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If you go to Bentley and have taken CDI101, you have a resume. Hopefully, you even have a good one. The common problem that early resume development causes is that, with the combination of utilizing a template and not having a lot of experience, many people’s resumes end up looking very similar. Most student resumes will have these basic categories:
- Contact Information
- Education
- Work Experience
- Leadership Experience
These are all great, important, and usually necessary to include. However, if you can shorten any of those sections or don’t have enough information to fill them up, there are some other great categories that you can put on your resume, including:
- Awards and Honors
- Volunteer Experience
- Certifications
- Projects
- Hobbies and Interests
- Extracurricular Activities
- Associations
- Publications
- Languages
- Skills
Why use uncommonly-seen resume categories? There are several great reasons.
First, it distinguishes you from your competition by making your resume more personalized to you and your achievements. Additionally, a section like “Hobbies and Interests” can start an amazing side-conversation during an interview and get you that job. These non-required sections are often crucial in creating a more personal connection with somebody you are talking to. Don’t be nervous to break the status quo of a traditionally-formatted resume if it something else makes more sense to you! Adding a little bit of spice into your resume may be one of the best things for your professional development. To read another great article that breaks this down further and provides free templates for you to get started on playing around with resumes, click here.
