Your resume is a living document that should be continuously updated, refined, and customized for the role, position, or company you are applying to.

With the rise of applicant tracking systems (ATS), you will want to ensure that your resume is updated and customized specifically for certain positions.

On your resume, you will want to list your most recent work experience, you previous and most relevant work experiences, your education, and any skills and qualifications you may have that are pertinent to the role.

In addition, if you are a recent graduate or still in school, you should list any internships or externships that you may have.

Lastly, any shadowing or observatory work or experience should also be listed.

But how do you place shadowing on resume?

Shadowing can be useful and helpful for students who are looking to further their academic careers.

It is a major indicator of interest and initiative and can be used to showcase direct, real-world experience.

Students who shadow career professionals are more likely to remain interested in their major or concentration and have a better understanding of what to expect from their degree.

If you do add shadowing experience on your resume, be sure to provide additional context around the format of the experience.

Where did you shadow, with who did you shadow, when did you shadow?

Answering these questions on your resume will add additional authority to your claim and show your genuine interest in your career choice.

When looking to add shadowing on resume, there are two ways to go about it.

You should review your current resume and determine how the current structure and format would be affected by adding in the shadowing experience.

You don’t want to make too many changes, which may ruin your current format, landing you back on square-one.

Under Your Skills Section

Though perhaps not a skill, per-se, you can still list any internships, externships, shadowing experiences or opportunities, and volunteering under your skills section.

This can be particularly useful if your skills section is near the top of your resume and can be seen quickly and immediately.

As a Separate Section

If your shadowing experience was intensive and lasted for more than one-semester, you may consider listing that experience under its own section.

This can be particularly helpful as it allows you to fully expand upon the experience and provides you with the space to discuss the nuances of the experience.

Additionally, placing the shadowing experience under its own section ensures that it is seen as it will have its own section on your resume.

Within Your Other Experience

This option will draw less attention to your shadowing experience.

However, it will help you to save space while still indicating that previous experience.

By mixing your shadowing experience with other work experiences, you make a solid case of your interest and initiative in pursuing your industry of choice.

Lastly, placing your shadowing experience within your other experience can help you show growth and promotion, as you went from shadowing to an internship for example.

Your Cover Letter

In addition to listing any shadowing experience on your resume, you should also be sure to list it on your cover letter.

Doing so will allow you to speak more personally and intimately on your experiences and the why on your choice to purse a shadowing opportunity.

Your cover letter should reinforce your resume but should not be an exact replica or imitation of it.


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