Resumes and grad school

[kiki123]

Hello. I'm fairly green to this site as well as the graduate school application process. I plan on applying to six schools for my MSW, with a clinical concentration in mind. Most of these schools require a resume to be submitted with the application. I have been working on the resume recently, but I am not sure what I should include...other than the basic information. What do they generally look for when you submit a resume for this type of program?

[michigan girl]

Resumes should include at least an education section (degree, major, study abroad, scholarships, awards, etc.) and employment section (paid and unpaid work, extracurricular activities). If you have limited work experience, limit your resume to one page. It should not exceed two pages if you have under five years of professional post-BA experience.

Edited September 27, 2012 by michigan girl

[kiki123]

That was very helpful! Thank you.

[MSDubbs]

What michigan girl said is pretty much what I keep hearing as well. As far as I know, it doesn't hurt to have a related skills section, if those things will actually prove helpful and are truly related. I have a followup question actually...Michigan Girl, do you know if there is a 'cut off' to how far back any of your experiences should go?

I'm 3 years out of undergrad, and I know adding anything from high school would be tacky, but there are a few things from my first year of college and even a few things in high school that would otherwise be relevant and awesome if I weren't worried about the date attached to it. I have enough experiences following that so I don't think it would seem so tacky or like I was grabbing for anything that would 'sound good' or relate, but I'm not sure if you've heard anything either way...

[citychild]

This is the way my long resume is set up. I may switch things up before I submit my apps though.

Professional Profile (where I would put skills acquired from high school but not list them in the job sections)

Education

Field work experience

research experience

professional experience

volunteer experience

leadership

manuscripts under review

conferences

training

professional affiliations

[MSDubbs]

How long does your resume end up being with all those sections? If you're looking to clear up some space, you might be able to combine some of those sections. Conferences and trainings could probably be combined, and professional affiliations could go in your education section, for instance =)

[citychild]

A lot of the schools tell you what sections to include. For instance, I am applying to USC and they tell you what order it goes in.

MSDubbs - My resume is a constant headache. Right now, those are the sections on the long version of my resume but the short version can't be more than 2 pages so I have to cut sections out completely. I have a lot of experience, which is good, but a pain when there are page limits.

On a slightly unrelated topic -- What do people think about LinkedIn? Do you include a link on your resume to show you're part of it? Does anyone else use it? I have found it to be incredibly helpful.