I finally got around to updating my resume, I have a couple years' experience in publishing and new media type of stuff, and I've done some freelance web development. The hangup is that I spent a few years in a humanities grad program, and then left. Might finish the M.A., might not; but in any case I am not going back to school full time.
What is the proper way to gloss over the fact that I spent two years going down the wrong path, and a third year being kind of lost?
― dar1a g, Wednesday, 27 July 2005 20:32 (twenty years ago)
If I have one year of technical industry experience in my field, is it out of line to have a 1.5 page resume instead of a one-pager?
Also, should I relax resumé lengths when submitting to electronic sites since they rely on keyword indexing?
― I'm Hi, Jared Fogle (ex machina), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 20:39 (twenty years ago)
2. I run to two pages, and it's hard to keep it down to that. Go to a second page if you have too much important and good stuff for one, and try hard to make two seem not too sparse.
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)
Martin's advice is OTM. There is really no value in lying anyway, and there's also nothing wrong with letting a potential employer know you got that grad-school thing out of your system.
Business careers are a continual process of figuring out how to continue to unspool a narrative that emphasizes your constant learning and growth.
― rogermexico (rogermexico), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)
quick tips- emphasize how competitive/selective your program was- let them know that you were exploring a career path you were passionate about, and learned enough to know it wasn't the right fit (frustrated by academia's purely theoretical approach, missed the ability to manage/work with teams)- demonstrate that you analyzed your position and are now taking action based on your insight (behold, executive material!)- explain how this action expresses your deep understanding of the concept of "sunk costs"-
― rogermexico (rogermexico), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 20:52 (twenty years ago)
I had some worry over what they would say about my not even having a fancy degree from Elite New England University, after all that work. But I can't help that situation now. I suppose the polite version of the truth is, that world is too isolating and the department itself was just a bad fit, which is nobody's fault really.
― dar1a g, Wednesday, 27 July 2005 20:57 (twenty years ago)
For dates: "1999-2002 (Withdrew)"? It at least suggests that there was agency on your part. What did you do next and how soon? To the extent there was a delay, maybe it would be good to be more general (month/season/year?) than specific about the grad school end date and next-step commence date (and adjust the rest of the resume to be consistent).
For narrative: something like "worked towards MA/PhD [or "doctoral degree" or "advanced degree"]," to make clear what your goals were, suggesting that the program ultimately did not meet them. To the extent that there were notable accomplishments along the way, highlight those, i.e. "producing Y and Z." In their absence, or additionally, make clear that you were directed on a more micro level, i.e. "with particular focus on A and B."
As for explanations, you save those for the interview and maybe also the cover letter (briefly, or even in passing).
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 21:01 (twenty years ago)
― Josh (Josh), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 21:03 (twenty years ago)
― dar1a g, Wednesday, 27 July 2005 21:07 (twenty years ago)
OTM. Closest thing I can imagine to a machine for producing depression in bright, engaged young people.
― rogermexico (rogermexico), Wednesday, 27 July 2005 21:08 (twenty years ago)
Oh, but I could go back and write a paper on Deleuze and how academe is a machine producing depression! And nobody would read it or care. Hahahahahaha.
― dar1a g, Wednesday, 27 July 2005 21:13 (twenty years ago)