How to Write a Great Resume for College

Webinar Transcription

2022-05-04 How to Write a Great Resume for College

[00:00:00] Hello, everyone. Welcome to CollegeAdvisor’s webinar on How to Write a Great Resume for College. My name is Rachel D’Amato and I am your moderator today. To orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’ll start off with a presentation. Then answer your questions in a live Q&A on the sidebar. You can download our slides and you can start submitting your questions in the Q&A tab.

Now let’s meet our presenter. Hi everyone. My name’s Rachael Moore. I’m an advisor team lead [email protected]. I’m so excited to be here today with you to talk about a topic that I’ve spent a lot of time with in my career. Um, I come from a background initially in college admissions. I worked as an officer for eight years officially, but.

Um, veer too far from it, often times. So popping back [00:01:00] into the field here and there, um, working with students and family too, we’re interested in various academic programs that I supported. Um, and also at times have done work as career consultant for. College and university as well as a lot of times through my work advising students.

So, um, that ability to learn how to really present yourself as best as possible, both in person on paper is something that I just really enjoy. Coaching students and young adults on. I’m so excited to be here today to talk with you further about. Awesome. Thanks so much, Rachel. So before we let Rachael kind of dive into our presentation, we’re going to do a real quick poll to figure out, you know, what grade our attendees are in today.

If you’re a parent, feel free to click the other. So that poll is now alive and Rachael, while folks are filling out that [00:02:00] poll poll, I’d be curious to hear, you know, is it still best practice for resumes to keep your resume to one page? That’s a great question. Um, keeping to one page only. So. In some respects, it depends on who you talk to.

Um, and it also depends on the field that you’re in. Um, and we’ll probably dive into this a little bit in the presentation too, but since we, you brought it up, um, I, I personally think succinct is better, you know, resume writing is some of the hardest writing that we do simply because you have to be, you know, use every word.

On that piece of paper or on an electronic electronic document is best as possible. So I personally think you have to think about the reader there. They are looking at hundreds to thousands of applications each day. [00:03:00] Um, there, if they don’t see what they’re looking for. They’re going to pass that resume right off and go onto the next.

So you want to make sure that you leverage that space that they’re looking at first. Um, so a lot of times we’ll do, what’s called a co the half page test and really maximize that language that you’re using that would be attractive to someone reading it or recruiter and admissions officer in that first half of the page to make them want to go to the second half of the page.

Awesome. Wonderful. Thanks so much for that, Rachael. Um, so I’m about to close the poll before I do so I’m going to read it back. It’s looking like 23% of our attendees, our other so likely parents. We don’t have any 12th graders in the room. We have 58% of our attendees who are 11th graders, 18% of our attendees, our 10th graders, and 2% of our attendees aren’t ninth graders.

So we have a really good mix [00:04:00] of grade levels in the room today. Rachel. Awesome. I’m going to pass it over to you for the presentation. Oh, wonderful. Thank you, right. So good evening, everyone. Again, I’m excited to be here and talk to you about resume writing. Um, and I feel like this is a topic. Everybody has a strong opinion about, and it’s something that is consistently evolving as just more opportunities become available as more just different methods or tools are out there for screening candidates become available the power of personal branding and how best to present ourselves, um, through various means whether it’s your social presence.

Or, you know, that classic in-person interview or resume handing over a piece of paper of your qualifications for a [00:05:00] certain position or opportunity. Um, it’s just in your face. Present all of the time. Um, it’s nice. We get so overwhelmed by how best we to present yourself and the best options that are out there that we forget to go back to basics.

And I think that really focusing on your resume allows you to do that. Um, because at the end of the day, what you put on the resume. It’s going to be what you ultimate, what attracts you to someone who wants to interview you, um, or learn more about who you are and what you might bring to the table for an organization or a school, um, as well as, um, just to really an opportunity to show how you best present yourself.

So we’ll talk about that for a bit, and then we’ll also integrate. How you use it within your college admissions process to, um, so the [00:06:00] basic is what is a resume. I describe it as a really brief written account of your personal educational, professional qualifications and experiences, um, and United in north America and academia, they often still call it a, or they do call it a CV.

But in many ways, that’s still a resume. To Rachel D’Amato is, um, question of me earlier, keep it to one page, keep it, or can it be longer at the CVS, usually longer and academia. It’s going to list a lot more information. Um, scholarly work that you’ve contributed to kind of all the different types of research, internship experiences, um, teaching that you’ve done.

And we use. Pretty much anywhere where you’re [00:07:00] looking to, um, network seek a job opportunity, Senate, an application, whether it’s for college university, particularly for graduate level programs. Um, I would say when we talk about it in the academic setting as well, um, always smart to keep it up to date because you never know when these various opportunities might come up in all of these different places.

The bottom line though, of what it is, is just think of it as a Saint visual represent representation of your personal story as you, your brand, whatever it is that you want people to think of when they think of you or they see your name, that’s really what you want to have represented on your resume.

So how big a part does the resume play in college admissions? On a high level, I would say, think of this as your formal Breck [00:08:00] sheet, it’s an opportunity to really professionally present your best self. Um, and I like to use the term pride points, you know, highlighting how you’ve most spent your time, really, you know, work to, you know, earn an honor different recognitions.

You’ve received the strengths that you have. I would not think of it though, as something that’s quantifiable. And what I mean by that is an admissions officer is not going to look at it and say, that’s a great resume. That’s going to be like, And that’s 5% of our score for this application is going to be, you know, as a re is going to be impacted by how good that resume is.

Um, the, you can’t put a number to it. It’s just another way to present yourself. And a lot of times this is what I mean when I say in that third bullet. Not to think of it as a make or break. [00:09:00] It’s not usually a required part of an application at least at the undergraduate level. Um, so again, if you’re going to submit one.

You want to make sure it’s the best we can possibly submit, but when you have other components of the application that incorporate a lot of what’s on the resume, and here are really specifically talking about the activities and honors section on the application. You don’t want to spend more time on the resume when you have other components of the application where you really want to put your best foot forward in showing your experiences.

So why is summer breaks such an important time to build your resume? And the obvious answer is we finally have some time, um, hopefully not having to every single morning, get up to get to class, have that, you know, Uh, [00:10:00] um, you know, the whole morning routine, hopefully a lot of us have a break from some of that.

Um, so it allows you to just sort of give your mind arrest and focus on other things that maybe you just don’t have the energy or the time the bandwidth for, to do during the school year. Um, but it’s allowing you to realize. Reflect and do some goal setting in areas that might be related to the two year school year.

Um, but you’re just thinking about how you can pursue those interests in a different way or how you can best leverage the freer time that you have to prepare for what’s coming down the pike, whether it’s applying to schools, whether it’s looking for opportunities to. Fill your resume a little bit that pat it up a little bit where you think you’re missing some areas of [00:11:00] strength or opportunity, um, the summer that allows you to be able to pursue that a little bit more.

The last day to be strategic about how you spend your time. So if you put a resume together and, or your first draft, and you’re seeing that maybe it’s missing an element that you’d really like to see there, for example, maybe some leadership or maybe some service. The summer, it’s going to allow you to have a little bit more time to go and see what other opportunities there are, and participate in those so that you’ll legitimately be able to talk about them, um, and just grow more, um, from those experience during that time.

Honestly, this might sound funny, but it also helps you to avoid the summer slide a bit. Um, we all need a break and you’ll see that I emphasize that multiple times within this presentation. Um, you’ve got to have fun, [00:12:00] but it’s still important to keep that binder engaged, you know, just thinking about how you can grow or this person to things that interest you or that you’re curious about.

Strengthen or build relationships with friends, with, you know, family, your neighbors and your community. You know, that engagement really helps you to still keep your mind sharp and your energy high for when you have to hop back into the grind of the school year. The other thing is it really demonstrates your initiative and willingness to stretch beyond your comfort zone, which at the end of the day, that’s really something that whether it’s a college or a university application or applying for a job, that’s what we’re looking for.

Yeah, of course we all have strengths and talents. Um, but being able to keep pushing ourselves to get better and learn [00:13:00] more is something that’s a really desirable characteristic. Um, and so that’s, that’s something that working on that resume is going to help you to do that.

How can I use summer to get ahead of my application? Um, so there’s a lot of content here. I promise you. I’m not going to actually read it all to you, but I think it was really important to just have on this slide. You want to go back and review it later on. Um, You know, I’m going to talk a little bit more in particular about how you can use it for your I’m talking about the college application and in particular here, not just the resume with, so in the downtimes, if it’s the summer before your junior year or your senior year, it’s an opportunity to focus on those times of the application that are a bit more time-consuming.

So like your essay or narrowing down. [00:14:00] That college list and doing more research on your schools, visiting, um, those things that take a lot more time and thought in the busier time. So when you don’t have as much, um, free time on your hands, use that. Little bits of time that you have to, you know, do something that you can check off the to-do list quicker.

So in August you’ll be able to, you know, start up your common application, right? And they’re doing things like filling out more of the biographical section or starting to work on the activity section and the descriptors of the different involvements that you have. Um, those are things that, you know, when you just have a little pockets of time here and there, you’re actually still moving forward.

Your head’s still in the game, but you don’t have to drop everything for hours at a time to work on that. Um, other ways to get ahead though. Um, one of the [00:15:00] things that I encourage, all students that I work with to begin doing is journaling. If you don’t do that already, and there are a number of reasons for that, but one of the main ones is that it really gets you into a habit of having to be more reflective about.

How you’re interpreting the experiences that you’re having, or to even then be more intentional about what it is you want to do moving forward, um, as you have different experiences or just thoughts, feelings also, when you go back. I can give you great material for your personal statement. Something that might not seem like a big deal of interest when you first write it down, when it comes time to really think about those potential prompts for you, um, to F to answer for your application, and then you go through your journal and [00:16:00] just kind of reflect a bit.

You might be amazed at what you see and come up with. Um, it’s you move forward. So journaling, I think, um, is a great way for you to indirectly. It’s a great way to get ahead on your application. Also time to build your skill sets, pursue a new hobby, do some research, volunteering, take some classes. If there’s an area that’s of interest to you, or you’re trying to get a little bit ahead in the school year, uh, whatever your reason may be.

Um, it is a good time to. Maybe pursue some opportunities as you’ve been missing, but that you want represented on your application because it’s something that really lights or fire, or could connect to a program that you’re interested in applying.

Okay. It’s a ninth grader. Um, [00:17:00] I love it first. I’ll admit it. When I thought about this question and I thought, oh my gosh, how intimidating is a ninth grader to really think about a resume? Because we, once we. The rest of our life where maintaining a resume and updating it. But then when I really thought about it, I thought, wow, what a great way to start thinking about how it is we want to spend our time, how it is.

We want to tell our story about what interests us, um, really hold ourselves accountable. Um, so for those of you who are. Energetic enough or interested enough on starting a resume, doesn’t have to be fancy. There’s no expectation that you’re going to have a full page of all of these honors and experiences.

Um, but to just start thinking in that way, I think. Wonderful [00:18:00] gift to yourself that you can give. Um, it really puts you ahead of the game a bit, um, and figuring out how to best present yourself and your personal brand. Um, so I’m going to tell you actually, one of the best things, and you’re going to see this as a common theme is to how you spend your time, um, is read, um, when I worked in the corporate.

For a while. And even when I would interview students as an admissions officer for programs, Partially just because it’s something that I do a lot, but partially, because I’m curious about what it’s going to say about the person I’m interviewing is tell me what you’re reading. What do you, you know, what’s your favorite book?

Do you read any journals or magazines? What type of podcasts might you listen to tell me about that? Um, because it’s a really honest way, um, to prep. Get an idea [00:19:00] of what a person is interested in and S and their personality a little bit. So I will always say, read keeps your mind sharp, always shows your learning and engaged.

Um, so that’s number one for me and use your summer to just reflect. Think about how you spent your time outside of class in the past year. What do you want to try? You know, after freshman year you’ve had an opportunity to learn, at least get a feel for what high school’s like, what opportunities are out there and think about what did you like, what are areas where you didn’t get to experience that you want to, um, or what was really challenging and that you want to work on?

Um, that’s what are skills that you want to develop? That’s the kind of stuff that it’s going to set you up for success and help you to sort of lay out your intentions for how you spend your time and energy in the coming years [00:20:00] always learn something new, um, whether it’s learning how to cook, whether it is learning a new hobby, uh, learning to code, whatever it is, um, try something.

Pursuing a passion project, um, can do a whole other session on that. But if there’s something that you’re really passionate about, there’s a need that you’re identifying, um, in the community or, um, whatever it might be. Be the, self-starter be the leader, get other people excited and able, onboard to sing. Y you know, meeting that need and starting a PR or starting a project to get that lifted up off the ground to make the community a better place.

Be that person. Um, there’s always, um, summer camps related to all the different areas, whether it’s math, science, engineering, arts, um, everything, [00:21:00] uh, there are always plenty of camps to go around. Maybe get a job, helping Nate help a neighbor. Obviously we’re talking about maybe getting at your first draft of a resume together, but most importantly, it’s a time to be you to distress has some fun.

Um, the growing will come a lot more naturally if you feel just good about.

As a 10th grader, um, what has, should you be spending your summer? It’s pretty similar. Um, I would say maybe you’re just a little bit more intentional than in that first year. Um, definitely keep reading, volunteer. Take a part-time job or internship. Um, again, summer programs. The one big difference I would say is you really want to spend some of your summer familiarizing yourself with college entrance exams.

Um, [00:22:00] so the sat or the act began taking some practice. Determine your testing strategy, familiarize ourself with when the tests in the coming year are going to be happening. Um, and seeing when you do some tests or, you know, your own tests online, you know, you’ll see areas where you seem to be doing really well.

Maybe you don’t have to spend quite as much time testing or practicing on in areas where. You could really benefit from spending more time studying how to tackle that particular area, the test. So that’s what I mean when I say, you know, really start thinking about your testing strategy.

As an 11th grader, what do you do? A lot of the previous for sure. Um, F for the sat, hopefully the year bef as a junior in college, you started taking the [00:23:00] sat or act. Um, summer’s the time to think, to really evaluate where could you have done better on that test? If you feel you could have, uh, and. Retest if necessary, um, research physics colleges really began working on that common application.

I’m not saying it needs to be complete by the end of summer. Um, but begin practicing drafting, some personal statements, taking a look at the prompts on the common application. Even if something changes a little bit. The themes are pretty similar if not the same from year to year. Um, so there’s always going to be value on practicing and working on taking a look at this personal statement, prompts, um, work, definitely he to take some time to work on that resume.

And again now more than ever remember to make [00:24:00] de-stressing and making time for fun part of, you know, your habits.

Okay. Going back to the resume, um, component of the presentation and, you know, Reflects on the application. Um, what do you include that? Um, obviously you want them to be able to get in touch with you. So you want to put your contact information first and foremost. Name, phone, email with. Um, if you have a LinkedIn profile, not a lot of students at high school level, too.

Um, but if you were to have one, you would want to put your address there as well for the LinkedIn profile, a summary of qualifications and a personal or personal summary, that is something newer, um, in applicant era in resumes. And we’ll talk about it in a [00:25:00] moment. Um, In a sense, it sort of takes the place of an objective.

It’s also not a required part of the application, especially at this stage in your life for career. Um, for education. When I put high school years only, what I mean by that is we don’t want to put junior high or middle school. You don’t have to list where you went to elementary school. We’re really most likely interested in.

What you’ve done at your high school years? Certainly college courses, if you’ve taken any, um, as well as summer experience. If you’ve done research, work activities, any volunteering, um, honors or certifications that you’ve received. Um, those are all things that you would want to include on your resume. If you speak more than one language fluently, you want to put that on your application, that’s really [00:26:00] desirable.

Um, and something that we, you know, would encourage you to share as a pride point. Yes.

Okay. Samples of good versus not great resumes. So you’re going to see here. Um, resume best practices are what I recommend is based on what is not done well on the sample here. Um, the first one is for your email, you want to make sure it’s professional. My recommendation is if you don’t have one already, you know, something more to the tune of.

First name dot last [email protected]. You know, add a number to it if that’s already taken, um, just make sure that it is professional. The objective is, I said, that’s now outdated. That is not [00:27:00] something, um, that I would encourage you to spend time putting on a resume because generally if you’re applying to.

A job or a program. They know what it is, you know, they know why you’re applying. They know why you’re submitting that resume. And the reason that you’re applying for that is going to be demonstrated in other areas of the application. So that’s a big reason why it’s not there anymore. Um, the professional summary, um, there are a lot of unique.

Reasons to have a professional summary. It’s in some respects, a more succinct elevator pitch of who you are and what you feel your strengths are, and you know why you’re pursuing certain experiences. As a result of some meeting the resume, the formatting, um, make sure I always would joke. [00:28:00] I used to work in a school of education, um, and did career consulting in the school of ed.

And while I always got really great content from my students, a lot of times, especially if they were more pre-K. For, um, majors I’d get very creative one. So using more of a crayon type of font or colored paper or pictures on the resume. Creativity is really important, the education, but the resume is not where you want to put it.

You want to show that you’re a professional first and foremost, and that you know how to communicate in that way. Um, you’ll have plenty of time to share your creativity once you get the job, um, or even with your portfolio in an interview. So those are all. Just sort of some best practices to keep in mind.[00:29:00]

Another piece I would say is also don’t use templates. There are so many out there. We could talk about this for a long time. Um, but the templates, um, can actually be. Eh, they don’t always transmit well when you submit them electronically. So everything that you worked on in your application to make it perfect may not be.

Once it leaves your email. So depending on what programs, um, the, or software the recruiters are using to scan it, review resumes. The other best practice that I would recommend is quantify and provide context, um, wherever possible that you can. So. For example, you know, on, he hit on this exact [00:30:00] APOE where we have first job burgers.

It’s about three quarters of the way down the page. And. Flip burgers and fell condiment containers. Well, can you talk a little bit more about how you, you know, cooked to order based on customer service specifications? Can you, you know, when you answer the phone, how many, if that was a huge, big part of your responsibility, how many phone calls would you address on an average shift?

They really want to see the more. Detail and level of service that you were able to bring. How much can you handle or manage?

So samples again, this seven student is I feel for a high schooler, a [00:31:00] really good example of a resume. Really clean. Um, we talk about that qualifications, which is that personal summary that I described and the, on the last slide, you know, what is it that the student really feels are their strengths and.

That they bring to the table that could be a value to a program or a good fit to a program or company employer that they’re interested in, um, clean and consistent, plenty of white space. When we started this presentation, we talked about how recruiters could be reading up to, you know, hundreds of resumes in a day.

That’s really tiring on the eyes and the energy of the person that’s reading them. So you want to, you know, sort of subconsciously [00:32:00] be sensitive to that. They know what they’re looking for in a resume. So you want to be able to make it clear, easy to find. Um, and you see how they do that here with the bolding, uh, the bullets, lots of white space between sections.

You that that makes it easier on the eyes to read and to find in a working your face. Um, the other piece I would say is for experience, if you choose to write about it, you have, I have to be able to talk about it and go in depth. You know, keep out any of the fluffs it’s quality. It is not quantity is to how many different things you’ve tried.

People, you know, it’s really about, can you speak to the experience, how someone benefited from that experience, um, and what you’ve taken from it. Um, the other piece [00:33:00] is you want to save and submit it as a PDF. Um, if you’re giving it to someone just to review, maybe make some edits. You should have it sent as a word doc so that someone could go in and provide that feedback.

But once you’re ready to give it to somebody as an application, um, to pass it along as part of networking, you want to submit it as a PDF so that everything stays, um, perfectly at line as when you created it.

This is another example of a resume. I know, again, Rachel, D’Amato had asked at the beginning one page or two page, um, I will say now with the implementation of what’s called applicant tracking software, it’s ATS for short, um, Because, so what it is, is software that companies [00:34:00] use to do initial screens on resumes and.

The formatting, we talked about that place apart on if a resume is going to make a pass through or not. Um, something that has worked in the favor for some is that it no longer reads how long it is, because they’re looking more for key words and how, how much that’s presented on that resume, you know, matches what they’re looking for in a job description or a mission of the company.

In some respects if you’re setting it, you know, via software on a website lengths, not going to matter so much. Um, I would say if you’re handing it to a person, however, you’re going to want to, I still think writing more succinctly is better, but this is still a nice representation of a resume. So it’s good to have [00:35:00] it there.

Okay. What do admissions officers want to see in a resume? Um, they’re looking for your interests, what lights, your fire, your strengths experiences you’ve had, you know, and with that in mind, it’s more. Looking at how intentional are you about those experiences and what you want to take from them? Um, what were the outcomes, how did you grow from those experiences?

Um, and really, is there a fit between who you are, your interests and what the school you’re applying to, what their values are, what they’re looking for for successful students in their programs. I would also say the optics, um, perception is reality. So you want to make sure that you’re paying attention to detail, you know, that you’ve, you know, are [00:36:00] consistent in your formatting, that it, everything is clear so that they’re able to review it quickly.

Um, and that you really just took the time. If you are going to submit a resume to present your best self, um, if you’re going to use it. Go use it, leverage it. Um, think I say use it as a tangible reinforcement of your personal story and brand, but first and foremost, we’re really looking to see that through the application itself, the writing, the recommendations, the classes you’ve taken, how well you’ve done in your classes or your transcript.

Um, that’s where we’re looking for it first, generally.

wonderful. Thank you so much, Rachel. I really appreciate. You kind of going through all the different aspects of the resume, but also giving a really great, [00:37:00] um, outline on how folks can kind of, uh, approach their summers, uh, depending on the year, the grade that they’re in. Um, so you know, that is the end of the presentation part of tonight’s webinar.

I hope you found this information incredibly helpful and remember that you can. Slides from the link in the handouts tab. So moving on to the live Q and a part of tonight, I’ll read through the questions that you submitted in the Q and a tab, publish them so that they are posted it to the public chat and then read them out loud before our panelists gives you an answer as a heads up, if your Q and a tab, isn’t letting you submit questions, just double-check that you joined the webinar through the custom link in your email.

So, Rachel, the first question that I have here is, um, It is volunteer work valued more than a paying job on a resume, especially for college admissions. That’s a really great question. Um, [00:38:00] so the short answer is yes. The quick answer is though, you know, every student is reviewed in the context of their unique circumstances.

So if you have to work to help support your family or to save money for college, Even if you’re not working or say you’re helping care for siblings or family members, um, at home everyone’s situation is unique and every student is reviewed within that context. So we’re not sitting there and saying, you know, well, this one worked, but this one’s it’s service.

Um, because. It’s never one size fits all where really looking to see, how have you spent your time was their commitment. You know, how, what was the value that came as a result of that experience? Whether for you, your family, [00:39:00] for customers, if you’re working the community, whatever it may be, it’s much more about what you’ve made of that experience as opposed to what it is.

Now, if you’re looking at a particular program that maybe is very service oriented in nature, we’re gonna want to see how did you get some exposure to this pro you know, area that this program emphasizes. So in that case, maybe we’re going to be looking for that, but again, that’s, that’s on a case by case basis.

Wonderful. Thanks so much. So we got a question that I think is a clarification question for something that you said earlier in the presentation. So this person they earned Jr. And they were already able to make a common app account last week and have gotten their profile. So they were wondering what part of the application is it then that opens in August.

So that is the [00:40:00] official application that’s going to be used for. That particular academic year. So when colleges are going to start accepting them for the upcoming year, there may be some tweaks here and there, like I said, with options for personal statements, but you can roll over the content that you’ve worked on.

Um, prior to the deadline should be able to roll over to the next season. Great. Thank you. So the next question was related to professional emails. Does that email need to have your full entire name or can it be an initial and your last name? For example? Great question. Um, initials are fine. Absolutely fine.

I think it’s helpful to have some sort of identifier in there if possible, just because there is so much information that’s coming through, but, you know, for example, my initials are RKM. [00:41:00] You know, I have an email address that’s RKM 26. Gmail.com just shared that with everybody. But, but the point is I needed something for a different purpose.

Um, and so that, that to me was still professional enough, um, that I put together. Great. Thank you, Rachel. Um, be sending you an email after this. Um, so then next question we got is how should students who are applying this year kind of deal with the COVID shutdowns, for example, this person lives in California and things have been pretty tight when it comes to volunteering and extracurriculars, how can they kind of navigate that in their, um, application process?

Yeah, I love this question. And I so appreciate that someone asked that, um, I was really sort of just kind of taking a step back to answer this for a moment, [00:42:00] but what I was really reflecting on the seniors this year that we’ve worked with, who are going to be entering as freshmen now. Yes, they were drastically impacted by COVID of course, but it’s actually these upcoming classes.

That it was at the start of your high school experience that COVID hit, which is a whole different dynamic. Um, so colleges have already seen how that impacts, you know, employers have seen how it impacts what it never really was about the quantity of what you’ve done. Um, but it’s more, you know, every single.

They’re looking at your individual circumstances and what you could have taken advantage of. And what you could it, I mean, that’s completely acknowledged. I’ll tell you, it’s particularly working with students. You want to go into the medical field, you know, they can’t go in the [00:43:00] hospitals, they can’t to volunteer.

Like they used to, um, or even retirement homes or there’s so many different things they can’t do right now. So, um, that is not going to count against you, but it doesn’t mean you sit at home and do nothing. You know, it’s what are other, you know, what are the skills that go into the field that you’re interested in, that you can still keep building or working on or reading?

You know, like I said, it’s, it’s what are you choosing to do to grow instead of that? Thank you so much. Um, so then the next question, um, another great question is, do you recommend providing a resume when asking for a letter of recommendations from your teachers? I said, great questions. Um, I would, I actually would argue that the resume’s more valuable for that event then.[00:44:00]

Let me rephrase that. You’re going to use that more frequently for asking a teacher to write a recommendation. Then it is a requirement for your college application. Um, some schools do require it, so I’m never going to say like an ultimatum. Um, you’re never going to need it, but that is really incredibly helpful.

For a teacher, um, when they have to really sit down and kind of getting your head a little bit about how they can best present you and really speak to you personally in that era, in that recommendation. Wonderful. Um, this next question, would it hurt our application if we have a strong volunteer history and commitment, but no experience with a paid job, because our circumstances did not call it.

That’s also a great question. Um, again, it’s, it’s not one or the other, it [00:45:00] never is, you know, everyone’s circumstances are different. So, you know, it’s what you’re looking certainly to give to the greater good, I think is something of high value, no matter who you are. But I also, you know, whether it’s maybe even going, doing research or an area that you’re interested in or an activity or travel, you know, it could be so many different things for each person.

And. You know, you’re going to get sick of me here saying this, but you know, every student’s reviewed with their, in the context of their unique circumstances. So no, I’m not weighing out work versus volunteering ever. Cause you could have the most amazing volunteering, like on paper, what you’ve done. If your heart wasn’t in it.

[00:46:00] Recommendations are going to show that. So, you know, I don’t want to be light about that, but it truly is, you know, it’s just dependent on what the motivation for pursuing something. What that motivation is behind it for that student. Great. Uh, next question we got is, should we include extracurricular activities like instruments or clubs, including officer positions in clubs on our resumes?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Again, that’s a bigger picture of you. It’s much more about. I use the term. If I’m ever your advisor, my question is, talk to me about what lights, your fire. What’s the class that you most enjoy, you know, what is it that you think to do in your spare time? Um, you know, what’s a hobby you pursue that’s, that’s what we’re looking to pick up when we’re looking at any representation of you, [00:47:00] but certainly on that resume.

Thanks Rachel, next question is, will it be okay to send the same resume for all colleges you apply to? Absolutely. Um, the only time that it’s not is if the. College requires different things on it, you know, or you’re specifically speaking to something, um, unique to that school, but usually that’s not the case on the resume.

That’s more so in the essays or the supplemental essays, um, where you start to do a different version of our resume tends to be. Maybe graduate programs, if they’re different focus or employer, like job descriptions, you really do tailor your resume to the different opportunities you’re applying to. But for college, it’s pretty much a general.

This is what I mean. [00:48:00] Great. So going back to, you mentioned the half page test earlier, what is usually the first thing that catches the eye of an admissions officer and captivates them immediately? Ooh,

I’m looking for confidence. You know, but, and that personal statement, um, or that personal summary, if a student chooses to go that route and that’s becoming more common, you know, to some of us who are older, you know, when I did a career change, I. Eight years ago that was new. And I had never heard of that before.

So I had to learn that. So my guess is there are parents on this call who are like, what the heck is that? And what’s this woman talking about? Um, so know that I, I’ve kind of speaking to two different groups here, um, but it’s really. What are you [00:49:00] about? What excites you? What are those skills that you’re, you know, you feel are strengths for you.

Um, you know, whether it’s communications, whether it’s just you’re seeking opportunity and marketing, marketing, whatever, it’s just throwing those out as examples, but it’s really, those key words is the term, um, for skills or areas that you’re interested. Fantastic. Um, next question this year, there seemed to be an overwhelming amount of competitions.

Students with extremely high qualifications are being turned away. How can you stand out in such a crowded. Yeah, that’s, that’s a loaded question. And it’s a wonderful question. Um, those are great. One-on-one called saltation questions too, but a couple of general answers that I think are helpful [00:50:00] is you’ve gotta be authentic.

You’ve always had to be authentic and true to who you are and really thinking about. What it is, why your go, your, why, why you’re going for a certain program or a certain type of school. Um, it doesn’t, you’re not applying to, like, you’re not speaking to what you think other people want to hear. Where, when you have an opportunity to select a class where there are way more qualified applicants than there are spaces.

It’s it’s sort of a blessing and a curse because you want to be able to invite everybody. Um, so what do you do? You, you shape a class and the way that you shape a class is by looking at all of those really unique voices and [00:51:00] talents, and, you know, Interests in what they want to pursue. And we’ve look at who we are as a school or a college program, and who’s really gonna thrive in that environment and keep us all growing and moving forward.

The only way we can do that is fine. Really hearing your voice and what your, you know, why that’s such a great fit. So there is no answer. If, if I had a specific concrete answer with all due respect, she’d be reading my book and watching my, my videos on YouTube all the time. And I’d be making a whole lot of money, a lot more money.

There is no one answer, but I can promise you that working too, you know, we talk so much about [00:52:00] personal branding. Like what does that mean? Really starting to hone that craft. Um, that’s, that’s, what’s gonna make the difference for you. And I will say level, I will just add this level setting on, um, what’s really a reason.

What’s really a match, you know, maybe being a little more conservative, you know, maybe it is adding one or two more schools in a particular area, really, you know, getting some additional opinions, um, from people in the field, like, you know, your guidance counselors at school, for example, it’s to whether where they fall for you based on your profile.

Awesome. Thanks, Rachel. Um, and that’s actually a great segue to, I really want to quickly talk about, you know, CollegeAdvisor, a little more for those in the room who aren’t, you know, experience with [00:53:00] us, you know, like Rachel said, um, you know, there is not one answer to how to best stand out in the college admissions process, but in one-on-one, you know, advising.

Sessions with CollegeAdvisor, we can kind of help you piece out what your, um, application through line could look like and how, how to best take what you’ve done. Um, and really showcase that in the best light. And so, you know, CollegeAdvisor, we have a team of over 300 former admissions officers like Rachel, um, and admission experts who are ready to help you and your family kind of navigate.

All aspects of the college admission process in one-on-one advising sessions, you know, speaking of how competitive things have been in last year’s admission cycle, our students were actually accepted into schools like Harvard at three times, the national rate and accepted into Stanford. The 4.4 times the national rate.

So you can sign up for a free consultation with us by registering for a free web [00:54:00] [email protected] adviser.com and their students and their families can explore webinars, keep track of application deadlines and more. All right on the website. I’ve also in the chat and Q and a section, I’ve added a sticky note and you can click on that sticky note to get straight to our app so you can learn a little more, um, and, you know, check it out for yourself.

Awesome. So with our remaining four questions, let’s continue this, uh, four minutes. Let’s continue this Q and a session. Um, so a great question we got is, does leadership look like anything other than holding officer positions? Oh my gosh. Yes, yes, yes. Um, that’s it, it’s not a hard question, but I feel like I could spend a whole lot of time and people write books on leadership and what that means.

Um, I’m going to phrase leadership for answering this question in terms of, you know, how are you [00:55:00] owning your responsibility? How are you owning the experience that you have? So for example, you know, how you choose to, you know, spend your time, um, doing the right thing or. It’s not always the loudest voice in the room.

It could be someone who can really identify a problem and rally others around to work, to fix it. You know, it’s really sort of your, you know, Europe ability to, you know, whether it’s serving others, serve a greater purpose. No enough that when you speak, you’re speaking with an informed opinion, you know, it’s those skills that make a leader that’s that you demonstrate, and it being your day to day, um, or a project that you’re working on or in a class [00:56:00] discussion, that’s significantly more important than the title.

Great. Thank you. Um, another question we got is, should we add a section about future plans and goals on the resume?

Could, I mean, it’s particularly for that professional summary, you know, a lot of times people will put a, you know, interested in pursuing work that encompasses. XYC you know, different skills, different type of work environments, but it’s, it required. Absolutely not. Awesome. Um, so another question that we have is, um, should I list final exam scores for AP IB classes like that?[00:57:00]

That’s a good question. And I feel like people are going to answer that differently depending on, you know, who’s giving the presentation not a bad time, you know, it’s not a wrong place to put it. It’s never going to take the place of an official transcript. It’s never going to take the place of an official test score.

So I would say, know your audience, if it’s for admission. Put it on, if it’s for an employer, um, with the exception of your first job, um, where the, a lot of times they are going to want to see your GPA. They’re still validated by looking for it for requiring a copy of a transcript, but, um, that is a screening tool.

Um, but otherwise I would say it’s more about the experience or the, the potential, um, through the skills. Wonderful. Thanks so much, Rachel. [00:58:00] That is going to be the end of our webinar tonight. We had a really awesome time talking to you all about, you know, building a really great webinar, a really great resume for college admissions and how to kind of tackle, uh, the process each year of your high school.

Um, me. So, you know, we have more webinars coming up that you should definitely check out and thank you again to Rachel. Um, you know, this month we have some really awesome webinars from the pipeline, including, um, tomorrow, a Q and a with former admissions officers where you can. Any and all questions that you have about the admissions price process, um, to, to really awesome former AOS that we have on our team.

Uh, we also have next week of financial aid and fastball one-on-one webinar. Um, later in the month, the college major deep dive humanities panel and more so really you got to check it out and again, you can [email protected]/webinars. Um, all right, everyone. Thank you [00:59:00] again for joining and have a good rest of your.

Um,