Last Thursday, I participated in a resume workshop to go over the basic elements of a resume and what information should be put in it. While I already have a resume that I frequently update, it’s nice to go back to the basics every so often.

At the beginning, the participants of the workshop and I briefly discussed the difference between a CV and a resume, as the two documents hold different meanings despite sometimes being used interchangeably on applications for jobs and internships. We also touched on the purpose of resumes, as they can be used to help “sell yourself” to a hiring manager and give them a “snapshot” of who you are as an individual, before breaking down the individual elements of a resume (for example, education or relevant experience).

Part of the workshop included acting like a hiring manager by having every participant trade resumes with another person and the person leading the workshop giving us around 10-30 seconds to read them. It was interesting to see how people market themselves through their skills, classes, internships/jobs, and activities.

Although the workshop was mostly review for me, I still learned new information regarding how to present myself. I also met individually with the workshop leader after the event ended in order to gain more insight regarding how to improve my personal resume. I recommend that for future resume workshops, it would be beneficial to have a member from the Career Center help lead the workshop and provide examples of resumes in specific career fields, such as art versus engineering versus physical/social sciences.