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Resume Content

It’s time to translate your communication abilities, experience, skills, and strengths into a strong resume for any position or program you’re applying for. Employers only look at each resume for about 6 seconds so it’s important that your resume is tailored for each application you submit it for. Employers use resumes to get a deeper understanding of your skills, strengths, and experiences to decide if they want to interview you. Check out this quick video to learn our formula for writing strong bullet points:

Transforming a Weak Bullet into a Strong Bullet

Let's see how we can use this formula to turn this generic, vague bullet point into a strong, action-oriented bullet. Here's the formula from the video for reference:

Generic Bullet Point

Texas Public Health Student Organization, Events Coordinator

• Responsible for organizing events and panels.

In this example, it is not clear what the candidate did to organize events and panels, what skills they used, or what kind of events and panels they organized. These details are important for distinguishing you from the rest of the applicants.

Strong, Concrete Bullet Point

• Plan and coordinate panels on public health for audiences of 25–50 undergraduates on a bi-monthly basis.
• Identify and contact health professionals in the community to participate in panels.

Designed Instagram posts, digital flyers, and banners to promote campus public health fair, resulting in 500 attendees and over $10,000 raised.

Our Analysis:

• The first bullet point clearly highlights organizational skills. It also lets the employer know the scope, target audience, and frequency of the events.
• The second bullet point indicates research and interpersonal skills that were used to secure panelists and demonstrate the ability to communicate with professionals outside the university.
• The third bullet point highlights a specific business skill and the ability to be strategic in marketing, as well as familiarity with using social media for marketing purposes.

Now employers reading these new, strong bullet points will better understand the student’s unique qualities. The quantified details also add depth and credibility to the student's skills and experiences.

Extra Resume Content Tips

• Use strong action verbs: Check out our  list of strong action verbs to pick from.
• Include numbers: Quantify your work and achievements where possible. 
• Avoid acronyms: Not all employers are aware of all companies, methods, or various UT offices you have worked with. Avoid acronyms to give your resume context and clarity for your readers.

Should I include high school experience on my college resume?

A good rule of thumb for including high school experience on your college resume is to remove it by the start of your 2nd year at The University of Texas at Austin. Employers are most interested in the experiences you’ve had in college, but there are exceptions to every rule. Make an appointment with a CNS Career Coach if you have questions.

Example Bullet Points by Experience or Position

Here are some more examples to give you an idea of how different flavors of experience are reflected based on a particular position:

“Redesigned Internet and intranet pages (Java, C, C++, and HTML) and used SEO best practices to optimize website for search engine rankings and improved functionality of company database.”

What more help with describing your technical experience? Check out our guide:

Strong Bullets for Technical Experiences

“Initiated and developed community workshops and used survey feedback to increase event attendance resulting in education of 120+ attendees per event.”

“Processed and analysed samples from over 1,000 mouse embryos resulting in a peer-reviewed publication on the embryonic development of lung tissue.”

“Initiated and led weekly meetings with team members to plan project and assign tasks resulting in project being completed 2 weeks early.”

“Arranged new merchandise with signage and appealing displays that encouraged customer sales and moved overstock items.”

“Prepared semester and yearly budgets of $5000+, kept track of expenditures and profits, and wrote grant proposals to secure funding.”

Overall, writing strong, specific bullet points can make a huge impact on the employer who is reading your resume because they will be able to imagine you in your past experiences. We understand that writing strong bullet points can be tough! If you get stuck, look on JobHero for examples of how other people wrote bullet points for the same job titles. However, just be sure to ignore all JobHero's resume formatting advice.

Want More Resume Help?

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Resume Guide

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A resume represents an essential component of the job and internship process. Commonly required with an employment application, a resume is usually a one-page document that summarizes an applicant's professional background, skills and accomplishments.

Resume Guide  |  Crafting Bullet Points Guide  | Writing Bullets | Incorporating Keywords |  CV to Resume  |  Applicant Tracking System Resume  |  Military Skills Translator  | Custom LinkedIn URL Federal Resumes: Writing a Federal Resume | USAJOBS Resume Builder

These pre-formatted templates allow you to insert your information into a structured, professionally designed template. 

Job Templates:  First-Year Student  |  Traditional  |  Business  Academic:   Undergraduate CV  |  Law School Admissions

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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN APPLICATION

Everything you need to know about the university of texas at austin expanded resume.

UT Austin takes a holistic approach when evaluating applications, carefully considering all components to get to know each applicant as an individual. While grades and the transcript are crucial, the expanded resume is one of the most important parts of the UT application after academic performance.

Since space to describe activities is limited on the Common Application, the expanded resume allows students to provide comprehensive details on their extracurricular involvement, accomplishments, and experiences in a way that lets their personality and the impact they've had shine through. UT admissions officers place substantial weight on the expanded resume to assess an applicant's fit for their first-choice major and potential contributions to the UT community.

The expanded resume is basically a list of every experience a student has had that will help the admissions office get a sense of who they are as an applicant. UT expects that these resumes might run three to four pages—or even more—so instead of just listing titles and dates, students should describe their activities, define their roles, and elaborate on their specific experiences.

This gives students a chance to highlight all their experiences: academic, extracurricular, professional, and personal. And it means they can show off their accomplishments in a more detailed way, which enables them to clearly demonstrate their fit for their first-choice major.

WHAT'S INCLUDED ON THE EXPANDED RESUME?

In a word: everything .

There's a reason they call it expanded—UT wants students to list everything that might be even remotely relevant to their potential at the university. All extracurricular involvement starting with the summer before ninth grade should be included. Here are some examples:

• School clubs
• Sports (school or community)
• Arts and performance (school or community)
• Community involvement or service
• Independent academic activities
• Awards/recognition
• Career-related exploration

In addition to extracurricular activities, students should highlight every activity related to their intended major, including academic classes. For example, students might list classes they took in high school that directly relate to their first-choice major and highlight important class projects and the skills they learned from these endeavors.

If it’s done outside school hours and isn’t related to assigned classwork, routine studying, or leisure activities, it's fair game.

Need help with your UT Austin Application?

You might be interested in our 1:1 Coaching Program for Students Applying to the University Of Texas at Austin

How Should You Organize The Resume?

The expanded resume is unlike a typical professional resume in that it provides much more comprehensive detail. No need to be concise here. In fact, the expected length for the expanded resume is three to four pages, though five to six pages may be acceptable for students with a great deal of involvement.

So how do you organize pages and pages of activities? For starters, remember that organization in the traditional reverse chronology setup isn't necessary. We recommend students organize the resume to highlight activities that align with their first-choice major or that showcase in-depth involvement and engagement. For example, students applying to the McCombs School of Business would list any of their business endeavors and business-related internships toward the top.

Typical Sections

If your student is struggling with how to organize their expanded resume, here are some typical sections to get them started:

Extracurricular/school-related activities

This is where the student would list any school clubs or independent projects they worked on: everything from acting in a school play to participating in student government to leading study sessions for classmates.

Volunteer work/community service

Here, students should list the experiences they've had in their community. Whether it's an extended volunteer commitment or a one-time community service event, it's worth listing. Just remember: if all the student's activities are one-offs (meaning that they've served only a few hours at several different organizations), this might demonstrate a lack of depth of involvement. If that's the case, it might be best not to include a section devoted just to community service.

Internships/work experience

This is a great spot to highlight experiences that will demonstrate fit for the student's first-choice major. Even if the internship/job itself doesn't match up perfectly with the desired major, there are sure to be applicable skills that the student has gained during the experience. Think outside of the box.

Summer programs

Anything a student does during the summers is fair game, as long as it shows a passion for something—and some motivation (no video game marathons). This can include sleep-away camp, academic programs hosted by universities, mission trips, or even independent projects completed over the summer.

This is the recommended section for honor roll distinctions, school awards, or honor societies, including National Honors Society or Mu Alpha Theta. In general, students shouldn't waste too much space on the awards section. Include a brief description of the award only if it's unique or the reader wouldn't be able to infer its significance. For example, "High Honor Roll, Valley High School" or "Most Valuable Player, Lacrosse" are self-explanatory; "New Vision Award" isn't.

Themed Sections

Another way to organize the resume is thematically. This can be helpful if a student doesn’t have a host of awards or community service experience—instead, it highlights the experiences they do have.

Here are some examples of themed sections:

• Internships
• Business endeavors
• Theater and dance
• Social justice/community organizing
• Independent research
• Computer programming

Remember, students should create themed sections that best showcase their experiences. This is just a starting point.

The college essay & resume for UT Austin process can feel overwhelming. Our program provides an experienced coach and a proven framework, working one-on-one to reduce the stress so the student can tell a compelling story.

Our program for students applying to UT Austin includes:

• Guiding students through the UT expanded resume development process
• Managing your student’s essay timeline for one long essay and four school-specific supplemental essays
• Coaching students through a targeted set of college essays, including one long essay  and four school-specific supplemental essays
• Providing students with suggested edits and proofing for this targeted set of college essays
• Review of essays and application by our internal admissions committee

Your student will be carefully matched with a coach based on personality, working style, and first-choice major—it’s just one of the many ways we modify our proven process to meet individual student needs.

HOW SHOULD STUDENTS DESCRIBE EACH ACTIVITY AND ACCOMPLISHMENT?

UT’s preferred formatting involves listing grade level, hours per week/weeks per year, and position titles (especially if they’re leadership titles). For example:

Captain of the Canton High School Basketball Team 

4 hrs/wk - 20 wks/yr 

Grades 11, 12 

Formatting it this way will also make it easier when it's time for the student to describe their activities on the Common Application activities section since it requests this same information.

Of course, it doesn't stop there. The point of the expanded resume is to list as much information as possible about the activity. Below the basic information, students will include a bullet list—using active verbs—that expands on the activity with information that the reader couldn't glean from the title.

The most important thing to remember is: go beyond the obvious .

For example, if a student is describing their involvement on the basketball team, the reader will know that they attended practices and games, but nothing else goes without saying. Even if the student lists themselves as captain, the expanded resume is the place to say they were elected captain by their peers. And remember: some accomplishments expand beyond the activity itself. For example, maybe the student was the only basketball player to work with the booster club on a special fundraising project.

As the student is describing their experiences, they should highlight special projects or leadership positions, but they shouldn't leave something out just because it seems tangential. Here's an example to show the kinds of notes a student might include:

An activity note:

Captain of the XYZ soccer team        5 hrs/wk        11, 12

An EXPANDED statement:

• Elected (or Assigned) position
• Arrive early and work with coach to get practices started
• Mentor new team members
• Assist with equipment
• Lead warm up drills

In the end, students should remember this is their resume: they have the freedom to present it in whatever way they feel best highlights their strengths, accomplishments, and fit for their first-choice major.

REGISTER FOR OUR UPCOMING WEBINAR

Thriving in the UT Austin College Admissions Process

July 24th at 6:00 pm CT

How UT Reviews Applications

UT Austin has a special way of looking at applications from students who want to go to their school. It's called the fit-to-major model, and it means that they look at everything in your application—your grades, test scores, essays, resume, and recommendation letters—to see how well it matches up with the major you want to study. They really want to find students who have shown that they're interested and good at the things they'll be learning about in their major. They also want to see that you've done things outside of school that relate to what you want to study.

Choosing the right major is super important because it's the biggest part of your application. UT Austin wants to see that you understand why you picked your major and how it fits with what you want to do in the future.

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University of Texas AI ChatBot

Receive personalized, 24/7 advice in any language to navigate the UT application process and complete a strong application. This free resource is utilized by thousands of students each year. Give it a try!

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