Sample Student Resume for Music Graduate School Admission - Critique
Brought to you by ResumeEdge — the premier resume writing and editing service on the Web.
About this Sample Resume Critique
In this sample resume critique, the certified professional resume writer at
ResumeEdge explains
the process of creating the client's "after" resume from the client's "before" resume.
So that you may easily compare them to judge the quality of
ResumeEdge's work,
both the "before" and "after"
sample resumes are linked below. They are also linked from the Sample
Resumes page.
Sample Resume Critique
Dear Janice ~
Because your resume is being used for admission to a graduate
program, I condensed your material from a two-page into a one-page
document. A one-page resume is the industry standard.
After carefully studying your academic and professional background,
I chose a
"Student" resume to best display your qualifications to an admissions
director. A student resume is used when one has superior academic
achievements, but little to no work history.
Given your music background, I further formatted your resume so
that it would look elegant. To that end, I placed your name flush
left, increasing its size until it stood out from the rest of the
text. I placed your most important contact information (phone number & email)
above the line and your physical address below the line.
I began your resume with a brief "Qualifications" section in which
I summarized and emphasized those qualifications I felt would most
interest an admissions director. To begin, I wrote of you as a
Graduate Candidate (since the resume is being used to secure admission
to a graduate school), then wrote of your solid academic background
in Music, including a Teacher's License (this expresses your dedication
to academics).
I next wrote of your linguistic capabilities."bilingual with fluency
in Japanese and English." Then I wrote of your volunteer history
and your proven leadership skills as the president of the Alumni
for Women's University-High School Alumni.
Please note: Due to space considerations, I was unable
to add your membership in the Catholic Church choir. I felt its
inclusion did not warrant the resume going to two pages.
Next, I made mention of your solo performance with the University.
This gives an admissions director a good idea of your activities
and musical expertise. I then ended this section with your computer
skills.
With your outstanding academic record, I listed that section next
(along with Licensing and Honors), organizing the data so that
all of the courses you took at the Women's University are listed
under that heading.
Also, I put your schooling in reverse chronological order, which
meant that the HIGH Academy listing comes after the Women's University
College of Continuing Education, rather than Georgetown University
as you had it.
Next, I listed your Professional Experience. Here, I began each
bullet point with the strongest action verb possible, while also
rewriting the text for clarity and conciseness.
For example, you wrote:
"Filed documents about CEO's work and reports from staff."
I revised that to read:
"Update and maintain files." (Because you're the CEO's secretary
it's understood that it would be his files you maintain.)
For the next section, I chose to list your internships. These
are far more informative for an admissions director, than your
volunteer experience.
Again, due to space considerations, I was forced to condense your
volunteer experience. After reading the bullet points in your old
resume, I concluded that much of what you did as a volunteer was
in an administrative assistant / secretarial capacity that does
little to impress an admissions director. Better to condense this
material than to risk the resume going to two pages.
All decisions to modify or exclude data were in keeping with the
guidelines and standards set forth by the Professional Association
of Resume Writers (PARW). With this resume, you now have a powerful
tool that's well organized and filled with pertinent data, while
also being aesthetically pleasing.
It was a pleasure serving you, Janice. Best of luck in all your
future endeavors.
ResumeEdge Editor
Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW)
Let
ResumeEdge give
your resume and cover letter an edge!
|
