College Interview: Good to Bring a Resume?

<p>It's appropriate to haveyour gpa/SAT/class rank on your resume when you're in high school or college.</p>

<p>Thanks Northstarmom. Are there any times you would recommend handing in the resume at the end of the interview instead of right away?</p>

<p>affle,
not entirely sure It's always the best move to wait until the end. I only have my own anecdotal evidence, but in both of my interviews I handed the information to the interviewer right away. (I just said "I've prepared some information about myself," since I didn't want to raise expectations by calling it a resume.) I think this establishes instant credibility with the interviewer by showing you were prepared. My test scores were also pretty good (35/mid 2200's), which my interviewer seemed impressed with. Although I have very little experience in this area, I would guess the first ten minutes of the interview are probably the most important, since a bad first impression will likely ruin an interview. Establishing yourself as professional by having the resume, and as smart by the information on the resume (be it GPA, SAT, class rank, or prestigious award) can be a big boost. Obviously you want to avoid the image of "forcing" the thing on him/her such as your experience at Duke, but In my extremely limited experience, I found that usually in the opening parts of the interview, the interviewer is quick to try to put the applicant at ease, and is usually friendly enough to be receptive. It's all just anecdotal evidence anyway, but I just wanted to add my two cents.</p>

<p>I brought one to my interview, and let the interviewer keep it.
While I talked about a majority of the things listed on the resume, it was still nice to present to him to show that I had prepared for the interview, and acted professionally.</p>

<p>And the resume was printed on nice resume paper, of course. =D</p>

<p>haha that reminds me of elle woods and her scented paper lol</p>

<p>I hope mine doesn't look too shabby- just plain white computer paper</p>

<p>My D set up her interview by email. She offered to email a copy of her brag sheet over beforehand, and the interviewer replied that he would love to have a copy. It does not include scores or GPA, just activities, at the recommendation of her GC. </p>

<p>The interviewer did not physically refer to it during the interview, but my d said it was obvious he had read it, and that it had been helpful in guiding the interview topics. He had questions about some of her activities, and of course, a piece of paper to refer to when writing his report. Offering to supply it prior to the interview seemed to be correct. An admissions officer from the school had suggested this, as well.</p>

<p>thanks riverrunner, I hadn't thought about emailing it before. That would save a lot of trouble (w/ the whole pursue, briefcase sitation) lol</p>

<p>Even if you e-mail it, bring it in a folder, portfolio, manila envelope -- NOT folded in your purse! Offer it at the beginning of the interview so the interviewer has the option of looking it over quickly at the interview's beginning so as not to have to waste interview time getting basic info about you. There also may be things on your resume that the interviewer is very interested in, but won't find out about or won't have time to go into if you offer the resume at the end of the interview.</p>

<p>Even if you e-mailed the resume, the interviewer may not have brought it, may not have been able to download it, may have forgotten to bring it, may have confused you with someone else, etc.</p>

<p>There is NOTHING wrong with bringing your resume. Doing so isn't something you need to hide. As I keep saying: If the interviewer doesn't want it, the interviewer doesn't have to look at it, but your bringing it indicates you're serious about the college and are mature, prepared and professional.</p>

<p>Put it on regular computer paper unless you're applying to an art school where, I assume, artistic presentation would be important.</p>

<p>The interviewer cares about the content of the resume. That's what's important.</p>

<p>And send a thank-you note! The fretting that's going over how to bring the resume, etc. would be better used by putting the same thought into sending quickly a thoughtful thank-you note. E-mail it if you don't have the interviewer's address. Otherwise, hand write it and mail it, making sure the interviewer's name is spelled right.</p>

<p>Trust me, this will make you stand out. Most students don't bother to do this even though -- volunteer or admissions officer -- the interviewer has done the student a favor.</p>

<p>I am an alum interviewer at a very selective university. I am quite surprised that in my ten years of doing interviews, that only one person brought me a resume. I found it quite helpful. My own children, now in college, brought their activity resumes to college interviews (in a folder, not folded in a purse). I am a college counselor and advise other applicants to bring their activity resume to interviews. As an interviewer, it is helpful and rather than waste time having them orally list all their activities, it is all right there and we can move on to discussing them more fully. It is also handy to have when they leave as a helpful tool when writing up the interview. The resume may get the interviewer to probe further. It can only help and definitely not hurt. I recommend bringing such a document. I wish more candidates that I interview would do this but likely many do not even have an activity resume. Also, none of the candidates I interview have written me thank you notes. However, my own kids always followed up interviews with thank you notes and I advise my clients to do the same. Put yourself in the BEST light. You have all to gain and nothing to lose.</p>

<p>PS....the Activity Resumes that I help applicants to develop do not include GPA or SATs.</p>

<p>Ali - Haha, scented paper. That's so neat. I like my resume paper, even if it was expensive when I originally purchased it for college essays and resumes for my applications. I don't know how much of a difference it makes when reading the resume/essay, but I think it gives a more professional look to it.</p>

<p>And as far as the folding it up in the purse thing goes, I just put my resume and the two other pieces of paper (and the directions to get to his house) in a folder and carried that along with my purse. Seemed to work out fine. =)</p>

<p>thanks :) </p>

<p>I did the folder thing today and it worked well. I felt a little jipped since the person only had 20 min (it was at her work), but she was very relieved considering we hadn't discussed much.</p>

<p>BTW, I gave it to her at the end. She actually asked me if I had anything to give her, but was surprised when I had a resume. Lol</p>

<p>Oops, sry for the double (now triple) post-- but tomorrow I also have an interview. I'll try to give it in the beginning and post how it goes!</p>

<p>Is it OK to have a 2-page resume? </p>

<p>I've won many national-level top awards and I have extensive extracurriculars activities (in a focused area). While I think my resume is far more effective on two pages than squeezed onto one, I wonder if it's categorically too long for a high school resume?</p>

<p>It's probably fine ecneics, and better than having to cram everything in. I used 11 pt font, but if changing the size and margins doesn't work either, I guess you should stick to 2 pgs.</p>

<p>It's fine to have a 2-page one for an interview or to send to colleges. For jobs, a one-page resume will suffice for at least the next decade.</p>

<p>I've brought resumes along to all my interviews and never once had to give it to them. It can't help to have it, though.</p>

<p>Northstarmom, could you expound on what you meant by "a one-page resume will suffice for at least the next decade."
are you talking about the difficulty of job applications increasing, or something else?</p>

<p>Personally, I believe that if an interviewer wants one, they will request it.</p>

<p>My daughter brought a brief, professional resume with talking points - not the full bells & whistles, but some stuff to talk about. She found that interviewers actually took notes on the resume and filed it in her file. She also brought a business card (both were printed off the computer) I think it's a good idea.</p>