So I feel like a total failure when typing up my resume?

[KDCat]

Make sure you are listing everything you do in your activities.

During junior year of high school, my best friend and I applied to National Honor Society. She showed me her resume and it listed one thing: swim team. She was all bummed out because she only had "one thing" to put on the resume.

I was on swim team with her, so I knew there was a lot more to it than that.

I took it away from her and redid it so that it listed everything that she did for swim team: lane leader for summer team, lane leader for winter team, all of the state meets that she was in and which ones she placed in, all of the national meets she was in and which one she placed in, her ranking as third best junior woman in the nation in the women's 100 butterfly (I could not believe she left that off), and the volunteer work she did with swim team in a program that teaches underprivileged kids to swim.

It wasn't just "one thing." That "one thing" was a huge commitment.

Later, when I was writing sorority resumes, I didn't just list National Honor Society. I listed all of the stuff our NHS did, as separate entries. We volunteered as babysitters for a teen mom support group. We raised money for the National Heart Association. We raised money for the United Way. We raised money for Thanksgiving food baskets for needy families. We raised money to put ceiling fans in the classrooms over the cafeteria at our school.

[DZsis&mom]

Originally Posted by KDCat

It wasn't just "one thing." That "one thing" was a huge commitment.

Where is the LIKE Button??? Perfectly said!!

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Originally Posted by KDCat

Make sure you are listing everything you do in your activities.

During junior year of high school, my best friend and I applied to National Honor Society. She showed me her resume and it listed one thing: swim team. She was all bummed out because she only had "one thing" to put on the resume.

I was on swim team with her, so I knew there was a lot more to it than that.

I took it away from her and redid it so that it listed everything that she did for swim team: lane leader for summer team, lane leader for winter team, all of the state meets that she was in and which ones she placed in, all of the national meets she was in and which one she placed in, her ranking as third best junior woman in the nation in the women's 100 butterfly (I could not believe she left that off), and the volunteer work she did with swim team in a program that teaches underprivileged kids to swim.

It wasn't just "one thing." That "one thing" was a huge commitment.

Later, when I was writing sorority resumes, I didn't just list National Honor Society. I listed all of the stuff our NHS did, as separate entries. We volunteered as babysitters for a teen mom support group. We raised money for the National Heart Association. We raised money for the United Way. We raised money for Thanksgiving food baskets for needy families. We raised money to put ceiling fans in the classrooms over the cafeteria at our school.

This is great advice. I used to be involved in hiring interns (sophomores and juniors in college). One guy that I hired worked at Random Chain Restaurant for two years in HS, then got a transfer to the Champaign location when he started college, and had been there for three more years, with increasing responsibility along the way. Something like that shows long-term commitment, good time management skills, and obvious value to his management.

[lovespink88]

Originally Posted by etadrisophila

For example, there are likely activities that you have been involved in that you did not even consider adding to the resume.

I look back to my middle school and high school days and even college days and realize that some of the things I had been doing were things that I could have named and claimed as activities worthy of a resume - had I acknowledged them as such.

Originally Posted by KDCat

It wasn't just "one thing." That "one thing" was a huge commitment.

This! I remember helping my brother make his resume when he was applying to schools. He left off some major things that are big parts of his life just because they weren't official school activities. For example, he gives guitar lessons but didn't think to include it. It's definitely something that he puts time and work into, so of course it should have been on there!

[Texas20_12]

Originally Posted by KDCat

Make sure you are listing everything you do in your activities.

During junior year of high school, my best friend and I applied to National Honor Society. She showed me her resume and it listed one thing: swim team. She was all bummed out because she only had "one thing" to put on the resume.

I was on swim team with her, so I knew there was a lot more to it than that.

I took it away from her and redid it so that it listed everything that she did for swim team: lane leader for summer team, lane leader for winter team, all of the state meets that she was in and which ones she placed in, all of the national meets she was in and which one she placed in, her ranking as third best junior woman in the nation in the women's 100 butterfly (I could not believe she left that off), and the volunteer work she did with swim team in a program that teaches underprivileged kids to swim.

It wasn't just "one thing." That "one thing" was a huge commitment.

Later, when I was writing sorority resumes, I didn't just list National Honor Society. I listed all of the stuff our NHS did, as separate entries. We volunteered as babysitters for a teen mom support group. We raised money for the National Heart Association. We raised money for the United Way. We raised money for Thanksgiving food baskets for needy families. We raised money to put ceiling fans in the classrooms over the cafeteria at our school.

Oh ok. This is helping me a bit because there are a couple of organizations that I once belonged to for years, but I dropped out yet I remained very dedicated to helping out and volunteering because I still loved to be apart of it. Its basically all coming to me, the little things. There are a few other ventures my friends and I hope to do together volunteer wise. They're simple, one time things but it involves a charity I'm really passionate about.

Thank you! Y'all are making it come together a bit more. There are some things I'm overlooking because I'm looking at the big picture.

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by Texas20_12

Oh ok. This is helping me a bit because there are a couple of organizations that I once belonged to for years, but I dropped out yet I remained very dedicated to helping out and volunteering because I still loved to be apart of it. Its basically all coming to me, the little things. There are a few other ventures my friends and I hope to do together volunteer wise. They're simple, one time things but it involves a charity I'm really passionate about.

Thank you! Y'all are making it come together a bit more. There are some things I'm overlooking because I'm looking at the big picture.

Rule #1 of participation AND resumé writing...learn to use "apart" and "a part".