A. Resume Development
LO 8: Communicating effectively in speech and in writing
The entry contains two resumes: the resume I submitted for application to the program and a current resume following completion of the SDAD 579 Capstone course. The juxtaposition of the two resumes illustrates the professional growth I have gained during my time in the SDA program.
This entry demonstrates my ability to communicate effectively in writing my professional competencies, skills, and knowledge base. I demonstrate an understanding of honesty & transparency in professional writing, an ability to recognize and speak to what is missing, and an ability to take the audience’s perspective to improve clarity.
Association of College Personnel Administrators (ACPA). (2010). Professional competency areas for student affairs professionals.
The entry contains two resumes: the resume I submitted for application to the program and a current resume following completion of the SDAD 579 Capstone course. The juxtaposition of the two resumes illustrates the professional growth I have gained during my time in the SDA program.
This entry demonstrates my ability to communicate effectively in writing my professional competencies, skills, and knowledge base. I demonstrate an understanding of honesty & transparency in professional writing, an ability to recognize and speak to what is missing, and an ability to take the audience’s perspective to improve clarity.
- Honesty and transparency. My resumes speak to my professional life, and represent myself and the work that I have done accurately and comprehensively. In developing my final resume, I struggled with condensing my experiences into a few short bullet points; I discovered that I really want my resume to speak for itself, yet I realize I must rely on my resume only so much in the job search process. The resume is meant to be combined with a cover letter and interview, and I cannot reasonably expect my resume to ever wholly represent me as a professional.
- What’s missing? In developing my current resume, I discovered that I must also find balance in representing who I am as a professional and who I am as an academic. These two roles have always been intertwined for me, and I find that now I must sometimes downplay my interest and excitement in research and speak more to my professional experience and skill. As this resume is intended to be submitted for my job search, I must remember to maintain this balance and not deviate too far to one side. In recognizing that my resume does not represent all of who I am professionally, I must be able to speak to gaps in experience. My first resume had gaps in working with students over an extended period of time, and in my final resume I was able to demonstrate this experience and knowledge. My current resume reveals gaps in working with students in a counseling or advising context; because I am looking to enter into a position where these skills are central to the job, I must find ways to address this gap through my cover letter and interview. The ACPA/NASPA Professional Competencies list ten key competencies that student affairs professionals must demonstrate in their knowledge, skills, and attitudes in their work with students. In examining this list, I believe my resume addresses briefly most of these competencies; the one competency that does not easily come across, and that I feel the least comfortable speaking to, is “Advising and Helping” (2010).
- Perspective. Throughout the process of developing my current resume, I needed to take the perspective of potential employers in order to ensure my resume was readable, cohesive, and not overwhelming. I sought feedback from my summer internship supervisor in Career Services, Emily Christian, who gave me helpful feedback in terms of tailoring my resume to tell my story in different contexts. I altered formatting to draw more attention to job title rather than location and moved my “research and assessment experience section” to the middle of my resume; I did this in order to demonstrate what is important to me as a professional in terms of access to education, the experiences of underrepresented groups in higher education, and a commitment to assessment-driven interventions. I also changed my headings to reflect stronger language and capture different dimensions of my professional life.
Association of College Personnel Administrators (ACPA). (2010). Professional competency areas for student affairs professionals.
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