Do I Put My FIRST Experience on My Resume?

YES!!!

(shouting implied!)

Whatever your FIRST experience is or was (Mechanical Lead, Business Team, Non-Tech member, Animator, Presenter, Team Member, Mentor, Volunteer, Helper), it is ALL applicable to a work environment.

Let’s think about it. Did you:

• Accomplish tasks that were given to you?
• Problem solve?
• Work within a budget?
• Meet deadlines?
• Work in a group situation?
• Have a positive attitude?
• Learn new things?
• Participate in group activities?
• Support team members?
• Communicate within the team and the community/world around you?

These are all considered soft skills in the employment world. And I guarantee that whatever level of participation you have with FIRST, you have exhibited these skills. FIRST is real-world experience and should be presented as such on your resume!  In order for a team (business) to run, team members must collaborate on the project at hand. They must communicate with their group of experts; Mechanical, Electrical, Pneumatics, Carpentry, Chassis, Gears; need to all come together to solve the problem as a whole. Let’s not forget the business aspects such as Sales, Marketing, Accounting, Funding, Writing, and Design.

So, when you are describing your FIRST experience on your resume, keep these 10 soft skills in mind and focus on how you exhibited these behaviors and write them out in detail.

_______________

Learn more from Ilene here and  catch up on all the blogs in this series:

• Do I put my FIRST Experience on my Resume?
• Do I put my FIRST Projects on my Resume?
• Use Action Verbs on Your Resume!
• GPA... add it to your resume or not?