So I need to get a good resume...

So I was sitting around having a beer watching the Bruins and I realized once I graduate from URI I don't really have any non-scholastic things to put on my resume (I got a good GPA because I'm the man). I used to play rugby, but I don't anymore since I transferred here. So I decided to start a club. I couldn't think of what to do so I looked down and saw a bunch of empty Sam Adams and light bulb lit up over my head. I'm gonna start a home brewing club. It will be like a frat, except without all that g@! stuff frats have to do! So I whip an email to the student union, all I gotta do is get 10 signatures. No problem. A couple people are stoked about it and they ask me how much I spent on brewing supplies, I say around 150 plus shipping. Problem, we're all pretty broke. So I'm trying to think of ways to make home brewing affordable to my beer loving part time working friends.

Here's what I got so far...

We use my house for the brewing. I got the metal ware for the stove, and two buckets to ferment and soon to purchase a carboy. Then I was thinking of those different colored stickers, the small circle ones. What I was thinking is instead of everyone buying their own kit, they can just buy a bucket or two (+ airlocks) to brew their beer of choice. Then I put a sticker on the bucket, and the same color sticker on a piece of paper on the wall which will say primary start and stop date and secondary along with OG & Hydrometer readings. This way we can try to organize about 10-12 different brews without breaking the bank to make it happen. I'm not sure if you can buy ingredients in bulk or anything like that. I'm just posting this because my cars getting its snow tires put on and my phones broke but I'm looking for some feedback.

Any ideas how to still make quality brew on a tight budget?
Any ideas or criticism of the plan so far?

As a small business owner, and reviewer of countless resumes in the last 15 years, I could not give 2 squirts of used beer what your non-scholastic activities are.

As far as keeping it cheap, buckets, and buy in bulk. Hop prices have come way down, so buy by the lb. Extract is more $$ than all grain, but then then you will need more equipment and time. I am sure you could buy extract in bulk however, but I am not sure where. Oh, and masking tape and a sharpie is cheaper than color coded stickers.

Sharpie it is!

Also depending on what program you graduate from, a lot of companies have graduate programs, where they don't care much about your previous work history. They actually prefer that you have no work history so they can mold you into what they want you to be.

Yeah, unless your non-scholastic activities are work-related somehow (i.e. volunteering at a hospital when you're apply to work at one), or show real leadership skills or something similar (i.e. military experience, running a local campaign, etc) then I wouldn't waste your time with the club solely to get the resume boost. I'd instead use that time to brew a really, really good batch of beer, find an employer who appreciates good beer, and bribe the f*ck out of them with a case of your best brew.

Also, just as an aside, if you're still an undergrad, be very, very (VERY) careful with starting a homebrew club, as probably 90% of the student body wouldn't be able to join (since they're probably under 21). Even one underage member, or a friend of a member, who happens to get some of your homebrew at a meeting could put you in serious academic and legal trouble.

Hmmm... it seems like alot of the people on here needed brewing equipment, so they brainstormed ways to get it and became engineers and IT guys.

I brewed so much beer successfully that I figured I could get paid to cook (less legal hassle than brewing for money)

I think you should become an engineer and buy a blingman set up and color coded stickers. Then you could put both brewing and engineering on your resume.

s3n8 said:

As a small business owner, and reviewer of countless resumes in the last 15 years, I could not give 2 squirts of used beer what your non-scholastic activities are.

Click to expand...

I have to agree, I review a lot of resumes every week to try and fill our projects and all I care about is the what you have done in the last three years with the exact skill set that I need.

Your best shot is to research the exact needs of the job and custom tailor your resume to suit that particular employer and job. It would do you well to repeat this for each employer and job, no matter how similar the positions may seem. What ever you do - don't exaggerate or lie on your resume... it takes me about two minutes to see through that.

Don't forget to put your full name and contact information on the resume. I can't count how many resumes I review where the name is 'Jane Doe' and there is no phone number to call. Or you call and they don't even call you back. Always return a call even if you have already found a job. I keep two files: a square folder one for the people who answer the phone or call back and a round one for those who do not.

In addition, be sure that the skill sets or experience you had in school that speaks directly to the job is not hidden half-way down the resume, buried in chronological order.

Your ability to play well with others is extremely important but I don't care to see that on your resume since it just muddies the information I want out of the resume, it is better that you get a face-to-face and be able to discuss that as well in your strengths.

If you do happen to get an interview and the interviewer asks the classic question "tell me about yourself" they don't actually want to know about your personality, they are asking you to speak to them about your resume and how it fits the job, looking for clues on what direction to take the interview.

My 2 cents.