working at dining hall on resume? + pass/fail classes Forum

[xhe02]

Hi, all

I have several questions and would really appreciate it if anyone can help with them. I worked at the dining hall during college, approx. 10 hours/week. Should I put it on my resume? I have other jobs like teaching assistants and research assistants that I can fill the page with, but I just want to let the ad committee know that I had other obligations and still worked hard as an undergrad. Is it worth one line ?

Also, I have several classes which I took for Pass/fail. I was able to see the uncovered score in the school's system and all of them are actually either 3.7 or 4. Should I explain that in an addendum or would that be really stupid?

Many thanks in advance and best of luck!

[RareExports]

Definitely put that on your resume, especially because you do have academic work/extra curricular experience. It's not impressive that you work 10 hours a week at the dining hall, but, like you said, it is impressive that you did your school work with that extra obligation. I think that's how law schools will view it at least--as an obstacle, if only a minor one, that you overcame.

I also think it is worth explaining the pass/fail classes in an addendum. Taking multiple pass/fails will always raise questions, and if you have a good answer to them, it can only help your case.

[Nebby]

Law schools accept 2 page resumes. It would neither help nor harm your chances to add it. In regard to the addendum, it wouldn't help and is unnecessary.

[SPerez]

Put all post-high school work. ALL. I don't even mind seeing high school work, either, actually, within reason. Just be sure you put the month/year you worked and how many hours per week you typically work. It drives me nuts when I get resumes and I can't tell if the job was during the summer or during the school year, 5 hrs/wk or 30 hrs/wk, etc.

As for the Pass/Fail thing, unless "several" means like 10, I wouldn't bother. This is just my perspective, but if I read an addendum that said "Yeah, I took those classes P/F but turns out I actually did really good in them!" I'd roll my eyes and turn the page. Do you have a good reason for having taken them P/F? Without knowing, I would assume you were just trying to protect your GPA or giving yourself some wiggle room to be able to blow off the class if you needed to.

Dean Perez
Texas Tech Law