make sure that your experiences live up to that statement.

Education

  • List degrees in reverse chronological order
  • List the official names of the school you have attended
  • You may list your GPA if it is strong
  • Course Work descriptions: which can include honors and awards (scholarships/fellowships)
  • Study abroad – list school(s), location, dates

Work Experiences 

  • List experiences in reverse-chronological order.
  • Show the name of the organization, your title, and dates of involvement.
  • Be consistent in your formatting of each experience
  • Use bulleted phrases to describe each experience which should demonstrate skills and capabilities – consider how your experiences demonstrate core work skills (communication/interpersonal skills, organization/time management/leadership, analytical/problem solving skills.
  • Use a professional and active voice

Internship, Co-curricular and Volunteer Experience 

  • List experiences that involve leadership or organizational responsibilities
  • Format the same way and be sure to demonstrate core work skills

Skills

  • This section is optional but this includes additional language skills you possess or certifications/licenses
  • This can also include technology or soft ware skills that are relevant to your career.

 

Hopefully this helps many of you! If you need additional guidance, refer to Loyola’s Career Development Center – they have many available resources, including sample resumes/cover letters!

 

Winning the Scholarship or Honors Program Acceptance Letter

Winning the Scholarship or Honors Program Acceptance Letter

 

Congratulations, you’ve been admitted to Loyola University Chicago as a future Rambler! And now, some of you have been invited to apply to Loyola Interdisciplinary Honors Program or the Business Honors Program and some of you have been invited to apply for selective scholarships at Loyola! While being invited to compete for these prestigious organizations and awards is an accomplishment in itself, you can follow a few quick tips to put yourself in the best position to win the scholarship or acceptance letter; my advice:

When it comes to your essay

  • My number one tip: ANSWER THE QUESTION. Many students submit essays that dance around the topic, but your essay will be much more impressive if you acknowledge the question head-on. Be direct and be concise.
  • SUBMIT IT EARLY. You don’t want to wait until the last minute to start your essay. You want this to be a well thought-out and well-written essay. Not something you threw together at midnight between your math homework and science project. We read enough essays to tell which were written with care and which were written hap-haphazardly.
  • USE SPELL CHECK. It’s your friend. Use it. Then proofread it. Then read it again. Then have someone (a teacher, counselor, parent, etc.) read it. Then put it away for a few days and then break it out and read it again. You want this essay to be perfect.

When it comes to your resume

  • SEND IN A NEW ONE. If you submitted a version for college admission, that’s great, but you might be leaving out some new accomplishments. I would recommend adding new information like new awards, honors, participation in organizations, leadership, service, etc.
  • DON’T FORGET FRESHMAN YEAR. We should know everything you’ve been involved with in regard to extra-curriculars over the past 4 years; not just what you’ve been doing junior and senior year. Leave nothing out; this is your chance to awe us with your accomplishments. (This updated resume will also be helpful in the future if you are looking for jobs on-campus in the fall!)
  • MAKE IT PROFESSIONAL. The font should be clear, text in black, with a format/style that says organized. There are so many different template available to help you do this. A final tip, send you resume as a PDF so you don’t have to worry about it being distorted when opened on different types of computers and programs.

When it comes to your interview…

  • BREATHE. You’re here to talk about you. No one knows you better. This is a topic you’re a natural pro at so try to relax. Just come in, be yourself, and don’t be afraid to brag a little.
  • BE PROMPT. Walking in late will not impress anyone.
  • DRESS FOR SUCCESS. You don’t have to wear a suit necessarily, but you should be dressed appropriately (definitely no pajamas, disheveled clothing, or clothing you wouldn’t wear to school or to dinner with your grandma).
  • BE POLITE TO EVERYONE YOU ENCOUNTER. If an administrative assistant checks you in or escorts you to the office for the interview, be polite and friendly with them, you never know if they might share this input with the decision-makers.
  • PREPARE. Do your research about the school, their values, their mission, etc. Knowing what is important to the school will likely help you impress the interviewers.
  • LEARN SOMETHING. If you’re there on campus, this is another chance for you explore and determine or confirm “fit”. Also, keep in mind that whoever is interviewing you has some connection with the University whether they are staff, faculty, current students, or alumni, they are great resources whom you can ask questions.

Good Luck!

 

Only 13 Days Left!

Only 13 Days Left!

 

13 days or 312 hours or 18,720 minutes or 1,123,200 seconds… until our priority deadline: December 1st!

That means you better request your transcripts, test scores (ACT or SAT), and letters of recommendation right away so schools, counselors, teachers, and testing agencies have time to send it all over to Loyola before our postmark deadline. Also make sure you submit your application, your essay, and your optional resume. Meeting this deadline will allow you to be automatically considered for all of Loyola’s merit-based scholarships, which are based on high school GPA, test score, and class rank (if available).

Please be patient if you have requested materials be sent to Loyola in the past 3 weeks and they are still not showing up as received in your status page. It typically takes 3 weeks or so for us to upload or process a document and update your status page.

If you have already submitted all of your materials, be sure to check your applicant status page regularly for a decision! Click here for tips on what to do while waiting for a decision. 

Don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns!

Warning: Due Dates are Closer than They Appear

Warning: Due Dates are Closer than They Appear

Deadlines

 

So in a post I wrote earlier this year, I broke down Loyola’s various admission and scholarship-related deadlines. While our priority application deadline is still 26 days away, those days will quickly pass by!

DECEMBER 1st – this is the big day. Your application (online application, essay, and optional resume) must be submitted by then and all of your supporting documents (transcripts, letters of recommendation, and ACT/SAT scores) must be postmarked by December 1st.

By sending in EVERYTHING by December 1st, you are automatically considered for ALL of our merit-based scholarships which range from $13,000 – $20,000! You do not need to complete any additional paperwork or scholarship applications for these, you just need to submit your admission application and supporting documents by December 1st!

Make sure to request letters of recommendation, transcripts, and test scores ASAP! These documents will take your schools, counselors, teachers, ACT/SAT, etc. quite some time to send over, and then it takes us sometime to manually process each document, so if you don’t see one of these items appear on your applicant status page right away, don’t worry, it’s likely processing, just make sure it is postmarked or sent by December 1st!

If you have any additional questions about the deadlines or scholarships, contact us at admission@luc.edu.

 

P.s. It’s not too late to register for our November 8th Open House!

 

Writing Your Resume

Writing Your Resume

 

While resumes are NOT required as part of the Undergraduate Admission application process at Loyola University Chicago, I highly encourage that you submit one anyway. Resumes are a great way to show your Admission Counselor who you are outside of the classroom. Not to mention, they can also potentially help with scholarship opportunities. As many high school seniors do not have a resume of their own, here are a few suggestions for creating one:

  • Research. If you have never seen a resume yet, you can see tons of samples online or by asking your family members to share theirs. While your resume is not expected to be at the same level as your parents’, having seen a few resumes will help you to understand the purpose of creating one.
  • Don’t Forget Anything. Start working on your resume now. Just keep a running list of everything you’ve been involved with (e.g. sports, clubs, organizations, part-time jobs, volunteer work, leadership positions, internships, research, service, ministry, productions, music, art, dance, hobbies, achievements, awards, etc.) You likely will have quite a list and it can be difficult to recall it all while under the stress of filling out applications and scholarship applications, so starting now will insure you don’t miss out on anything important.
  • Be Concise! Your resume should NEVER exceed one page. While I completely understand the challenge of limiting your academic, professional, service, and extra-curricular experiences, but professionals with forty years of experience can do it, so you can, too! In order to keep it short and sweet, don’t include any experience or involvement before high school. If your resume is still too long, eliminate the experiences that are of the least importance to you or that occurred the longest ago.
  • Spell Check. Like your essay and every other aspect of your application, you will want to be sure that all spelling and grammar are exemplary.
  • Make Your Name Stand Out. Literally, make sure your name is on your resume! If you send in a resume without your name, it will be challenging for us to match it to your application. Including other items like your email or birth date can also be helpful.
  • Show off Your Style. Your resume is meant to represent YOU, so don’t be afraid to add some style or formatting to represent yourself (especially if you are interested in design or art!) However, a plain and simple bullet-ed list will perfectly suffice for your college application, as we’ll mostly be focusing on content.

Reminder: You can always email your resume to admissionforms@luc.edu or to your Admission Counselor and they can add it to your file if you’ve already submitted your application.

 

 

A Summer To Do List for Prospective Students

A Summer To Do List for Prospective Students

While the start of application season is still about a month away, there is still plenty to do for rising seniors this summer before the school year begins:

  1. The first step, create an appropriate email address to use for the college application process. Keep in mind that your parents, admission counselors, and high school counselors/teachers will likely see this. Avoid using your high school email address because these email addresses are often deactivated right when you graduate and you may miss out on emails from colleges that are sent over the summer after you graduate.
  2. Create a list of schools of interest and gather suggestions from your classmates, teachers, parents, and family friends by asking about their alma maters and collegiate experiences. Spend a lot of time on their websites researching student life, study abroad, athletics, available majors and minors, or anything else you deem a significant factor in your collegiate decision-making process. Don’t forget to sign up to receive more information from the school’s on their websites. Also, follow your prospective schools on Facebook and Twitter for up-to-date information.
  3. After you have a list, create a calendar with all application deadlines, scholarship deadlines, honors program application due dates, campus visit dates, etc. Once the school year starts, it’s important to keep track of all admission-related dates in addition to your homework assignments and test dates.
  4. Visit as many schools as you can over the summer while you don’t have to worry about missing classes or interrupting your extra-curricular schedule. If you can’t visit campus, look on school websites for virtual tours of residence halls or campus to at least get a feel for the institution.
  5. Start working on components of your application: You can start working on college essays before even opening the application. Click here for college essay tips!
  6. You can also start creating a resume. Be sure to include all leadership positions, community service, involvement with clubs/organizations/sports, internships, research experiences, ministry youth groups, part-time jobs, or whatever it is that you’re involved with outside of the classroom!
  7. Send your test scores to schools you are definitely applying to in the fall (Loyola’s ACT Code is 1064 and the SAT Code is 1412). If you’re unhappy with your original scores, sign up for a new test date and use your time off in the summer to prepare.
  8. Start searching for scholarships. Many scholarships are looking for students with very specific majors, interests, or skill-sets or cast a broad net when searching and use as many research resources as possible (websites like scholarships.com or fastweb.com; talking to your high school counselors about local opportunities; have your parents ask their employers about any company scholarships; etc.)
  9. Make a list of possible people to send in letters of recommendation for you- consider teachers, employers, coaches, supervisors, counselors (anyone who knows you professionally or academically). While it’s a little soon to ask them for a letter now, you certainly want to ask right away in the fall so they have plenty of time to write and send in letters before the application deadline.
  10. Enjoy your summer!