Writing Resumés Daniel W. Blackmon Coral Gables Senior High

Why Do You Need a Resumé? You need a Resumé in order to: –Apply for college admission –Apply for a college scholarship –Apply for a job

Your Resumé will probably be your first opportunity to create a positive impression. It should be well-organized, accurate, up-to- date, and should look professional.

I will expect to see a copy of your Resumé one week from today.

Typical Organization Personal Information Goals Education Experience Achievements / Awards References

Organization for College Applications Personal Information Goals Education Academic Awards / Achievements Extracurricular / Service / Leadership Activities References

Personal Information Full Name Address Telephone Number(s) Address

Goals Example from my own Resumé: –To continue to work with students in the International Baccalaureate program; to continue to grow professionally and academically and to impart my enthusiasm for knowledge to my students as well as to encourage them to grow socially as well as intellectually.

Education At this stage of your life, this will be rather short. You want to make certain that you are a “diploma candidate in the International Baccalaureate magnet program at Coral Gables Senior High.”

Education Add the title of your Extended Essay. (or you could put this down in Academic Awards / Achievements.)

Education Be sure to include the school’s address, telephone number and fax number: Coral Gables Sr. High School 450 Bird Road Coral Gables, FL Tel Fax:

Academic Awards / Achievements Now you can organize your achievements and awards. Include your current GPA –IB students tend to have very high GPA’s in the Dade system. You may have a higher GPA than a competitor with a much higher class rank. Include your current class rank

Academic Awards / Achievements Provide SAT and PSAT scores Provide AP and IB examination scores

Academic Awards / Achievements Group your achievements / awards around the subject areas. Re-arrange your achievements / awards with your strongest area first, and descending down to awards in your weakest areas.

Academic Awards / Achievements Last, lay out your senior schedule. –Language A –Language B –Individuals and Society –Mathematics –Experimental Science –Fine Arts / Elective

Academic Awards / Achievements Be sure to indicate Higher Level or Standard Level in your IB subjects! –Don’t abbreviate with HL or SL. Spell it out and avoid all chance of confusion

Extracurricular / Service / Leadership Activities Begin by listing all school clubs and activities, then go on to do the same for your extracurricular activities. You should be keeping track of your service hours and CAS hours anyway. –If you aren’t, begin today!

Extracurricular / Service / Leadership Activities Try to be comprehensive: you are applying to some very competitive schools and for some very competitive scholarships. Indicate service hours, and include sub- totals for general categories Indicate all leadership activities.

Extracurricular / Service / Leadership Activities List –Clubs –Sports –Hobbies –Volunteer Work –Youth Organizations –Religious Youth Groups

Extracurricular / Service / Leadership Activities Colleges like to admit well-rounded students. Try to show them that you are not one dimensional. –Unless, of course, you are one dimensional!

Work Experience List any jobs you have held (that is, any job for which you have been paid.) Indicate how long you have held the job and how many hours per week you work.

References Colleges often specify a letter of recommendation from a Language Arts or Social Studies teacher and a Math or Science teacher. If the college asks for a letter from a counselor, include a letter from a teacher in addition to the counselor’s letter.

References Please remember that no teacher gets paid one dime to write you a letter of recommendation. Ask teachers politely. Give teachers adequate time to write the letter.

References Admissions officers read thousands of recommendations. –A hastily written, pro forma letter not only will not help you. –Writing a good letter of recommendation takes time. I take two sittings over several days to write a letter. Each letter runs 750 to 1100 words.

References Always supply the teacher with –Your Resumé –The Teacher’s Recommendation form –A stamped, addressed envelop –A note reminding the teacher when the letter is due.