College Resume...I am having difficulty understanding the exact formulation

Competencies

How do these sound? They are ind of generic to me...
-Academically Prepared
-Community Focused
-Dynamic Leader
-Goal Oriented
-Self Aware

Education

High School, , New Jersey 2007-2011
Class of 2011

Volunteer Service

Hours
FTHS Octagon Club 5
Habitat for Humanity 24
Missionaries of Charity 64
Monmouth County Food Bank 25
New Jersey Tree Foundation 12
Northern Wales Restoration Project 20
Pinwheels for Peace 10
Relay For Life 14
Saint Anthony Claret Clothing Bank 10
Special Needs Carnival @ St. Aloysius Church 12
Youth Group Related Activities + 440

*volunteering took place over the course of 4 years Total: 636 Hours

Activities
St. Aloysius Youth Group 2006-Present
-Activity Coordinator
-Young Adult Leader

People to People Student Ambassador 2007- Present

Octagon Club 2009-Present

DECA
-1st Place Overall - Hospitality and Tourism 2010

Howell Point Swim Team 2010
-Most Valuable Player

Simple Faith Leadership Award
-exemplary involvement in the community and demonstration of leadership qualities in and out of school

some notes:
you don't have to bullet each quality. and on the actual resume, that wastes space. About your spacing, don't overdo it. spread the sections out evenly. Back to "competencies," those seem fine for college.. Other possible things, humor/ability to work with others

About your school, you could specify any special/honors programs if those apply. also consider placing your GPA if you want/ deem it respectable

About volunteer hours, you don't have to place ALL your activities onto paper. However, all those charity related hours do look nice < they all have a theme.

O. Activities, you can take this place to elaborate more about what you did as a leader or what those activities are. Could also be a bit, but not overly, informative about what you did.

What is DECA?
I'm guessing for the last three, those "-..." are awards/honors? Leave a section for those aside from Activities to make it look cleaner.

If you still have room to fit this all in ONE page (the usual length of a student resume..with some margin formatting/font adjustments) add hobbies at the end, what position you are looking for at the front, ie. Under/graduate studies in ___ Major (if applicable) at a four/two year university/college.

Last thing, but I guess it should be the first, make sure your name/contact info is clearly visible. up top or somewhere nice. i like the top.

Cheers

edit:


I like it ^^ humor

yes, be sure to keep in mind what type of readers you are expecting.
It would be good to check out some of the free samples that are available on legit website.

"The Purdue Online Writing Lab" for one, has lots of great tips not just on resume but the whole package of personal statement writing, college paper writing, etc. Google it!

and good luck with college application.

Well, the competencies section IS kinda generic... You read Dilbert? No offense, but its the sort of words that would turn up on Buzzword Bingo :P

If I were an admission's officer, these competencies would be something I'd have seen a bajillion times already.

IMO, I think these sort of qualities are expected for any college applicant... you may want to add more unique qualities... are you a Quirky Intellectual? Or maybe a Effusive Egghead!

...So maybe I'm not the best at making this sort of stuff up on the spot, and it might be a bit too informal. But you get what I mean, yeah? Try to write something that stands out, which the admission's officer can remember you by ("You remember the quirky intellectual?" sounds more likely than "you remember the goal oriented guy?")

If you are talking about the first list, it is generic because it sort of has to be when you make a list like this. It is a case of telling rather than showing. On people's resumes they often write things like, "Highly motivated self-starter with the ability to communicate well and blah blah blah, but that means little before the claims are backed up.

You do back up the claims, though, when you SHOW by giving the list of accomplishments and activities, etc.

I like Varchas's idea of having interesting terms instead of common ones. Really, I would avoid the common ones if possible. Also, looking at online examples is a great idea for sure, Shun-Wen Wu. This turned out to be a valuable thread that I bet will benefit a lot of people!

So, anyway, Ryan, I would look at some examples and templates if I were you.

What should you include on your resume?

Hey guys,

I'm updating my resume since its been a while and I'm finally on the look out for a job again. I was wondering how you might include information that can appeal to a boss that doesn't just sound like a list of information. So I have the basics now: education, extra curricular activity, previous jobs, references... Is there a unique way I can include information that makes my resume stick out?

Well that could depend on the job. Make sure to write in a way that builds your character and do not write in a passive voice.