I had the pleasure of attending an ALPFA meeting/workshop. I originally attended this workshop for resume building long before I realized it would come in handy and be acceptable for a future blog post. The main purpose of this visit to the workshop was because I needed help with my resume for my upcoming job application. As an incoming freshman, I was told to have a concrete resume that would help me stand out; even if the content of the resume itself wasn’t as “elite” as that of the upperclassmen with their advanced experience. This was perfect because the workshop i had attended focused directly on how to stand out in a pool of applicants with an amazing resume for ANY job. The workshop leaders and mentors emphasized the fact that “a well written resume goes a long way.”
A majority of the class was also spent on how to make a concrete resume. I was able to learn that this meant keeping things concise. A well written one page resume will do wonders. I forgot one of the mentors name but she explained what skills to add that are considered more valuable than just “place-holders” on a resume. I found this portion of the workshop tremendously helpful because I was doing the complete opposite of what the workshop suggested not to do. Under the “skills” section of my resume I had listed irrelevant skills and tried to make them sound “scholarly.” After the workshop I realized that having “place-holders” in resumes can be detrimental, regardless of whether or not they “sound professional.”
Walking out of that particular workshop, I had learned so much new information. Even little things such as times and dates (that i originally thought were not significant) and how important they are. Another major thing that i learned was “uniformity” throughout a resume. This also factored into the appearance, as they suggested that the resume look coherent and uniform as well. For example, indent all similar subcategories or similar points within a section evenly.
Overall i am glad i went to the workshop. I was able to completely transform my resume and delete the unnecessary sections, which helped make space for my future opportunities acquired from Baruch.