What are the best activities to add to your resume?

As above. What are things you do or have done in your free time to add to your resume? What do you think the best kinds of stuff are?

Besides languages, we all know that.

Just looking for stuff to do in my free time to pad my resume.

Mine:

- Overseas courses
- Mentor programs for first years
- Competitions
- Scholarships

Sports always look great - rugby, cricket, boxing etc as does playing a musical instrument. Anything that makes you look well rounded.

Oh, practical experience and part time work - shows you can balance your studies.

I've always just listed activities that I have a passion in and that is about it. It seems that if you do something just for the sake of being able to put it on your resume that you will not have much to add in an interview...

scholarships, awards and grants should be listed in a separate section, with another section for languages

list activities that are either interesting and could grab someone's attention (alphine mountain climbing) or display some sort of skill - leadership, specialization or what have you. ie: Eagle Scout, etc.

I'm going back to school for a few courses so technically I'll be a student which means I can participate in student orgs and try to get scholarships.

I can also start mentoring. I've already done overseas studying so that's good.

Keep em coming I'd appreciate more ideas!

it realy depend on what type of career you are looking for.


sports are good, but frankly only those that fit the type of image you are trying to convey - marathon runner, climbing, boxing, those type of thing. tennis and softball don't really tell me much about you.

pulications, public speaking, officer posiitons in non-profits, that kind of thing is good.

real achievments - eagle scout, walked through the apalacian trail, that kind of thing

Well I'm going back to school part time to satisfy prereq's for an MBA program. So I just realized this weekend I'll have access to everything the university has to offer, including organizations and sports again. So I'm going to probably pick two organizations and one sport or something like that.

My cumulative GPA when I graduated last was like 3.05 which isn't that great, so I think I'm also going to retake some classes to bump some C's up to A's to get it up a few tenths. I'd have to retake 11 courses to get to a 3.5. But I can bump it up to 3.2 or 3.3 by retaking a handful of courses, and that's be a lot better than where it's at right now. Won't seem as bad when I apply for schooling or jobs then, plus then I can stay in school longer and participate in org stuff for longer.

Though I'll have a full time job while I'm doing all of this so it's gonna be a bunch of juggling.

EDIT: Lol, people mentioned sports and stuff, I did the tough mudder last year and I'm doing it again this year, does that count?

I would enjoy starting to do marathons/triathlons, though.

I'm also working towards getting my personal trainer license, I think that would be good to put on there.



Khayembii Communique said:

Well I'm going back to school part time to satisfy prereq's for an MBA program. So I just realized this weekend I'll have access to everything the university has to offer, including organizations and sports again. So I'm going to probably pick two organizations and one sport or something like that.
My cumulative GPA when I graduated last was like 3.05 which isn't that great, so I think I'm also going to retake some classes to bump some C's up to A's to get it up a few tenths. I'd have to retake 11 courses to get to a 3.5. But I can bump it up to 3.2 or 3.3 by retaking a handful of courses, and that's be a lot better than where it's at right now. Won't seem as bad when I apply for schooling or jobs then, plus then I can stay in school longer and participate in org stuff for longer.
Though I'll have a full time job while I'm doing all of this so it's gonna be a bunch of juggling.
EDIT: Lol, people mentioned sports and stuff, I did the tough mudder last year and I'm doing it again this year, does that count?
I would enjoy starting to do marathons/triathlons, though.
I'm also working towards getting my personal trainer license, I think that would be good to put on there.

Click to expand...

actually a tough mudder is great to put on. I'm not sure personal trainer is.


see, here's the deal, I want to see what you can do that applies to my world. being tough is good, wearing a leotard and getting a housewife to do sittups, not so much.

Varsity college sports, otherwise leave your 'athletic' pursuits off.



Khayembii Communique said:

Well I'm going back to school part time to satisfy prereq's for an MBA program. So I just realized this weekend I'll have access to everything the university has to offer, including organizations and sports again. So I'm going to probably pick two organizations and one sport or something like that.
My cumulative GPA when I graduated last was like 3.05 which isn't that great, so I think I'm also going to retake some classes to bump some C's up to A's to get it up a few tenths. I'd have to retake 11 courses to get to a 3.5. But I can bump it up to 3.2 or 3.3 by retaking a handful of courses, and that's be a lot better than where it's at right now. Won't seem as bad when I apply for schooling or jobs then, plus then I can stay in school longer and participate in org stuff for longer.
Though I'll have a full time job while I'm doing all of this so it's gonna be a bunch of juggling.
EDIT: Lol, people mentioned sports and stuff, I did the tough mudder last year and I'm doing it again this year, does that count?
I would enjoy starting to do marathons/triathlons, though.
I'm also working towards getting my personal trainer license, I think that would be good to put on there.

Click to expand...

I'd just do enough to get into grad school.

What is your job? Honestly if you cannot truly be an integral leader in a club, I wouldn't waste the time - being a part of an organization and just standing around at bake sales doesn't stand out, it seems that you really will not be able to get farther in such a short amount of time. Staying in school longer to participate and get a slightly better GPA doesn't seem rational to me at all; I'd find it would look better to be doing something more productive, just be able to explain why you may have done poorly during your undergrad.

I have a lot of friends who hire people in the business and consulting world (I work for a consulting firm); people want to see real achievement, commitment things of that nature; I would build on your passions and list those.

In the end, looking good doesn't hurt either.

globetrotter said:

actually a tough mudder is great to put on. I'm not sure personal trainer is.


see, here's the deal, I want to see what you can do that applies to my world. being tough is good, wearing a leotard and getting a housewife to do sittups, not so much.

Click to expand...

I'd throw tough mudder into the same category as triathlons/marathons/etc. so I agree that'd be good to put on.

Being a personal trainer is a business. I don't see how it would be a bad thing to put that I manage a small business in my free time on a resume.

Pennglock said:

Varsity college sports, otherwise leave your 'athletic' pursuits off.

Click to expand...

Why is that?

What is your job? Honestly if you cannot truly be an integral leader in a club, I wouldn't waste the time - being a part of an organization and just standing around at bake sales doesn't stand out, it seems that you really will not be able to get farther in such a short amount of time. Staying in school longer to participate and get a slightly better GPA doesn't seem rational to me at all; I'd find it would look better to be doing something more productive, just be able to explain why you may have done poorly during your undergrad.

Click to expand...

Well I'm going back to school anyways part time for nondegree work. I'm trying to transition into finance. I've been reading about investment banking which would be an overall goal but at this time I'm just trying to get any job in the field that could be helpful to that career path.

So I figure I should be doing stuff in my free time to make up for the fact that I have a ****** GPA at a no-name school and little experience in finance as a profession. I'm also trying to think of community stuff I could do but it's tough.

In the end, looking good doesn't hurt either.

Click to expand...

Just bought a new suit this weekend, made sure it would accommodate for another 5-10lbs of muscle gain.

I'm trying to line up some informational interviews with people at RW Baird and Wells Fargo this week, so maybe I can ask them for tips or see if they'd get me in contact with whomever the hiring managers are.

If anyone works in this field, either in a role where you would be reviewing resumes or otherwise, I'd appreciate it if you could PM me and we could talk more about it!

leave your athletic pursuits off if it's something like that -- most people don't know what it is, and it's not interesting enough to defeat the inherent bragginess of it.

i would say in 99% of cases nobody cares about college clubs, unless it's a huge club and you're a leader, but it seems you won't have the time to get to that level

also, not ot be dickish, but why is your resumes so sparse that you have ROOM for this ****? much more important to fill it up with awards and jobs.

It's not it's just that I wasn't the greatest student in college, and all of the jobs that I have been working at since then were pretty **** because I essentially took what I could find. All relevant degree jobs, but still terrible.

Maybe I should hit up my university career center for a resume review instead of posting about this on here...

Yes, take your ball and go play somewhere else.