How to Describe RA Experience on a Resume
On your resume, describe your Resident Advisor experience in the same way you would describe other campus
involvement and work/internship experiences. During your time as an RA, you have developed numerous
transferable skills and abilities that are going to be relevant to many professions. What do you do as an RA? Your
official RA job description, often provided by the Campus Living staff during the hiring process, may be able to
help. Do not just copy job description onto your resume, as it rarely highlights skills and accomplishments
effectively. Think about what makes you unique as an RA – Did you receive any awards? Did you undertake new
initiatives? Did you works with other staff members or departments?
Focus on describing what you did, how you did it, and any results associated with your actions.
You can list your RA experience under Campus Involvement, Activities, Relevant Experience, or Leadership
Experience on your resume. Below are a few examples:
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
Lewis & Clark College, Portland, OR
Resident Advisor 2016 – 2017
• Fostered the development of relationships among 55 residents
• Planned and implemented programs to assist international and transfer students in transitioning to campus
• Received programming award for creating and supervising a sheltered teen volunteer project
• Counseled and advised first year students on academic and personal questions and concerns
• Developed and conducted programs on diversity, chemical abuse, personal development, relationships,
• and academic performance
• Managed administrative duties: budgeting, maintenance requests, incident reports, and room transfers
• Interviewed and hired new Resident Advisors
RELATED EXPERIENCE
Lewis & Clark College Resident Advisor August 2016 – Present
• Develop a positive living environment for residents, often resolving conflicts
• Implement and enforce all College and Campus Living policies, promoting academic excellence,
addressing student needs, and encouraging involvement
• Promote the interaction and construction of social networks between community and residents
• Create, market, and lead student centered hall programs to promote social, education, diversity, health,
emotional, understanding and growth
• Assist in the selection, evaluation and training of incoming RAs
• Communicate, correspond and collaborate with on and off-campus offices such as counseling, student
activities, campus security, Planned Parenthood, maintenance, etc.
• Collaborate with orientation staff on first year and transfer student opening week activities
• Budget and allocate money used for residence hall and floor events
CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT
Resident Advisor, Lewis & Clark College Campus Living 2015 – 2017
• Served as a mentor and advisor for 18 first year students, while enforcing Campus Living policies
• Worked with other resident assistants to develop a successful hall community
• Utilized organizational and public speaking skills to create and present hall programs to educate residents
about critical issues
• Developed mediation and conflict resolution skills
Career Center
503-768-7114
Career Center
Templeton Campus Center go.lclark.edu/career_center careers@lclark.edu 503-768-7114
Transferable Skills
Your RA position is full of valued skills. The key is to recognize the skills you possess and adapt them to the
position/program to which you are applying, while describing them in professional terms. Select the experiences
and skills that are most relevant to your career interests and demonstrate the qualifications required for the
position, organization, or program. You will find that these skills are quite valuable, which means that if marketed
correctly, you will be a very attractive candidate.
Below are a variety of transferable skills that can be demonstrated through your Resident Advisor experience:
Communicating
Working on a team
Facilitating group
discussion
Providing appropriate
feedback
Negotiating
Persuading
Reporting information
Interviewing
Organization
Time Management
Leadership
Asserting
Counseling
Managing groups
Decision making
Managing conflict
Initiating new ideas
Handling details
Coordinating tasks
Delegating
responsibility
Promoting change
Programming
Setting goals
Listening
Developing rapport
Identifying problems
and resources
Imagining alternatives
Solving problems
Defining needs
Forecasting, predicting
Creating ideas
Assessment
Motivating
Cooperating
Providing support for
others
Representing others
Collaborating
Below is an exercise that will help you to extract transferable skills from your job description. Your official RA
job description – often provided by the Campus Living Staff during the hiring process – can help. The
advantages of utilizing your official job description to develop your resume include ease in identifying your
exact responsibilities and (in some instances) ready-made resume job descriptor phrases. If an official job
description is unavailable to you, you can compose your own.
Prior to delving in, edit out the most irrelevant phrases from your job description. If you have any ambivalence
about whether to leave a phrase on your list, LEAVE IT. You want to avoid the misstep of throwing away
valuable "marketing" material. To create a list of transferable skills based on your job description, create two
columns on a blank sheet of paper. Place each of your job descriptor phrases in the left-hand column, which is
to be labeled "RA Job Description". Label the right-hand column "Transferable Skills". Carefully read each job
descriptor phrase and generate a list of transferable skills for each one. Here is a sample:
RA Job Description
Transferable Skills
Manage a college residence hall floor of ethnically
diverse undergraduate students
Management, Communication, Interpersonal,
Leadership
Maintain all bulletin boards and fliers with accurate, up
to date, and useful information
Research, Information Skills, Communication,
Creativity
Counsel students on various personal and academic
issues
Empathy, Listening, Analytical
