The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

bennyandboo wrote:Hello,

I was working on my application and I was confused about the two questions underneath the attached resume in the Professional Experiences which asks for the name of Employing Organization and Service (with the choices Army, Navy, Air Force or other DoD Facility). It sounds to me as if they're assuming I am military personnel, but I'm not. Also, there are red stars by both questions so they seem to be a requirement to answer. Could somebody tell me what they mean so I can answer them correctly? Thank you!

I think you may be filling it out as a retention applicant. Double check you've selected recruitment.

Hello,

I was working on my application and I was confused about the two questions underneath the attached resume in the Professional Experiences which asks for the name of Employing Organization and Service (with the choices Army, Navy, Air Force or other DoD Facility). It sounds to me as if they're assuming I am military personnel, but I'm not. Also, there are red stars by both questions so they seem to be a requirement to answer. Could somebody tell me what they mean so I can answer them correctly? Thank you!

Ok here are some points that I hope could help you or any others out with their resume:
1) Attaching your resume is almost always beneficial. I personally used it to say things that I had not included in my application fields already. This made it so that when they read my resume comparatively to my application they continually learned new things about me rather than it droning on and being repetitive.
2) You want to keep most things short, sweet, and to the point. Literally no one going through the 1000s of SMART resumes/applications (at least my SF said they literally sorted through ALL the semifinalist applications SMART sent to them) wants to read paragraphs of fluff.
3) As guest01 stated, no objective statement is necessary and they already gave a good explaination as to why.
4) I also agree to build your own template. That will give you the best advance to manipulate the resume so that all important details you want will fit properly. Also most template are very tacky, but that doesn't mean it can't be a starting point from which you adjust. Also avoid color/pictures/big fancy initials/etc. unless your going into for example graphic design where creativeness is a key asset which you want to show off.
5) You can always submit a CV instead of a resume if you need it to be longer than a page but CVs are typically extremely technical for when you need to include research experience, work experience, published papers, and more if you have a large technical background already. CVs will typically not have non-technical experience on them though.
6) Where I slightly diverge from guest01 is what to list as work experience. Personally I did list non-technical jobs (only since I had room though) since I wanted to show that I worked almost full-time while remaining in good standing with my school, BUT you probably don't need to go into any details for those. Where as for your two STEM related experiences it could be beneficial to list actual accomplishments you achieved while there rather than just your responsibilies (like if you made an IT process more efficient). Bullet points work well for this.
7) If you have room under education it could also help to list specific courses that have taught you applicable skills for a future career.
8) If you have ever heard of LaTex I would highly recommend it. It is a great way to keep documents looking professional and personally I learned how to do practically anything with it all from Googling so it's not too difficult to pick up.

Hope this helps but disclaimer these tips are only from my personal experience of what resume style got me interview/offers and which didn't even earn me a phone call. Every HR department or review board will have different opinion on what constitutes a great resume and you can't hit the nail on the head with everyone.

Here are some of my notes:
- Definitely include the resume. Don't worry that you don't have much *relevant* experience. You're just a freshman- no one expects you to be a Nobel prize winner.
- This might just be me, but what stood out to me most was your tennis experience. Captain and MVP for two straight years, plus a sportsmanship award? That's pretty cool :)
- Resumes are typically one page, especially for those without much experience (like yourself). There's no need to explain what a Food Runner or IT Help Desk or IT Manager Intern does, and doing so with the kind of language you have used makes it seem like so much more important than it actually was. I'm assuming a lot here and I might be wrong, but to put it bluntly you probably just delivered food, changed some printer toner, and used Windows Update. Nothing wrong with that for your first jobs, but it seems rather audacious to give it any more than a brief mention by title.
- The Volunteer/Leadership section kind of just blends together in my eyes - it just looks like one big block of text. It's good content though, so try to find another way to organize or format it so that you can distinguish between experiences. Doing something as simple as bolding or underlining the name of the experience might do the trick.
- It looks like you used a template, which is kind of tacky. Spend some time in Word to make it your own.
- An objective statement may not be necessary. In my view they're only useful if the opportunity you're looking for is specific, and different from what might be suggested by your major and experiences. In your case, you're a CS major, you have IT and programming experience, and you're looking for any CS-related internship. This all follows logically, and since you don't single out any subfield in particular (aside from your concentration), I'd recommend taking out the objective.

I always attach resumes just in case, so I think you're making the right decision. I PM'd you with suggestions

Hello again, I was getting my application ready for submission and as I was double checking each category in my application I second guessed my initial decision to not attach my resume. I know that my professional experiences in relation to Computer Science are far and few between, but I feel like my resume speaks to the leadership and strong work ethic that I have always had. I have attached an image of my resume, I colored over some of my personal information for my own anonymity. I would love to hear some of your suggestions, Thanks in advance!