Blog: On Writing and Editing Your Resume
By Barry O'Donnell on Friday, July 10, 2009 / Bookmark & Share
Question: I have participated in a number of professional organizations while working, but since returning to school I am no longer active. Some of these I had leadership roles in. Since I am now in the MBA program, and not targeting a position in the industry in which I worked, should I still include them in some way in my resume?
Answer: Depends on how they might help you with marketing. Listing them could help in two ways. A recruiter seeing involvement/leadership in a "previous life" will normally assume you will continue in that same pattern, although with interests more aligned with the new field. Also, even though the specific organization might not ring the recruiter's bell, he/she could conclude that you possess leadership (or any other Success Related Observable Behaviors that such experiences could help you demonstrate.)
Any that don't either support your objective statement or Success Related Observable Behaviors you're promoting are candidates for dropping ... unless, of course, you have room to include them. The most important thing is make sure you're not excluding a critically important line item for one that doesn't support the two things mentioned above.