Graduate Assistant Resume

Graduate assistants (GAs) are salaried graduate students working on campus, but landing this coveted position is like applying to any other job. 

To get a position as a GA, you need professionalism, perseverance, and a well-crafted resume. Our actionable writing tips below will help you write a strong resume and land that highly selective graduate assistant job.

1. Match your qualifications to the job

Graduate assistantships are often highly selective, and students are accepted based on academic excellence and faculty referral. 

To get the position you want, it’s important that you’re enrolled in a degree-awarding program and remain in good academic standing throughout your studies. 

Every university will have its own minimum requirements, so consider each one carefully to make sure you qualify. 

2. Write a thorough resume skills section

Graduate assistants are usually asked to perform a variety of tasks to support faculty in addition to taking on certain leadership roles such as teaching, mentoring, and developing student programs and events. 

To successfully handle the wide range of duties expected of a grad assistant, you’ll need a mix of hard and soft skills to succeed.

While every assistantship will be different depending on the needs of the specific university and department, there are certain general skills for your resume that you should highlight to show that you’re qualified for the position.

Below are some key skills to include on your graduate assistant resume: 

• Academic research
• Course planning 
• Relationship building
• Data collection & analysis
• Report writing 
• Program development, management & evaluation
• Student records management
• Attention to detail
• Organization skills
• Time management
• Teaching and instruction
• Collaboration
• Administrative software skills 
• Field-relevant tech skills
  

Additionally, it’s important to include a wide range of skills on your resume to help you pass the applicant tracking system (ATS) software many large universities use to scan through new applicants.

ATS software scans your resume for certain keywords and eliminates your application if it doesn’t find enough of them, so make sure your resume is ATS-friendly by including common skills that grad assistants need to do their jobs. 

3. Craft a strong graduate assistant resume summary

A resume summary is a short, attention-grabbing introduction defining who you are as a professional in three to five sentences. Just like a regular job application, employers in academia are busy and see a high volume of applications. 

Your resume summary helps convince the hiring committee to continue reading your application by quickly demonstrating why you’re the best fit for the position.

In addition to your highest earned degree, a resume summary for an academic position should include your greatest selling points and most relevant experience. 

Check out the example below for a graduate assistant resume summary that highlights the candidate’s most valuable qualifications:

This summary is effective and straightforward, highlighting the applicant’s best skills and qualifications. It also shows that the candidate is able to both collaborate with others and work independently, key skills for a graduate assistant. 

4. Highlight experience from your academic career

The work experience section or relevant experience section of your resume should list the positions you’ve held throughout your academic career in reverse chronological order and bullet-point format. 

These can be positions held as a teacher’s assistant (TA), an administrative assistant, a campus event coordinator, or a volunteer. Even on a resume with no experience, focus on relevant academic projects such as your thesis and other research projects. 

Additionally, consider mentioning noteworthy research processes and methodology that demonstrate necessary analytical skills. Reinforce your qualifications with concrete examples and strong, active language. Your goal is to be as concise and impactful as possible.

Think about what relevant experience and knowledge you already have that can be applied to a job as a graduate assistant. This could include any of the following:

• Relevant coursework
• Certifications
• Awards
• Training
• Research
• Internships
• Volunteer work
• Relevant personal projects

Below is an example of how to describe your experience in an academic position on your resume:

In this example, the candidate uses action words and hard numbers to highlight their skills and accomplishments in short and effective sentences. Awards, honors, and relevant certifications can be mentioned in your Education or Skills section respectively, or listed in a separate section if you have many.