As a senior you might think that your resume and graduate school applications are already in the “gemstone” family.   You’ve worked hard to be selected for that competitive internship you completed this past summer; you’re learning about and using cutting edge software in your current Information Systems class,  and you now even possess intermediate language fluency in Spanish (because you finished Spanish 201 last spring ). 

Yet, how much of this recent or current activity has made it to your resume, cover letters or graduate school applications?   Updating, editing and refining these important documents is critical as you enter the final stages of your academic career at UMBC.

Where are you in the application cycle?

• If you have already applied –

Have you contacted each of the schools to confirm that your application has been received and considered complete?  A friendly and polite call (just one) to an admissions representative to confirm the status of your application eliminates ambiguity and demonstrates your capacity to follow through on important projects.  

• If you are about to apply – 

Are you confident that all of your written materials have been proofread multiple times by a series of trusted individuals?   Pulling an all-nighter and submitting applications hours before official deadlines is a recipe for disaster. A structured, conservative timeline with realistic goals for output and revision is the most advisable strategy.

While your resume will always be a work in progress, many students wait until the last minute to make updates and often overlook important items such as:

• team projects they have led;

• minors, second majors or certificates they will be earning; 

• all relevant transferable skills clearly described using action verbs.

BONUS LINK:  Read more about those action verbs here.   

Many students underestimate the value of skills they have developed through part-time and summer jobs and extra-curricular leadership roles, such as customer service, managing budgets and handling money, and following safety & security protocols. 

Many UMBC staff and faculty members are ready to help you buff and shine your entire portfolio for maximum visibility and impact.  Consider taking advantage of “Walk-in Resume Critiques” sponsored by the Career Center (every day from 2:00pm to 4:00pm) – Room 212 in the Math & Psychology Building. Here is a link to more helpful information about resumes on the Career Center website. 

We encourage you to take advantage now of the resources and strategies that can make a difference in where you will be going and what you will be doing after graduation.  And there is no more valuable resource than the investment of your own time.  Consider this point from 19th century American poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson:

NOTE:  Ironically, Emerson also said:  "I hate quotations.  Tell me what you know."  

Read career guru Don Asher’s short and punchy article on resumes here. 

Who do you turn to when you need that extra-careful review of your resume and application materials for graduate school or jobs?