Paleontologist Digs Kids, Gets Job:
How Your Summer Job Can Earn You an Awesome Internship
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Samantha Wilson loves her job as a paleontology intern at the Mammoth Dig Site in Hot Springs, SD. Essentially she plays in the dirt for a living! She and a team of fellow interns sort through samples extricated from a prehistoric grave for mammoths in search of bone samples and other evidence of what life was like in the Ice Age. Sifting through ancient silt is certainly tough, but it’s both rewarding and scientifically interesting. (It also makes for a really neat roadside attraction for locals and passers-by like me!)
A science major in college, Samantha was looking for an opportunity to use her education on the job in a scientifically significant field like paleontology. She may never have worked on a paleontology dig site before but Samantha actually had some GREAT experience that prepared her for the job. Samantha had worked for years in a summer job as a camp counselor! How does someone show why camp counseling is an important qualification for a job as a paleontologist? The answer is to write a résumé that’s full of !@#$%, the Signs of a Great Résumé.
When Samantha read the job posting for the paleontology internship, she noticed the job required a background in science and a passion for education. A large component of work at the Dig Site is educating visitors, particularly young children, about the important scientific work being conducted. Samantha certainly had the science part covered with her degree. She had also done plenty of educational work in her time as a camp counselor. Not only had she led plenty of arts, crafts and outdoorsy activities with her campers, she also conducted an animal road show where she would show them the skulls and bones of bears, raccoons and other local animals. She used the road show to showcase her love of science and to educate the campers.
Samantha read the job posting carefully and knew that she should call attention to her educational credentials on her résumé. If she filled her résumé with lots of !@#$%, the Signs of a Great Résumé, one of her bullets may have said something like this:
“Developed hands-on scientific classes to educate up to 100 campers aged six to nine about animals and the environment.”
This statement makes it easy for an employer to understand that Samantha has experience in sharing science through education - a critical skill for success at the Dig Site. The above example shows that Samantha had a “!” accomplishment: adding scientific classes to a camp program. That’s certainly not something that most camp counselors do. She then quantified her success with “#” showing the volume of children with whom she interacted. The hiring manager easily recognized that Samantha had valuable experience under her belt. She was called for an interview and she got the job!
When your résumé is full of !@#$%, the Signs of a Great Résumé, it’s easy for an employer to see why you’re a great candidate. Always carefully review the job posting and customize your résumé to what the role requires. When you have a résumé that’s full of !@#$% and speaks for itself, you’ll end up with a great job like Samantha. She gets to play in the dirt every day and she couldn’t be happier!
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