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Resume Tips & Samples

RESUME BASICS – Chronological Resume

  • Header
    • The header is the very top portion of your resume. It will always have your name, phone number and email, and if applicable your Linkedin and website URL. 
    • Your contact info should be listed underneath your name.
      • Ex. (000) 000-0000, sample@lawrence.edu, linkedin.com/in/sam-ple
  • Education
    • This section is where you list the schools you have attended and the degrees obtained. For first year university students, this section may include your high school’s name and any honors awards you’ve obtained while in high school. 
    • List the name of the school, where it is located, and your anticipated or achieved graduation month and year. Underneath this list the degree you obtained and the what you majored/minored in.
      • Your major should always be bolded on the resume
    • Underneath your school information you can list any honors or academic awards. This may include any Deans list achievements or National Honors Societies. 
  • Work Experience 
    • Here is where you list your work experience in REVERSE chronological order (newest positions at the top). 
    • For the job information, list the name of your position, name of company, where it is located, and the month and years you have worked there. 
    • Underneath the job information make 3-5 bulletpoints describing what you did for your position
      • Try to use keywords from a job position you are interested in. 
      • Good action words to start are: “assisted” “managed” “collected” etc. Try to stay away from words like “helped”. 
    • Only list job information that is relevant to what you are applying for. 
  • Additional Experience
    • This section is for any work information you don’t want to or need to describe, unlike your Work Experience section. This often includes clubs, sports teams and other extracurriculars. 
    • For the additional experience section, list the name of your position, name of company (or club/sport), where it is located and the month and years you participated. 
    • In this section you do not need to put bullet points underneath the job experience. 
  • Technological & Language Skills
    • If applicable, in this section you can list any technology programs you are acquainted with or languages you know.
      • Ex. Microsoft word. Fluent in French. 
    • Try to stick to programs and languages you know very well, instead of just putting down ones you are acquainted with. 

RESUME SAMPLES

  • Chronological Resume
    • The most standard form of resume. 
    • Highlights work experience.
  • Combination Resume 
    • This resume highlights your skills and classes rather than your work experience.
    • Use this resume when you may not have much work experience within the field you are applying for.

7 questions about the Career Center that you may have but are too embarrassed to ask

What can the Career Center help with?  The Career Center has Career Peer Educators (or CPEs) and Career Advisors willing to help you with resume building, job/internship searches, exploring life after Lawrence, and more. CPEs can help you with general resume, job searching advice, and how to use platforms like Handshake and Viking Connect. Meanwhile, Career Advisors can offer more specific advice about careers and planning for graduate school.

Where do I even begin? If you don’t have a concrete idea on where to start in the career exploration process, the Career Center can help you get started! Just make an appointment and we will walk you through the Career Center resources and help you identify your career exploration goals.

I just made an appointment, how do I prepare?  You don’t need to stress about preparing for your appointment. For resume review appointments, we can help you get started if you’ve never written a cover letter or resume, or you can bring a current draft to review during the appointment. For other appointments, it’s helpful to make a list of your questions so that we can be sure to cover everything within the advising session. We will always meet you where you’re at!

What is Handshake?  Every student has a Handshake account and you can log in using your Lawrence credentials to register for events, search for jobs and internships, and schedule appointments with Career Advisors and CPEs.

What is Viking Connect? Viking Connect is Lawrence’s alumni networking platform. It is a lot like LinkedIn but it only includes Lawrence students and alumni, and the alumni are ready and there to support you! Connecting with alumni is a good way to conduct informational interviews with people in your potential fields of interest. For example, you can ask alumni about a day in the life of a molecular biologist, or ask how a research and development role with a corporation might look different from academic research. There are even templates to help get you started with networking.

Do I need to use a Handshake account *and* a LinkedIn account *and* a Viking Connect account?  Having a Handshake account is essential for receiving updates from the Career Center and because it is how we schedule appointments. LinkedIn and Viking Connect are centered more around networking. It is highly recommended that you have all three so that you don’t miss out on potential opportunities for career exploration.

I am an upperclassman and have never been to the Career Center – is it too late?  It is never too late to schedule an appointment. The Career Center and its resources are open to you while you are on or off campus, and you can even schedule an appointment after you graduate!

Adapted from Barbara Espinosa’s ’20 (CPE) list of questions that her friends had about the Career Center.

Julia Ammons ’22 is a Biology major and Anthropology minor with interests in the natural sciences and museum studies.

Raisa Fatima ’23 is a Physics major with interests in research related to Physics and/or engineering.

Tips for Gaining Experience in a Pandemic

1. Finding Summer Research:

  • Ask faculty members if they have funding for research and are planning to continue their research over the summer. Since Lawrence’s campus is relatively safe and the research is usually highly individualized, it is a good way to improve research skills. It might not be possible, but it doesn’t hurt to ask and apply.
  • If on-campus research is not possible, ask if it is possible for faculty to connect you with someone they know and be sure to follow-up with them.
  • Search for off-campus research. Handshake and pathwaystoscience.org are good places to start. The National Science Foundation funds research known as Research Experiences for Undergraduates or REUs. Additional organizations include Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education and Los Alamos National and Laboratory.
  • The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has its internship listings here if you’re interested in working in these fields.
  • If you’re interested in pursuing research related to ecology, Harvard has a summer research program. Find details about the program and its application process here.

2. Searching for Remote Projects:

Try finding a mentor who is willing and able to help you with a remote project. This involves doing the research project away from the research site or office. Most work these days requires more and more computational skills and given the prevalence of the pandemic, remote work is a good way to improve these skills if in-person research is not possible. A good way to look for mentors includes asking faculty, as well as reaching out to alumni on Viking Connect.

3. Improving Computational Skills:

  • If none of the above options are possible, improve your computational skills on your own. Try practicing with different data analysis software other than Excel through self-study or online classes.
  • A good way to learn coding is to do projects that connect to your hobbies. For example, if you enjoy music, a potential project idea could be coding an Arduino to sing a specific song .
  • Lawrence may fund the purchases of some licenses if you ask. Check to see if this is possible.

Raisa Fatima ’23 is a Physics major with interests in research and engineering. She works as a Career Peer Educator for the PHN career community so if you’re interested in anything PHN related, or you just need some general advice on anything professional development related like resumes, cover letter etc. you can schedule an appointment here.