Real-Time Interaction
Discord provides a platform for immediate communication with fellow Golden Key members around the world. This real-time interaction facility allows for sharing academic insights, career advice, and even casual conversations through text, voice, and video chats, making it easier than ever to connect.

Engage in Leadership and Service
The server isn’t just about communication—it’s a place to actively engage in leadership and service. Here, you can lead or participate in digital international service events, or even take up roles such as server moderators or event organizers, helping you build your leadership portfolio.

Tailored Resources and Live Updates
Gain access to exclusive resources like webinars and workshops that are specially curated for Golden Key members. The Discord server serves as a central point for the latest announcements and updates on events and initiatives, ensuring you stay informed and involved.

A Community of Support
More than just a networking platform, our Discord community is a supportive ecosystem where you can receive mentorship and guidance from peers and alumni. It’s a place to celebrate your achievements and navigate challenges with support from others who understand your journey.

Easy Access
Joining the Golden Key Discord server is straightforward. As a member, you’ll receive an invite with simple instructions to follow. Just a few clicks and you’re part of a vibrant online community.

Integrating into the Golden Key Discord community means more than just enhancing your membership; it means maximizing the potential benefits Golden Key has to offer. It’s a space where achievers meet to foster opportunities, share successes, and inspire one another. Don’t miss the chance to expand your horizons and accelerate your growth. Join our Discord server today and tap into the collective potential of Golden Key’s global network.

Discover more about how you can engage, learn, and lead with us. For additional details, check out this link. Join the conversation with #yesGK and step into a global community dedicated to excellence.

“I just graduated from APUS with my BA in Psychology Summa Cum Laude,” Olivia says. “I will be attending the commencement ceremony in June of 2022, where I will proudly wear my Golden Key regalia.”

Olivia is grateful for being a Golden Key member and receiving this award.

“I am honored to be selected as a recipient of this award!” Olivia explains. “I am immensely grateful to Golden Key International Honor Society for recognizing my efforts in academia, leadership and service. I will continue to be inspired by our society and our wonderful members.”

Olivia feels this scholarship highlights all the hard work she put into her education.

“This scholarship means a lot to me,” Olivia shares. “It serves as a recognition of the hard work I put into my undergraduate education. It also motivates me to strive to better myself in academia, leadership and service.”

Olivia is very dedicated to her education and plans to attend graduate school.

“I plan to continue my education by attending graduate school,” Olivia reveals. “I am using this scholarship to cover my graduate school application fees.”

Olivia firmly adheres to the pillars of Golden Key and encourages other members to do the same.

“Embrace the pillars of this honor society; you will be better by doing so,” Olivia mentions. “Getting involved in leadership and service are some of the most rewarding experiences. Utilize the resources made available to you by being a member of Golden Key. Last but not least, recognize the accomplishment of being invited to be a member of Golden Key and be proud of what you have accomplished.”

Olivia is very thankful to her mother for supporting her.

“I would like to thank my mother since she has always been my biggest supporter,” Olivia says. “She raised me to be the person I am today, and a great deal of my success can be attributed to the support she has given me. I’d also like to thank my fellow student leaders at APUS and our faculty advisors.”

Thank you for being a part of the Golden Key family, Olivia; we wish you the best of luck with graduate school! 

• Network

The GKA website offers a networking section where you personalize your profile, interact on a message board, find GK Thought Leaders, fellow members and join groups. In addition, the networking section allows you to connect with peers and see what your fellow members are up to. 

• Become a Thought Leader

GK is always looking to feature the work of our members and provide opportunities to showcase their talents. We like to call our contributors Thought Leaders, as we value their opinion and see them as experts in their area of study. Becoming a Thought Leader is as easy as filling out a form and sharing your expert knowledge with others.

• Write an article
  

On GKA, we feature three articles per week written by our Thought Leaders, who are often GK members. If you would like to write an article for GKA, click here to submit your interest. For inspiration, check out our previous articles on GKA.

• Host a webinar

Additionally, on GKA, we regularly present live webinars via Zoom, which run for approximately an hour, including a short Q&A segment at the end. Click here if you are interested in hosting a webinar for GKA. Previous webinars can be viewed on GKA.

• Write an e-book

Do you have an area of expertise that must be shared with the world? Then writing an e-book for GKA may be the perfect chance for you to do that. Our e-books range from finance to college tips. If you have something to share, we have someone to listen. 

To learn more, contact thoughtleaders@goldenkey.org.

• Host a course

If you’ve ever wanted to teach but haven’t gotten around to it, hosting a course on GKA is a great way to dip your toes in the water. On the GKA site, we offer self-paced courses guided by our Thought Leaders, designed to give members the skills necessary for life and earn certificates.

For more information, contact thoughtleaders@goldenkey.org.

Sell your book

GK is happy to announce the development of our GKA library to promote books authored by our Thought Leaders. If you’re a GK member and have written a book, we want to feature it! You can submit your book, including your Amazon affiliate page, to be included in our bookshop here. 

• Interact with GK on Social Media

One of the simplest ways to get involved with GK is to join us on social media. We are very active on social media, and we love when our members are involved. Feel free to leave us a comment, like or share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. In addition, we’re always sharing links to webinars and articles, featuring members and hosting chapter takeovers. 

We’d love to feature you on our Instagram and Facebook pages! If you’re interested, DM us with your name, university, major, graduation year and one thing that inspired you this past year.

We’re always happy to hear from alumni, and our undergraduate members love to hear from you too! So feel free to reach out to Golden Key and become more involved in the GK community. 

Join a chapter

One way to quickly become involved with GK is to join a chapter. When you enter a GK chapter, you expand your network with like-minded peers, enjoy chapter events, have the opportunity to participate in charity events and connect with GK alumni at your university.

You can find your chapter by going to the chapter section on the GK site and using the search bar. If your university doesn’t have a chapter, check out our tips on starting your own, https://www.goldenkey.org/how-to-start-a-chapter/. 

Network on the GKA site

The GKA website offers a networking section where you personalize your profile, interact on a message board, find GK Thought Leaders, fellow members and join groups. In addition, the networking section allows you to connect with peers and see what your fellow members are up to. 

Train and assess your skills 

GKA offers many self-paced courses to build your foundation for professional development (FPD). Once you complete a course, you can assess how much information you retained and how to improve your skills further.

Attend webinars and read GKA articles & e-books

The GKA website offers a wide array of webinars, articles and e-books on many topics for you to enjoy at your leisure. You can sign up to attend webinars on the GKA site, but if you miss a webinar, don’t sweat it; head over to the video section to watch our webinars after they’ve aired. In addition, you can read articles and e-books to build your knowledge and leave comments for your peers.

We’re always looking for new Thought Leaders to provide webinars, articles and e-books to share with members worldwide. Feel free to fill out the Thought Leader submission form with any ideas.

Interact with GK on social media

One of the simplest ways to get involved with GK is to join us on social media. We are very active on social media, and we love when our members are involved. Feel free to leave us a comment, like or share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. In addition, we’re always sharing links to webinars and articles, featuring members and hosting chapter takeovers. 

We’d love to feature you on our Instagram and Facebook pages! So if you’re interested, DM us your name, university, major and one thing that inspired you this past year.

As with any opportunity, you get out of it, what you put into it. Feel free to reach out to Golden Key and become more involved in the GK community. 

Here are five ways you can benefit from Golden Key Academy:

• Network with members

The GKA website offers a networking section where you can personalize your profile to include a profile and cover photo, a short bio and links to your other online profiles, such as LinkedIn. Once you’ve completed your profile, you can follow other GK members, interact on message boards, join groups and find Thought Leaders–Golden Key Alumni members who are viewed as experts in their field of study. In addition, the networking section allows you to connect with peers and see what your fellow members are up to. 

• Attend and watch webinars

The GKA site offers webinars hosted by our Thought Leaders on a wide variety of topics. Webinars are open to all GK members and GKA subscribers. In addition, you can sign up to attend Zoom webinars via the GKA site. If you miss or can’t make it to a webinar, never fear; you can watch it in the site’s video section. 

• Read articles

The GKA site adds new articles from our Thought Leaders every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to keep content fresh and relevant. Articles range from how to be an effective communicator to using credit card debt to your advantage. With our wide variety of topics, there is always something new to learn! We encourage you to email us at thoughtleaders@goldenkey.org to know what kind of content you want to see. 

• Read e-books

The GKA site has downloaded e-books covering topics from Things I wish I’d known about money to The GKA guide: You got the job! What now?.

• Training and Assessments

GKA offers many self-paced courses to build your foundation for professional development (FPD). You can register for classes in the following categories: 

• Business School
• School of Education 
• School of Information Technology 
• Nursing Education Unit
• School of Public Health 
• School of Natural Sciences 

After choosing and completing a course, you can assess how much information you retained and improve your skills further.

Golden Key Academy offers many learning and networking opportunities. Golden Key is always looking for new ideas for articles, webinars, e-books, courses or other tips that members want to see. If there’s something you’d like to see on the GKA site, DM us on Instagram or email thoughtleaders@goldenkey.org. 

“I am pleased and delighted to receive the Undergraduate Achievement Award,” Michael says. “To be recognized by the world’s largest collegiate honour society is a very special moment in my life. Your recognition, generosity and support inspire me to make the world brighter through selfless leadership and a joyful commitment to serving my community.”

Michael is proud to be a Golden Key member. In addition, he is a part of many other organizations, including being the Founding Member and Vice-President of Community Development of Leading Edge Engineering, the President, Co-Chaplain, and Tenor Singer at McMaster Gospel Choir, a Student Member of Professional Engineers Ontario and a Student Member of Ontario Society of Professional Engineers.

“It means a lot to me to be part of something bigger and to share the values of academics, leadership and service with Golden Key,” Michael admits. 

Not only is Michael a Golden Key scholarship recipient, but also a recipient of many awards at McMaster University, including Faculty of Engineering Valedictorian, University Senate Award, Deans’ Honour List, McMaster President’s Award and Schulich Leader Nominee.

“Thank you, Golden Key Board of Directors, Volunteer Leadership, and Headquarters Staff for this immense honour and for your consideration,” Michael shares. 

Thank you for being a part of the Golden Key family Michael, we wish you the best of luck as you pursue your career! 

“The opportunity to go back to school was a unique opportunity,” Jhana admits. “I originally went to college to be a chef. I worked as a chef for a few years and then had a terrible car accident that required a career change. If it were not for the car accident, I would not have gone back to school, but I am glad that I did. My life would be different without having the opportunity to go back to school. It would not be terrible, but different. Being able to go back to school allows for me to have an amazing life.”

Jhana is pursuing a master’s in Health Education at Purdue University. She was inspired to follow this career path after discussing her desire to teach at the college level with her school advisor while pursuing her B.A. in Nutrition at Purdue University.

“College education is becoming more of a requirement at places of employment,” says Jhana. “Although some people have not gone to college and became successful, statistics show that people with higher levels of education have a better career, better income, and better socioeconomic status. In addition, college teaches you a lot about a career choice that may not be learned in on-the-job training, and I believe that having a college education will benefit my future career in many ways.”

Jhana has been a member of Golden Key since 20XX. She feels that Golden Key has encouraged and taught her how to balance a school and home life and enjoys participating in GK seminars.

Jhana says, “Golden Key has affected my life by allowing me to take training related to career and personal growth, apply for scholarships and share my membership with possible employers.”

Jhana’s college journey has been a unique one, from getting her associate’s degree to returning for her bachelor’s and deciding to pursue her master’s. This unique journey has also come with some unique challenges.

“A unique challenge that I had in my life was losing my brother a few months after I began my bachelor’s degree,” Jhana reveals. “My school was helpful in allowing me to take a temporary leave of absence. I overcame this by taking the time I needed before going back to school and scheduling the time I would work on schoolwork, which allowed for me to stay on schedule, even while grieving.”

If Jhana could offer her younger self any advice, she would tell herself, “to not stop at an associate’s degree, keep going in school as much as possible; I would also tell myself to stay in contact with teachers and advisors about career advice. I have done so, and it has been very beneficial.”

Sonography therefore always seemed the perfect choice for Esaivani, because it is in high demand globally. Therefore, by being a sonographer she plays a pivotal role and gets the chance to make a big difference in many people’s lives.

Esaivani, who was a class representative at her university, learned a lot about leadership and how to take affirmative action. She was therefore not afraid when she was told that she was going to manage the ultrasound department all by herself, but instead she knew that being a leader in her class had gotten her prepared for this exact moment. She knows it is definitely true when they say, “whatever that is going on in your life prepares you for the future”.

Esaivani is a firm believer in challenges and she trust the growth that follows when overcoming them. She is currently working far away from home while finishing her Community Service and Internship year at a community health center in Cape Town, South Africa. She says it is a challenge being far away from her family and friends but knowing that she can make a difference in the fight against COVID-19 helps her to keep on persevering.

We had a little chat with Esaivani on how it feels graduating as a Golden Key member:

How does it feel about graduating from Durban University and what is your next step?

“I am absolutely ecstatic about completing my degree because a lot of sacrifices, hard work and late nights were put in. This field is very demanding, one has to constantly be on their feet and open to adapting and the studying never ends. I was upset because graduation was cancelled due to the current pandemic however I am looking forward to celebrating with my family and friends when I do return home. Right now I am navigating my way through my twenties and I do see myself studying further in the future or exploring other avenues in my field.”

What was your favourite part about being a member of Golden Key?

“I was excited when I received my Golden Key invitation precisely because it’s an absolute delight to be recognised for your hard work and also given the opportunity to promote my field of study. There are so many important mainstream courses that many of us don’t have much knowledge about other than the popular career choices. The opportunity to interact and engage with others allows one to expand their circle and just be proactive in life.”

What is your advice to other GK members who have not yet graduated?

“Keep persevering, be consistent and trust me hard work does pay off. A quote that has resonated with me for most of my life is not from a great politician but from a wrestler, who has been my role model ever since I was 6:

A man’s character is not judged after he celebrates a victory but by what he does when his back is against the wall – John Cena.

To the graduate class of 2020/2021: You have all the tools that you need to progress further; your back will be against the wall numerous times but you must believe that you can move forward. Don’t let anything not even a pandemic stop you from reaching the stars. It’s how we react to what is happening around us that’s most important. As millennials we have so much more to do, the work is not done just yet and a platform like Golden Key gives us the opportunity to make an impact on society and improve our lives for the better.”

This article was written for Golden Key by Julie Poulsen.

1. Print your resume out on paper so you can review it

When something is on a screen we don’t read it as closely as when it’s on paper. Try printing out your resume so you can read it like you would a book. Print it double-spaced and use a highlighter and pen to make notes as you go through it, slowly and carefully.

2. Read it out loud

Reading out loud might feel silly but it can sometimes highlight problems that you might not have noticed otherwise. Maybe one particular sentence is too long, or a word is repeated too many times. Reading your resume out loud will help you to notice these issues and fix them.

3. Mix it up

Okay, here’s a slightly crazy suggestion: Try reading it backwards. Not literally backwards, but maybe try reading it from the end first. Or try printing it on colored paper. Experiment with printing it in different formats. By seeing your resume presented differently you’re more drawn to any errors. Don’t just use one of these tricks: use them one after the other, or combine them.

4. Give it some time

When we read something right after writing it, it can be difficult to be critical. Give your resume some time to mature and come back to it with a clear head. You’ll be amazed by how many things you’re ready to change after letting it cool off.

5. Customize it for the job

This is so, so important. Sure, the position you’re applying for may be similar to others you’ve applied for. But every position means different things to different companies, and different hiring teams will list different requirements as most important. “Carefully read the job listing, or the company’s mission statement, and rearrange your CV to highlight the features that will most impress the hiring team,” says Curtis Welch, a recruiting consultant at Uktopwriters.

6. Make sure it’s properly structured

Every few years there are changes in laws, best practices, and even styles that affect how your resume is perceived and read. Make sure you’re aware of these changes and your resume is up to date.

7. Save and print in standard formats

No matter what crazy fonts and colors you used as part of your proofreading process, make sure your resume is plain and professional when it’s sent. Most hiring teams are incredibly put off by odd font choices, brightly colored letters, or the use of emojis.

8. Ask for a second opinion

After a while it can be hard to be critical of something you created on your own. If you’re looking at your resume and feel that it’s perfect, get a friend, relative, or professional proofreader to look through it. A fresh pair of eyes might detect mistakes that you couldn’t.

This article was first published by Golden Key partner Vault: http://www.vault.com/blog/resumes-cover-letters/8-resume-proofreading-tips/

Vault.com provides in-depth intelligence on what it’s really like to work in an industry, company or profession—and how to position yourself to land that job. Search current jobs and internships, research a company, school or industry, get the inside scoop on what it’s really like, and find the career advice you need to launch your career.