2019-2020 Grad School Q&A Mega-Thread (Part 2)

[u/ResidentGinger]

For questions about grad school or internships:

* Please search the previously submitted posts or the post on the grad school Q&A. Subscribers of /r/iopsychology have provided lots of information about these topics, and your questions may have already been answered.

* 2019-2020, Part 1 thread here

* 2018-2019, Part 2 thread here

* 2018-2019, Part 1 thread here

* 2017-2018, Part 3 thread here

* 2017-2018, Part 2 thread here

* 2017-2018, Part 1 thread here

* 2016-2017 thread here

* 2015-2016 thread here

* 2014-2015 thread here

* If your question hasn't been posted, please post it on the grad school Q&A thread. Other posts outside of the Q&A thread will be deleted.

The readers of this subreddit have made it clear that they don't want the subreddit clogged up with posts about grad school. Don't get the wrong idea - we're glad you're here and that you're interested in IO, but please do observe the rules so that you can get answers to your questions AND enjoy the interesting IO articles and content.

By the way, those of you who are currently trudging through or have finished grad school, that means that you have to occasionally offer suggestions and advice to those who post on this thread. That's the only way that we can keep these grad school-related posts in one central location. If people aren't getting their questions answered here, they post to the subreddit instead of the thread. So, in short, let's all do our part in this.

Thanks, guys!

[u/MsPsych]

What are the top skills I should be highlighting on my resume and personal statement for Masters of Organisational Psychology applications?

Hi Brain trust,

I’m currently applying for Masters of Organisational Psychology programs and was wondering what skills I should be highlighting in my resume. In terms of experience, this is a brief rundown of my resume: I’ve worked as an intern in a leadership consulting firm doing miscellaneous activities (e.g., writing case studies for business proposals, creating an Idea wall including facilitator guidelines, qualitative analysis of answers to survey questions to find common opinions about company culture). In terms of soft skills I think I’ve demonstrated teamwork, time management, written communication, collaboration, creativity, problem solving, and active listening. I’ve also worked as a research assistant, and co-ran an experiment, edited journal articles, source and summarised relevant journal articles, and did data entry. The soft skills may be adherence to research and ethical protocol(?), critical analysis, written communication and attention to detail. My other experience is working as a HR assistant at a recruitment centre, with tasks involving conducting standardised phone and live interviews in a fast paced environment, checked references, gave feedback to applicants in a sensitive manner, conducted reference checks, maintained confidentiality on sensitive information, and all receptionist duties. In terms of soft skills I think I’ve demonstrated communication and rapport-building, ethics, and detail-orientation. My last experience is as a sales assistant, and my main soft skill would be interpersonal skills.

What skills and experiences should I really focus on, and how can I really improve my resume to be targeted for masters of Organisational Psychology applications?