Extant Jobs - The Thursday Dispatch
Want a six figure job in business or tech? You've come to the right place.
This past Monday (4/8) some readers noted that our curated weekly jobs report was undeliverable, which we traced back to a Substack technical issue. If you haven’t had the chance to look at Volume 13, you can view it here:
🚨 Sneak Peek 🤫- stay tuned for a specialized Extant Jobs Board coming soon 🚨
Continuing with our resume writing deep dive, in this edition, we’ll focus on education, skills and interests, before we get to the biggest and most important piece of your resume: your experience.
Education
Focus on Post-Graduate Education
List your most recent degree at the top of the education section, and continue this trend in reverse chronological order
Remove your high school if you are in College, as it's assumed that you graduated from high school if you're enrolled in College
Save the space for higher-impact information. However, consider including high school if you have no or limited work experience.
Do not include relevant coursework unless you are not majoring in a relevant field for the job you are applying
For example, if you are applying for Investment Banking roles but are majoring in Biology, this is an excellent opportunity to show that you still have the necessary prerequisites for a job
GPA, here are some general rules of thumb
If you are still in college, include your GPA if it is above 3.5, or if you have a significantly higher major GPA than your overall GPA
If you graduated less than 1 year ago, only include your overall GPA, and only do so if it is above 3.5
If you graduated more than 1 year ago, include Latin Honors, if applicable
Highlight Your Accolades
For any school listed, use bullets below to highlight any awards. You may need to briefly explain the significance of the award if it isn't well-known (i.e. Fulbright Scholar vs. a University Award)
You can include involvement in student bodies here or in the next section; it helps demonstrate that you're a team player
Include Relevant Certifications
Include relevant certifications or online education – be sure to tailor this depending on the job you are applying to
This is a spot for relevant certifications or licenses
Example: CPA, Series Licenses, CFA, PMP
Skills, Awards, & Interests
Use this section to highlight additional information relevant to the role, tailored to the job description. For example, if they're seeking someone with strong teamwork skills, can you highlight any clubs, boards or volunteer work you were involved in?
Highlight Skills
Here is a place to show skills you want to call out outside of your job experience and education
For example: Excel, coding languages, or SQL, and of course, foreign languages
Where relevant, identify proficiency level (Conversational Spanish or Intermediate SQL)
This is not a place to include anything not relevant to professional roles, i.e. restaurant certifications or skills you wouldn't want to be tested on
Show a Little Personality
Feel free to show some personality. What are your interests? Keep it to one line and try to keep it relevant to the job (e.g., if the company is looking for someone creative, highlight your music hobby)
Again, be truthful and be prepared to discuss your interests! If you say reading, be ready to talk about a recent book you read.
Avoid overly generic words like cooking, exercise, or travel – qualify!
“Travel” vs “Travel (Attempting to visit all 30 MLB Stadiums)” is much more inviting and interesting
Other Tips
This is a great spot to highlight how you go above and beyond for a role or embody company culture
Were you selected to conduct company interviews, did you volunteer to be on a speaker panel, or did you lead a club or initiative outside of your day-to-day role?
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