Resume/CV

What is a resume?

A resume is a document that sums up your skills, experiences and accomplishments so a potential employer can quickly see whether you are a good fit for a position. In the college admissions process, a resume can be helpful to further highlight the activities, leadership roles and other experiences you have earned throughout your high school career. This helps the admissions committee to get a better sense of the ‘real’ you as an individual outside your academic classes. In addition, we are finding that more and more companies and universities will ask for a resume if you are applying for summer internships, research courses, volunteer programs, jobs, etc, so having a fully-formed resume is a beneficial piece of your college applications.

What should a resume look like?

Resumes don’t all look alike, but there are some general guidelines:

• A student resume should preferably be no longer than 2 pages.

• A student's resume should look professional- check your spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.

• A resume is much easier to read if it is organized and less "busy", in other words, don’t use 4 different fonts at 6 different sizes.

• List the dates and locations for each activity you list on your resume.

• There are many different formats for how to organize a resume. Feel free to look at sample resumes templates and find one that works best for you based on your experiences.

• List experiences (e.g. schools, honors/awards, activities, community service) in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent to the most distant.

• Be honest in the experiences you list and in the descriptions you give.

What typically goes on a resume?

Customize sections according to your own set of experiences. For instance, if you’ve done a lot of music activities, make a “Music” section and list all related experiences. Or if you don’t have any school leadership, remove that section.

Sections that are typically included in a resume include: 

Name and contact information

• This typically goes at the top of the page so colleges/employers know exactly who you are and who’s resume they are reviewing

Objective or summary statement (Optional)

• This can be an optional component for a student resume. If you do decide to include it, it typically is a statement that explains what your overall objective or goal is for your university experience (if using a resume for your college applications) or for the position you are applying for (if using a resume for a job/internship, etc.).

• Most TASIS resumes do not include objective nor summary statements.

Education background

• As you continue to study, the education section of your application will continue to grow. For now, just list all the high schools you have attended (including TASIS). Include your expected graduation date .

• Include qualifications earned such as your US High School Diploma (all TASIS students earn this) and GPA. Some students will also list IB Diploma or AP courses or single IB courses in cases where you are not working towards an IB Diploma. 

• If you have taken any college courses for credit you can also list them here.

Honors/Awards

• If you have Honors or Awards, such as school / regional / national / international academic honors earned then list these here. 

• As relevant, you can also list major competitions won or where you placed highly.

• Also list any other special recognition that is not listed elsewhere.

• Examples include AP Scholar, TASIS Semester Honors, Awards from the End of Year Awards Asssembly, presenting at a conference, etc.

School Leadership

• As relevant include opportunities where you had a leadership role. If your roles are outside of school then the section title could be changed to "leadership."

• Some examples of these roles are: prefect, student council, TASIS Ambassador, Service Ambassador, House Leader, etc.

Extracurricular Activities

• This section is where you can highlight all of the activities that have been of most importance in your high school career. List everything you have done in and out of school counts!

• While a resume is a chance for you to highlight important ways you have spent your time, it also should not be a list of 60 different activities you may have done for just 2-4 weeks. These are activities that you have been committed to for the past 3-4 years and areas that you have held leadership roles (athletics, student clubs, theatre, student government, etc.)

• Here are some examples of types of activities that can be listed:

  • Clubs: Medical Society, MUN, POCA, Pride, Bolivianos, etc.

  • Music / Dance / Art: Different genres / forms; instruments played / singing; organized groups (e.g. band, orchestra, dance troupe); exams taken, etc

  • Sports: School teams / clubs / national or international levels / recreational. Be sure to include the level (Varsity, Junior Varsity, etc.), position played, tournaments attended, any noteable team or individual accomplishments.

  • Personal Projects: Building your own video game, writing a book, etc.

  • Online courses: If you did not list these under education, then include them here. Examples are Coursera, edX, FutureLearn and others listed on our Online Learning Opportunities document. 

  • Self-taught subjects / activities: Coding, languages, musical instruments

  • Summer Programs: See our Summer Planning Guide for inspiration

  • Hobbies: Crafting, reading, etc.

  • Religious Community Duties

  • Home duties: Caring for sibling, etc.

Work Experience

• This section can also be optional if you have not had the opportunity for any work experience as a high school student. You would include full-time or part-time jobs.

• You can list anything you’ve accomplished that can show skills of responsibility, reliability, maturity, etc. Examples of this are starting your own business, helping with family business, etc.

• Instead of ‘work’ experience, you could title it ‘professional’ experience and highlight job shadowing experiences you’ve done, babysitting, summer jobs, internships, etc.

Community Service / Volunteering

• Include those activities where you were not paid. 

• Look back at your records for CSP and/or CAS. Be sure to include descriptions of what you did and the time involved.

Skills

• This is a section to highlight any other miscellaneous skills that don’t fit elsewhere on your resume. Some examples are below:

  • Languages: What languages do you speak/understand and at what levels?

  • Computer / Digital: Google Apps, Microsoft Office, Adobe products, programming languages, etc.

  • Technical: e.g. welding, fixing cars, construction, computer repair, etc.

  • Writing:  Different styles / genres, e.g. newspaper articles, short stories, comic books

  • Speech and debate: Different styles, e.g. extemporaneous speech, or parliamentary debate

  • Artistic: Which media can you work with? With which types of paint do you thrive?

  • Musical proficiencies: Can you read music? Play five instruments? Sight-read?

  • Data analysis: HTML, SQL, Data visualization, Javascript, Python, etc.

  • Certifications: Lifeguarding, scuba diving, project management, programming

Tips for Activity Descriptions

• Use active verbs that describe exactly what you did. Examples: managed, organized, created, budgeted, maintained, coached, produced, written, presented, scheduled, built, etc.

• Be as specific as possible in describing your accomplishments / duties. 

• Include numbers to illustrate your accomplishments and time dedicated. For example, state how many hours per week; weeks per year you did an activity; number of students in the club; amount of money fundraised, etc.

• Avoid using the first person. Instead of “I managed…”, write “Managed…”

• Be consistent with verb tenses.

• If you started and ended an activity, use past tense. If the activity is ongoing, use present tense.

Additional Tips

Tailor your Resume

Be prepared to adjust your resume for different applications. While this might not be as applicable for submitting to colleges in the regular admissions process, for jobs and internships this might be necessary. Create an initial resume as a model and then edit it to build a new resume for future job/internship applications as needed. Don’t forget to keep adding new experiences and skills to your resume as you progress.

Watch your Writing

The way that you write your resume is important! Generally, resumes feature clear, short descriptions for each of your activities listed. You can write these out in full sentence form or you can also bullet point information to describe your role and involvement in each event. No matter what you choose, you should be consistent with punctuation- match verb tenses and use strong, acting verbs such as ‘developed’, ‘performed’, and ‘organized’ to start each sentence/bullet point.

Please use the Resume Templates page to help get started with your resume/CV. The College Counselors will also cover this material in the Future Pathways Course, including sample resumes.

Further Resources

College Essay Guy's Epic List of Verbs

University of Texas - Strong Action Verbs 

Sample Resume

Here is a sample resume that includes the points mentioned above