What Constitutes First Generation Status?

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>Slightly misplaced as I already graduated but I am wondering about this for resume purposes. Can I declare myself a "First Generation Student"? Should I phrase it as "First Generation to Graduate"?</p>

<p>Both of my parents went to community college. My father transferred to a Uni but dropped out without a degree. Their brothers both have graduate degrees. One grandparent attended a uni but never finished though he was certified as a Professional Engineer(usually requires a degree) by exception.</p>

2

<p>Your parents and grandfather went to college. Though they did not attain bachelor’s degrees, they attained others. As far as I am aware, this makes you neither a first gen student nor a first gen graduate.</p>

3

<p>Look at your college’s website. Some schools have different qualifications for first generation. For instance, Virginia Tech considers a student whose parents never attained a 4 year degree, regardless of the education of the student’s grandparents. I’m sure some schools have slightly different variations (I.e never attained any degree at all or taking into account the grandparents)</p>

4

<p>It is not something that would not really have any relevance on your r</p>

5

<p>First generation is considered when both your parents have not competed their bachelor degrees. I’m considered first generation and my mother has enough college credits for her AA. My sister has graduated and I’m still first generation.</p>

6

<p>It depends on the school/scholarship. Some ask whether or not your parents got a post-high school degrees, others whether or not they achieved a bachelor’s or equivalent, others still whether or not they took any college courses.</p>

<p>It should NOT go anywhere on your resume.</p>

7

<p>This isn’t relevant for resume purposes. Don’t put it on your r</p>

8

<p>Why would you even need to put that on a resume?</p>

9

<p>You might put that on your resume as a sign of accomplishment.</p>

10

<p>Why has a first generation college graduate “accomplished more” than a n’th generation college graduate?</p>

<p>I really don’t think that’s going to matter very much to an employer.</p>

11

<p>No one said that first generation college students accomplished more than other students. But a kid that graduates college who comes from a family with no history of having achieved higher education can think of herself as being the first one in the family making a significant advancement in education. That’s an impressive achievement.</p>

12

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<p>They can think of it as an impressive achievement all they want, but it still isn’t relevant to put on their resume. A resume is supposed to be a succinct snapshot of relevant skills and work experience that demonstrate why they would be a good candidate for the position they are applying for.</p>

<p>No one said that it isn’t something they should be proud of, but it’s not something that is appropriate to put on a resume, nor would it give someone a leg-up on competition, unless they are applying for something (like a scholarship or something) that is geared specifically towards first generation students.</p>

13

<p>As far as I’m concerned, that status is really only important as a “hook” for college and for scholarships.</p>

<p>I must admit that it was highly frustrating for my when going off to college to realize that my “achievement” of graduating high school and going to college wasn’t as important as others because my father graduated college. If you look at my family, you’d see that I am the only grandchild of 11 on my mother’s side to go to college and my mother and I are the only ones to have graduated high school. (Both of my grandparents are drop-outs, my aunts, uncles, and cousins… all drop outs.)</p>

14

<p>Being the first person in your family to graduate college is definitely something to be proud of. I never tried to suggest it wasn’t. But being a first generation student is something that goes well on a college application, but is completely irrelevant to an employer. They want to see that you have the necessary skills to perform the job.</p>

15

<p>None of them graduated or attained degrees. I explicitly stated that. The closest thing is a professional accreditation. </p>

<p>My resume on the whole is “strong” by most standards though it does have a few blemishes here and there. From a purely monetary perspective I outearn the majority of recent Ivy League grads and have better hours and working conditions. I lack the same opportunities that one might get in banking or consulting though. I’m fine-combing through things and thought it might be worth it to mention that I worked more or less full-time hours while going to school and had a knowledge deficit going in.</p>

<p>I want to weave it into a story. I’m applying to some fairly “elite” employers. Think BB IBD and MBB.</p>

<p>I only have a 3.5 college GPA(below average) and my ACT was only a 33(barely at the threshold). I graduated a few months ago and am currently a senior analyst at an F100ish tech firm where I’m doing relatively high level work. I’m currently being groomed for eventual promotion to management. Prior to that I had 6 jobs/internships - 3 at F500s. My family had virtually 0 influence on any of this and did not act as good mentors as they lacked knowledge or worse yet had WRONG knowledge.</p>

<p>I think it’d strengthen my story to point out that I initially had no idea what I was doing until my junior year and had to frantically rush to make up for lost time. If I had a better idea of how the system worked(read, someone sat down with me for 1 hour and explained things when I was 16 or I went on this site), the GPA would’ve been a bit higher and my resume a bit stronger and the school I attended a top 25 instead of a top 50.</p>

16

<p>That sounds like one big excuse. Don’t do that. Focus on your strengths. Not “Well if my parents had gotten their bachelors, I would’ve…” “If I hadn’t been so clueless, I would’ve gone to a better school…gotten a better GPA…better internships.”</p>

<p>You could say, “I could have if this didn’t happen…” all you want but your employer will not care. Why? Because it didn’t happen. They want to know what did happen, how it shaped you, what you gained from it and so on.</p>

17

<p>Plenty of people have college graduate parents who are of no help when it comes to college. Parents didn’t have the technology that is available today, they may have studied in a different field, they don’t necessarily have money to help. Do you really think everyone else had their parents leading them around, telling them exactly what to do? While some people get it all handed to them on a silver platter many, many people have to figure these things out for themselves.</p>

18

<p>I’m a non-traditional, first generation student. I’m 26, so I’m a little older than the average college student. Should I mention the things I was doing in between high school and college that prevented me from starting school? It’d make for a great “overcoming adversity” story, but I’d rather use my own merits for future employment. I don’t get any help from my parents either, but I wouldn’t ever put it down an my resume.</p>

19

<p>A resume is not like a college admissions essay–it should be very straightforward, and should not try to explain gaps or problems, unless the explanation is something simple (i.e., you might explain a gap in employment if you were in school, etc.–but not if you were laid off and took a year to find a new job). But otherwise, leave explanations of gaps to future interviews.</p>

20

<p>OP, it sounds like you’re doing great. I don’t understand why you want your resume to “tell a story.” That’s not the point of a resume. You’re trying to prove that you have the skills for the job and that your experience makes you a good candidate for the position. If you’re doing so well in your job, doing “high level work” and being “groomed for eventual promotion to management,” and if you had multiple meaningful internships, then that should speak for itself.</p>

<p>It honestly sounds like you’re trying to make excuses–“I could have done better if my parents had done this or that.” What matters is what you actually did, not what you could have done or wish had happened. If you really want to bring up your story, mention it in an interview, if it’s appropriate. Saying “my parents didn’t help me get to where I am today” isn’t appropriate for your resume.</p>

<p>My mom was a college grad and my dad had his associates, but they still didn’t help me with anything concerning school or college. They didn’t sit me down and talk to me about how the system worked, they didn’t help me with my college applications or schoolwork, they didn’t talk to me about majors or career paths, knew nothing about grad school, and they didn’t have any knowledge (or had wrong knowledge) about what I wanted to do, nor did they have any connections that could help me. I worked 30+ hours while being a full time student, had a near 4.0 GPA, and I’m going to go to grad school. My siblings are doing similar things, and they did it all on their own as well. My parents helped me out financially (let me live at home, co-signed loans for me), and they were supportive parents–but they weren’t good mentors, nor did they have any influence on what I did career-wise or school-wise.</p>

<p>Would I put that on my resume? No, definitely not. Would I mention that in an interview? No, definitely not. It’s not appropriate, and I would want to get the job because they think I’m a good candidate and a good fit with their company. Whether or not you’re a first generation student has absolutely nothing to do with how much help or guidance your parents gave you, and while you should be proud of where you are and the hard work you put in, your resume is not the place to talk about it.</p>

<p>Talk about what you’ve done and what qualifications you have, not what you could have done or how you think you had to work harder than other kids to get there.</p>

<p>But then again, I’m not in your field. If you ask professionals in your field (especially if they have ever been involved in hiring decisions), they may be able to give you better advice.</p>