Beginning your journey of social entrepreneurship or starting a career in social impact can be daunting, especially when you feel pulled in many directions by many passions — even more so for those with a diverse set of interests. As a new and dynamic field, social innovation can often take you to very different industries and sectors from where you first started out. Social innovation is truly interdisciplinary, so it’s ok (and oftentimes even better) if you have explored many areas in the process of pursuing a lifelong journey to create social impact! Whether you are looking for your first nonprofit internship or you’re an industry veteran, you are the changemaker who has something unique to contribute to the mission of improving our world…
Everyone has a story; from volunteer experience, to leading a community event, or participating in a project for social good, you have gained skills that our world needs. It’s about how you utilize your distinct toolbox that matters. Identified your passion and ready for a meaningful career that makes an impact, but not sure where to begin? Here are some quick tips from PIM to help communicate your mission and make your experiences shine when applying for your next step.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR RESUME
Your resume serves as one of your first introductions to employers, so you want to make it count!
STEP 1: IDENTIFY EXPERIENCES THAT WILL HELP YOU REACH YOUR GOALS
Look at open positions at organizations you are interested in.
1. What kind of candidate are they looking for?
2. What are the job requirements?
3. Do your experiences match the job description?
4. What experiences are necessary to be hired for this position?
The point of the exercise is not to find your next job; it’s to expose gaps in your current experiences so you can work towards filling them. This means you will be prepared when it comes time to apply.
STEP 2: ACTIVE LANGUAGE
Use action verbs and quantify your experiences.
If you managed social media — how many followers did you have? Did you see an increase in your online presence? If so, by what percent did your viewership increase? Tangible experiences make you stand out!
STEP 3: HIGHLIGHT TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
Do your best to highlight unique skills you can contribute to the position. Organizations are always looking for experiences that can add to their existing team dynamic!
STEP 4: CREATE DIRECTION IN YOUR RESUME
One way to create direction in your resume is to use section headers to divide and organize your experiences.
Headers can range from a certain concentration such as Volunteer Experience, Community Involvement, Arts and Culture, or International Development to expertise in a particular region.
Try to pick headers that are both relevant to the position you are applying for and at the same time true to your experiences.
STEP 5: EMPHASIZE IMPORTANT ITEMS NEAR THE TOP
The average employer spends about 6 seconds looking at your resume. Be concise and emphasize your key points…
STEP 6: KEEP YOUR RESUME TO ONE PAGE
It’s best to confine your resume to one page, even if you’ve had a multitude of meaningful experiences and achievements. If you’re having trouble cutting down your resume, remove unessential, older experiences that don’t demonstrate why you’re the perfect fit.
If an experience was particularly impactful, expand upon it in your cover letter or interview!
STEP 7: KEEP YOUR EYE ON DESIGN
Pick a clean design for your resume.
While having eye-catching colors and fonts might seem like a fun way to stand out, simple is always better. Choose a professional design that allows your experiences to speak for themselves!
There are a plethora of resume templates out there developed by professionals that allow you to input your own information and tailor the design to your own taste. Also, make sure to check with your school or university’s career development center to see if they have any quality examples.
STEP 8: FINALLY… ALWAYS SEND YOUR RESUME IN PDF FORM!
Everyone has different word processors. The way to guarantee that everyone views your resume the same way that you do on your own computer screen is to print to PDF.
Now that you know how to make your resume look great, it’s time to go and gather those experiences that will make it truly unique!
Are you looking for a way to gain valuable, tangible, and meaningful experience in the social impact space?
Do you want to enter the social impact and philanthropic space, but not sure where to start?
Are you passionate about innovation for social good, but not sure you have relevant experience? PIM is here to help!
MODEL FOUNDATION
YALE CENTER BEIJING
7-day immersive program on venture philanthropy and social innovation in China.
For university campus leaders, early-stage intra/entrepreneurs, & community builders.
PIM’s summer programs give you the chance to immerse yourself in an international context while learning unique skillsets that can be used in a variety of fields, including negotiation, impact analysis, design thinking, and more. Consisting of three different track options, our summer training are designed to transform rising leaders into highly effective changemakers passionate about social innovation and venture philanthropy.
Organized with the support of strategic partners such as the Yale Center Beijing as well as community partners ranging from local social enterprises to nonprofits, we provide rising global leaders and change-makers with the skills, networks, and funding to advance scalable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.
