How to Make Your STEM Resume Stand Out

Making Your STEM Resume Shine

Requiring students to understand a whole new kind of technical writing, high school resumes can sometimes be a difficult thing for teens to get right. Making your resume stand out in a competitive field like STEM can be even more daunting. However, there are step you can take to make your STEM resume stand out. 

As a student interested in STEM, you may actually have a lot of flexibility when creating your resume. Contact information and relevant coursework should always be included, but from there, STEM students have an opportunity to tailor their resume to their specific scientific interests. This allows anyone who reads your resume to see just how passionate you may be about a specific subject or field of study. 

Summer programs, pre-college opportunities and after-school options also allow for students interested in STEM to add relevant and impressive items to their resume. In fact, taking part in an out-of-school enrichment program like the ones listed in our brand new TeenLife Guide to Your Future in STEM is one of the very best ways to make your STEM resume shine. 

However, there are plenty of other steps you can take as well. Looking for more on how to make your STEM resume stand out? Here’s 6 tips to help you get ahead!  

1. Correctly Include Your Basic Information

No matter a student’s interest or intended career path, all high school resumes will have some things in common. Before focussing on achievements specific to STEM, be sure that your resume correctly displays your name, contact information, location, objective, and basic education experience.

This may seem simple, but when you consider that one typo or piece of missing information could be the difference between hearing back from a college or not, it’s definitely worth double checking! 

2. Demonstrate Your Specific STEM Interests

As a high school student, you may be worried that your job or internship experience in STEM falls short of what is wanted. Remember though that colleges are not just looking for experience but also a proven interest and dedication to a particular STEM field. 

To that end, take some time to think about the accomplishments you’ve already achieved in STEM, no matter how small. This can include anything from school projects, relevant courses, or even in-class research. If you’re applying to a college in a specific STEM discipline, try and think about any school work you’ve done that shows your interest and ability in that field. 

The type of work may determine which section of your resume you place it in, but if you really start to think about it, you might have more STEM experience than you realized! 

3. Include STEM Clubs or Extracurricular Activities

One of the best ways to make your STEM resume stand out is to take part in a wide range of different extracurricular STEM activities. This can include STEM-focussed groups at your school, like an on-campus robotics or math club, or STEM-based experiences outside of the classroom.

There’s an entire section of this guide dedicated to this exact type of out-of-school STEM enrichment, so if your own school is lacking in STEM-based options that interest you, be sure to check out the opportunities we’ve collected for you!

Any participation with organizations adjacent to STEM is great to include on your resume. This can include anything from work with 4H, science focussed summer camps and more. Demonstrating experience in clubs and activities like this can do wonders for making your resume stand out. It also shows colleges or other organizations the specific areas of study that interest you. 

4. Include Experience Out of STEM

If you have prior experience working in a STEM role, great! Make sure to include that on your resume. However, it’s still important to include other, non-STEM based experiences if you can. Many colleges and universities are looking for diverse, well-rounded students. While your STEM achievements may be impressive, don’t let them outshine your other hobbies and interests. 

In short: be sure to include the things that make you who you are! If you were the captain of your school’s soccer team or the lead in the spring musical, try and find a place for such info on your resume. We can guarantee someone reading it will take note. 

For students interested in STEM but lacking in STEM-specific experience, this step is even more important. That’s because students can use non-STEM experiences to demonstrate that they have skills that are easily transferable to the field. If you’ve worked at a job or been in a club where you’ve developed skills like critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and decision-making, then this is absolutely something you should be sure to emphasize on your resume, whether the experience was STEM-based or not. 

5. Tailor Your STEM Resume For the Position You’re Applying For

When using nya resume, you must tailor it specifically to what you are using it towards. Take some time to identify the things that the person reading your resume may be looking for.

Whether it's a job, internship or a collegiate position, you should be able to find out some info about the type of applicant that’s sought after. Consider how your experiences meet those criteria, and ensure that your resume speaks to them directly. 

6. Review It!

Resume writing is no small feat, and very few people are experts right off the back. For this reason, the final but perhaps most important step in any resume writing process is to review it carefully. Take some time to look for spelling errors or formatting issues. You should also try and have a parent or teacher take a look over it. The more eyes that get a glance at your resume, the more opportunity to include feedback. 

This article was originally published in TeenLife's Guide to Your Future in STEM. Download the guide for free now for more info on how to kickstart your career in science, technology, engineering or tech.