“What I did on my summer vacation….”

by Jamie Grant, C ’98, GEd ’99

If your grade- and high-school teachers were anything like mine, you might have had to give a little “report” at the start of the school year with the title, “What I did on my summer vacation.”  This was always a nice way to learn about classmates’ adventures, but I’m sure forced many of us to struggle and think back over the loooong months of summer, trying to remember all that we had done and experienced.

I encourage you, should you be a returning undergraduate or graduate student, to go through the same exercise today – for the benefit of your resume.  Think back over the last three months, on all you have done, learned, achieved, or experienced.  Think of your outcomes and learning at your internship, or the adventures (and foreign language practice!) you had while traveling.  Consider the progress of your research project(s), or what you learned in the courses that you added to your transcript (or took for fun!)  If you volunteered, try to articulate the value you were able to bring to your organization and the positive connections you were able to develop with the people with whom you spent your time. 

Perhaps your summer months held a different kind of experience than I’ve mentioned, but regardless, do your best to consider how that might resonate with your career plans, and include it on your resume!  I know I personally am looking forward to reviewing many resumes in the coming weeks and learning about all the wonderful ways Penn students spent their summers!

Author: Jamie Grant

Jamie Grant is Associate Director of Career Services for the School of Engineering and Applied Science.