For resumes in these fields, you want to demonstrate that you care about issues and are committed to affecting change. The advice here will help you demonstrate this!
- Your WashU education is your most important qualification – it goes at the top. Include your GPA if you’re proud of it. (Include Dean’s List here, too!) Your high school can come off as soon as you have other experiences that fill the space; the earlier, the better. If you’ve done a study abroad, list that here.
- Include relevant coursework. Keywords matter and this is a great way to demonstrate experience and familiarity with issues. Use this section to demonstrate breadth or depth. Stick to upper level courses and don’t include course numbers.
- Formatting matters – but don’t get too fancy! Good formatting demonstrates an attention to detail and a respect for your readers’ time. That said, don’t make it too fancy – columns and special fonts can wreak havoc on algorithms. Other pro tips: put your name in the header. Don’t include formatted hyperlinks or allow lines with just one word; those draw your readers’ eye unnecessarily. Use white space strategically and don’t adjust the margins too much.
- Placement also matters. If recruiters only spend six seconds reviewing your resume, they’re not going to make it to the bottom of the page. The top 1/3 is the most valuable real estate – be sure to include your most formative experiences there. Use subtitles creatively to achieve this.
- Focus less on tasks, more on impact. In the fields of policy and advocacy, what you care about and how you make a difference is your most important qualification. Characterize the mission of the organizations you’re working with and how what you did contributed to it.
- Include keywords that demonstrate your exposure to current issues. When conveying your work in a Congressional office, instead of saying “answered constituent calls”, include the range of topics you were required to address, eg. “answered constituent calls on veterans benefits, access to mental health resources and US support for Ukraine.”
- On-campus experiences are relevant. Since what you care about is a key qualification, these experiences are a great way to reflect that! Be sure to explain what “Uncle Joe’s” or “SIR” is to a non-WashU audience – and quantify the scale and scope of experiences. Student Union allocates a lot of money; Thurtene attracts a large number of people, etc. We recommend characterizing these experiences under a subheading like “community engagement” rather than “leadership.”
- Show rather than tell your skills. Some resume formats encourage you to list your skills and you end up with a list of keywords like “attention to detail, excellent communication skills, public speaking…” While this might work if an algorithm is searching for keywords, once a human reviews it, the list doesn’t say much. Better to reflect these skills in context.
- Keep it to one page.* You may want to keep a “master resume” that is more than one page and tailor which entries you include to the job to which you’re applying. But as a college student, you do not need to go beyond one page. Take the time to write concisely and clearly and format thoughtfully to demonstrate an understanding that your reviewers’ time is valuable.
- *Unless it’s a federal resume! Federal Resumes are different – and changing. Pay close attention to directions and use a resume builder if it’s an option, as it will ensure that you fill in all the required fields. Formatting matters less.
