What Is a Student Resume?

Resumes . . .

  • Summarize your interests and accomplishments.
  • Provide a visual reminder for recruiters and interviewers, making it easier for them to remember you.
  • Help guide conversations with counselors or college advisors.
  • Help you identify weaknesses in your academic record, extracurricular activities, or work experience while there is still time to improve them.
  • Can suggest a topic that you can elaborate into an essay.
  • Provide an overview to teachers or others whom you might ask to write a letter of recommendation.
  • Help you recall information you need to complete a college or scholarship application.

You need to have a one-page resume ready for . . .

  • Applications and interviews for summer programs and internships such as Governor’s Honors, 21st Century Atlanta Scholars, Emory and Georgia Tech Summer Internships, or camp counselor-in-training programs. Often you find out that you have been nominated only days before the interview. Don’t procrastinate. Have your resume ready.
  • College interviews with alumni interviewers.
  • College fairs or recruiter meetings at your school. It is appropriate to give your resume to a recruiter from a school you’re very interested in.
  • Scholarship interviews; these are often with a committee of people, so take multiple copies of your resume.
  • To give to people whom you ask for a reference and/or recommendation letter to remind them of all your experiences so that they can give you a more robust, informative recommendation or reference.
  • Job interviews.

Tips for a Strong Student Resume

  1. Keep it to one page

•You can keep a longer laundry list for your reference that includes ALL of your activities, including sports, community and school groups, awards, achievements, community service, work, unusual experiences, etc.

•From that list you can draw specific information to create either an academic resume for college applications, or a resume for a job search, which would focus on experiences relevant to the job you’re applying for.

•Include only the most recent and relevant information; juniors and seniors should include only high school activities.

  1. Choose a simple design and easy-to-read font, for example:

•Henry W. Grady High School (Arial Narrow) – lets you squeeze in more words

•Henry W. Grady High School (Arial) – clean and professional

•Henry W. Grady High School (Times New Roman) – traditional

•Henry W. Grady High School (Helvetica) – clean, fatter

  1. Place your name and contact information at the top

•It is usually appropriate to include only phone number and email for contact purposes, especially if the resume is accompanying an application with complete contact information.

•If you list your cell phone number, make sure that your voice mail greeting is professional and appropriate for the image that you wish to project.

•If you don’t check your email regularly, don’t use it as contact information.

•Create a professional email address for the purpose of job and college applications: , NOT .

  1. Include test scores, GPA, or class ranking if they strengthen your story

•Including PSAT, SAT, or ACT scores is optional; if yours are strong, you may want to include them. Same with class ranking, if you know it.

•If you did well on AP exams for college credit, you can list individual AP course names. If you didn’t score very well on the AP exams, you may not want to invite conversation about the course.

•Include your GPA if it’s over 3.0.

  1. Use action words to describe your activities and accomplishments

•Selected; led; organized; awarded; created; achieved; coordinated; elected; participated; directed; wrote; published; designed; founded; won; completed

  1. Pay attention to writing style

•Phrases are acceptable; however, use consistent verb tenses and correct grammar.

•Briefly describeclubs or positions that are not obvious to the reader.

•Use consistent punctuation and structure.

•Indicate when you participated in each activity by listing the years after the activity. There are several ways to do this (senior, 11th, 10th grade, soph, etc.) Just be consistent throughout. Give the grade or grades you were in when you participated in a particular activity rather than the calendar year in which it occurred, which just causes the reader to have to work out the math to see what grade you were in.

  1. Organize the information for clarity and ease of reading

•The categories you use to organize your information can be somewhat flexible to reflect your story, but generally, they will include academic record (honors and awards can be included here or placed in a separate category); school activities; community activities; and work experience. If you’ve been very active in a particular area that is relevant to your application—sports, drama, debate, robotics—that info could be placed in a separate category.

•Use indented bullets to give more information about similar activities

•Bold and italics can guide the reader to most important information, e.g.,

•First Place Award, Georgia Conference for Parliamentary Procedures

•Finalist at National Conference

•News Editor, The Southerner, award-winning newspaper

•Manage news team of eight students

•Captain, Varsity Tennis, elected by team members to serve as Captain

•Played on regional-championship junior varsity and varsity tennis teams all four years of high school

8. Proofread carefully!

  • Check for typos and errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • Have someone else proof it, too—an extra set of eyes can be invaluable. Stop by the Writing Center or CCC for a review!

Visit the Grady CCC website for a Grady resume template!

August, 2014