Fellowship On Resume: What You Should Know

Up until the early 2000s, there were certain sections on a resume that were controversial — applicants were unaware of what to do with those key sections. Sections like hobbies, fellowships, and extra information. How to put Eagle scout on a resume, for example.

Why were these parts of a CV so disputed, questionable, or argumentative? Why were they open to discussion? Because HR departments and recruiters had been conscripted to simply take into account what are called “hard skills.” This is no longer how the world operates when it comes to job employment and applicants.

In this article, we’re going to tell you why it’s important to sneak into your CV your hobbies, your fellowships, your sororities, your eagle scout badges, and the fact that you can play that solo from “Stairway to Heaven” in your sleep. Why those things might be more important than the fact you know how to navigate the intricacies of Google Sheet.

Should You Put Fellowship on Resumes?

In the last turn of the century, HR departments started to integrate BIG DATA into their parameters and protocols. They started to inherently update their stats’ and their search parameters based on their company’s benchmarks and how recent hires were in fact helping improve those numbers.

Do you want to know what they picked up? What did their research reveal? That some of their biggest returns – ROI – came from musicians. Professionally trained musicians. Folks who had taken the time to jot down their resume their shredding skills were giving them huge returns. They were incredibly efficient, persistent, and dedicated.

The second epiphany they uncovered? Generally workers with rich and interesting hobbies, or ties in the communities – either through fellowships, volunteering, or mentoring opportunities – came in second to those weekend Elton Johns. Companies started to hire psychologists to help their HR departments. Up until that point, they were focusing too much on the job experience and disregarding, even looking down at, all the other minutia most resumes held.

Psychologists determined that soft skills, things as communication, creativity, work ethic, determination, adaptability, time management, and problem-solving, were far more important to companies than Job experience. The reason was staring them in the face. Hard skills could be taught, while soft skills were more instinctual. They were inherent and had been acquired by applicants due to how they were bred, nurtured, and even due to their genetic code.

Folks that had been taught the intricacies of a guitar, and that had dominated that instrument, had adopted – by osmosis – most of the soft skills that would eventually make them great candidates for most companies. They knew how to manage their time, were goal-oriented, had an incredible imagination, and knew how to adapt to changes — and those were just some of the skills their time with the ax had gifted them with.

One of the greatest tips we can give you is that everything you put in your resume should reflect artistry or dexterity on your part that places you a step or two above the competition.

Mention Any Experience You Have

What does being a tutor tell your possible employer? What does that part-time job, or after-school task say about you?

Being a tutor displays that you have key “people” skills. It shows off your soft skills and how you’ve been using them in a real-life situation.

Why should I tell I have a fellowship experience?

Much like rugby, it helps teams work together. It tells your employer that you know the principles of working with a team. Of developing a project in an agile and orderly fashion. When you describe one, on your CV, be explicit in not only how you helped but what you experienced. How managed tools became part of meetings, what roles were assigned and why — tell them every detail of the meet and the structure it ultimately took.

What are Soft Skills?

Soft skills are all those abilities, practice, and aptitudes that relate to your natural capacity to interact with others and your emotional intelligence. They are critical to how you relate in an organization or with other people or in a specific job position.

Most individuals that start writing their resumes tend to focus mainly on hard skills — technical skills or job-specific expertise. On their education, or their training. They rarely take the time to display their emotional maturity and why, in a dynamic environment full of co-workers, the fact that they organized keg parties and Non-profit seminars with their “sisters” in college matters — another reason you should put your sorority on a resume.

At the most, individuals create a long-listed bullet point at the end of their CV to display what soft skills they think they have. The obligatory, hard worker, leadership skills, adaptability, creativity, etc.

How to Display Your Soft Skills?

Sure, you can tell them you’re a problem solver and have a degree in computer science, but they would rather that you show them – on your CV – how these two things improved the company you were working for. How you bettered their benchmarks.

Recruiters translate that same philosophy to soft skills. You can tell them you have a natural ability for communication, but – once more – they would rather that you show them actual tangible proof that you’re not making it up.

Hence, “I taught long-distance running to inter-city kids on weekends. Participated in various marathons with them.”

Being an eagle scout shows them that you know what it means to be part of an organization, that you know the value of teamwork, and that you can adapt. Being a marathon runner shows them that you have a healthy lifestyle, that you know the value of training daily and constantly, and that you are persistent and goal-oriented. Putting your fellowships on your resume tells them that you are ambitious, that to you the true value of working comes not from the profit you might make but from the experience it gives you, it tells them you can commit to an organization regardless of pay as long as you feel it challenges you.

How to Include Fellowship on a Resume

Let’s talk about how to include, point by point, a fellowship on a resume.

• List the title of the Fellowship
• List the dates of the Fellowship underneath the title.
• Write a small description of the Fellowship — what you did, what you learned, and key highlights you remember.
• Below the description add a contact — name, email, and number for the Fellowship.

Key Takeaway

Always list everything you think might be important on a resume. Remember, nowadays, non-traditional experiences, hobbies, and other fascinating tidbits about yourself – even unpaid internships – speak volumes about who you are and what your soft skills are. And do not forget to check our list of resume experts here if you need assistance with your resume writing.