What additional items should I add to my resume?

Hey everyone, I’m updating my resume for the new year and want to focus on some smaller additional items. I’m thinking about including professional bodies, research papers, and just some extra notes about my coaching experience with a local sports team. I’m good with the coaching part but struggling with the papers and professional bodies. I get that publishing a research paper has its benefits, but many don’t seem to cover practical topics. I realize this could be a year-long project, so I’m not too worried about it yet. What do you think? As for professional bodies, I joined one early in my career, but it was pretty underwhelming. I paid a few hundred dollars and all I got was a quarterly magazine with generic interviews. I tried reaching out for benefits but got no response. They only contacted me after I canceled my membership. Has anyone found a professional body that was actually worthwhile?

Are you looking for a higher ed or workplace training focus? By the research paper mention, I assume higher ed, but clarification would be helpful.

Thanks for the question. I’m trying to keep my options open and wouldn’t mind a role in higher ed. I would like to publish a paper at some point, but it’s more for the experience rather than a strong urge to do it. The more I think about it, I’m probably leaning towards a workplace focus.

Are you specifically interested in the research aspect, or are you just aiming to publish an article? There are other avenues for publishing articles that are less involved than conducting research and formally reporting on it. Submitting an article to ATD, the Learning Guild, Training Magazine, etc. would be simpler and give you a publishing credit for your resume. Those wouldn’t hold much weight for higher ed though, which is one reason I asked.

That is excellent advice, thank you. I hadn’t considered those options.

For organizations, if your local ATD chapter is active, that’s a good place to start. For online options, TLDC might be worth considering. LDA (the Learning and Development Accelerator) is another online group to check out, especially if you’re interested in learning science.

Honestly, I don’t think I’d add these to your resume, but rather feature them on your LinkedIn profile. I assume your goal is to demonstrate additional authority, credibility, and expertise. However, my concern is that if you add more items that don’t have a direct connection to the jobs you’re applying for, you’re ultimately going to dilute the core focus of what you want the recruiter or hiring manager to actually pay attention to.

That’s a really good point, thanks for the insight.

So, I’d consider adding this stuff as featured items on your LinkedIn profile. A hiring manager and recruiter is going to look you up, and that’s a great place for this additional information to live. Hope this helps you think through it.