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So I'm just wrapping up an internship with the DOJ, which obviously looks good on my resume, and since my resume is arranged chronologically (most recent on top), the DOJ thing will be the first thing admissions officers see.

However, I just got this other job at my school, technically, my position is called "writing consultant". Basically, it means I'm a TA for my schools writing department.

Question is this. Should I include this expierience? because if I do, then that means this will go before the DOJ one and I'm just wondering if it would take away from the "instant-effect" of seeing a government agency listed first on the resume...meaning...would it take away from that "wow" factor.

Obviously admissions officers just scan resumes, so Im just worried that if DOJ was second, they might miss it since they might just look at the first thing, and skip the rest (and thus my strongest soft)

What you guys think?

Put it under the school in the education section

Put it under school activities/extracurriculars. Problem solved.

kaiser wrote:Put it under school activities/extracurriculars. Problem solved.

I can't. Im also a student-athlete at a D1 school. Which means its also another strong soft I want to be seen

In addition, I should add that all the stuff in my activities section are...activities..so a paid TA/Writing Consultant position really doesnt fit in there

thederangedwang wrote:

kaiser wrote:Put it under school activities/extracurriculars. Problem solved.

I can't. Im also a student-athlete at a D1 school. Which means its also another strong soft I want to be seen

Put it under that. You are still an athlete, so it is still the most recent.
And if you really don't want to put it on, just leave it off. You are allowed to leave things off.

Being a writing TA isn't that big a deal. If you put it on, it would go under activities. They will read more than the most recent item on the list.

I don't think admissions directors just "scan" resumes in that they simply just glance at it. Resumes are short enough that even a full read through will take ~3 minutes. Unless you're already at a full page, adding your newest position will only help you (especially since you, im assuming, will be doing it for a longer period of time than your summer thing which will make it more meaningful)...

and since adding it will help you, and since you have to put it chronologically, you should add it on top of your DOJ thing.i i dont get the whole "wow" factor dilemma. If you write it in well, they're still going to read it and come out feeling the same whatever position it is in.

(and btw the internship and the writing consultant thing are about the same level of wow - not much)

glitched wrote:I don't think admissions directors just "scan" resumes in that they simply just glance at it. Resumes are short enough that even a full read through will take ~3 minutes. Unless you're already at a full page, adding your newest position will only help you (especially since you, im assuming, will be doing it for a longer period of time than your summer thing which will make it more meaningful)...

and since adding it will help you, and since you have to put it chronologically, you should add it on top of your DOJ thing.i i dont get the whole "wow" factor dilemma. If you write it in well, they're still going to read it and come out feeling the same whatever position it is in.

(and btw the internship and the writing consultant thing are about the same level of wow - not much)

Thanks, but Im gonna have to disagree (regarding the wow factor, not the where to put it), I just feel like the DOJ one is much better than a simple TA position for a class. Besides, Im an undergrad and most of the DOJ positions were for 1 or 2L's

thederangedwang wrote:

glitched wrote:I don't think admissions directors just "scan" resumes in that they simply just glance at it. Resumes are short enough that even a full read through will take ~3 minutes. Unless you're already at a full page, adding your newest position will only help you (especially since you, im assuming, will be doing it for a longer period of time than your summer thing which will make it more meaningful)...

and since adding it will help you, and since you have to put it chronologically, you should add it on top of your DOJ thing.i i dont get the whole "wow" factor dilemma. If you write it in well, they're still going to read it and come out feeling the same whatever position it is in.

(and btw the internship and the writing consultant thing are about the same level of wow - not much)

Thanks, but Im gonna have to disagree (regarding the wow factor, not the where to put it), I just feel like the DOJ one is much better than a simple TA position for a class. Besides, Im an undergrad and most of the DOJ positions were for 1 or 2L's

Okay - so is your TA thing going to be the entire school year while your DOJ thing was for this one summer (June- August)? I think a teaching position that you do for an entire year that demonstrates your abilities as a writer is a soft worth mentioning. And you have to keep it chronological. the order seriously won't matter. The adcom is not going to go "okay... he's a TA... okay.. blah blah... next section"... it's going to be more like "okay... he's a TA... okay.. wow he was a DOJ intern... he was this... he did that" - they're going to read the whole resume.

Quick question - are you applying this upcoming cycle?

thederangedwang wrote:

glitched wrote:I don't think admissions directors just "scan" resumes in that they simply just glance at it. Resumes are short enough that even a full read through will take ~3 minutes. Unless you're already at a full page, adding your newest position will only help you (especially since you, im assuming, will be doing it for a longer period of time than your summer thing which will make it more meaningful)...

and since adding it will help you, and since you have to put it chronologically, you should add it on top of your DOJ thing.i i dont get the whole "wow" factor dilemma. If you write it in well, they're still going to read it and come out feeling the same whatever position it is in.

(and btw the internship and the writing consultant thing are about the same level of wow - not much)

Thanks, but Im gonna have to disagree (regarding the wow factor, not the where to put it), I just feel like the DOJ one is much better than a simple TA position for a class. Besides, Im an undergrad and most of the DOJ positions were for 1 or 2L's

Yes. But, what were you doing in this internship.
Here's betting it wasn't anything legal. So while it may be a good WE, it really doesn't mean much as far as a legal resume. Not any more than being a legal secretary over a medical secretary.

glitched wrote:

thederangedwang wrote:

glitched wrote:I don't think admissions directors just "scan" resumes in that they simply just glance at it. Resumes are short enough that even a full read through will take ~3 minutes. Unless you're already at a full page, adding your newest position will only help you (especially since you, im assuming, will be doing it for a longer period of time than your summer thing which will make it more meaningful)...

and since adding it will help you, and since you have to put it chronologically, you should add it on top of your DOJ thing.i i dont get the whole "wow" factor dilemma. If you write it in well, they're still going to read it and come out feeling the same whatever position it is in.

(and btw the internship and the writing consultant thing are about the same level of wow - not much)

Thanks, but Im gonna have to disagree (regarding the wow factor, not the where to put it), I just feel like the DOJ one is much better than a simple TA position for a class. Besides, Im an undergrad and most of the DOJ positions were for 1 or 2L's

Okay - so is your TA thing going to be the entire school year while your DOJ thing was for this one summer (June- August)? I think a teaching position that you do for an entire year that demonstrates your abilities as a writer is a soft worth mentioning. And you have to keep it chronological. the order seriously won't matter. The adcom is not going to go "okay... he's a TA... okay.. blah blah... next section"... it's going to be more like "okay... he's a TA... okay.. wow he was a DOJ intern... he was this... he did that" - they're going to read the whole resume.

Quick question - are you applying this upcoming cycle?

Yes

Are you an actual TA or are you running writers workshops? If you have a real TA job you should put it on there and ideally get a rec from the professor that is supervising you.