From the course: Writing a Resume

Use awards to upgrade your resume

From the course: Writing a Resume

Use awards to upgrade your resume

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- Not everyone has won an award, which is why if you have, this is definitely a section you can use to upgrade your resume. Awards show that you are dedicated enough to stick to something and have been recognized for it. When it comes to your resume, deciding what to add and just how much to add can be difficult. An award in one industry may not matter at all if you are attempting to change into a different industry. The same is true for an award in your personal life that doesn't relate specifically to work. Whether or not to add personal awards to your resume will come down to three things. Number one is a determination about space. Your resume should not be longer than two pages, so, you need to determine if you have space on your resume to add this extra information. Adding it in italics below the job where you earned it will save you valuable space on your resume. You can include a bullet point that describes your award, the date it was obtained, the award title, and what it was for, if it's not apparent from the title. The second factor is relevance. Will a future employer care? Is this award relevant? An award for best creative design when you are applying for a job in marketing will definitely be relevant. But what if it doesn't specifically relate to work? Should you include it? Though you may have received an award for an accomplishment outside of work, every award demonstrates hard work and commitment, and those are traits that a future employer will value. The third and more difficult to determine is whether something negative can come out of disclosing personal information, meaning if you won an award of top five little league coach in the region, you have to decide if you want future employers to assume you have children, assume you won't be able to work late because you have to attend practices after work, and assume that coaching is a high priority for you at a time when they will want work to be your priority. That's not always fair, but that's how it is sometimes. This is why customization of your resume is so necessary. An award added to your resume for one job may not be appropriate for another. If you research the company and learn more about the culture, it will make these types of decisions much easier.

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