How to add a KnoPro Challenge to a resume or application

Lindsey Dixon
|
12/12/2024

KnoPro Challenges provide students with a unique opportunity  to demonstrate their skills and experiences on college applications and resumes. These real-world projects showcase teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving capabilities, helping students stand out.

Here’s how educators can guide students in leveraging their KnoPro experiences to make a lasting impression.

Presenting a KnoPro Challenge

Focus on the student’s role and impact

Encourage students to highlight their specific contributions to their team. Whether they led meetings, organized tasks, or managed budgeting, they should detail their involvement clearly.

For example:

  • “Led a team of five, in designing a community outreach campaign for [challenge topic].”
  • “Handled budgeting, ensuring the project remained within budget and on schedule.”

Including concrete actions helps admissions committees understand the unique value each student brings.

Quantify achievements

Impactful results make accomplishments more tangible. Educators can help students identify measurable impacts from their projects. Did the project reach/inspire a specific audience? Solve a key problem? Earn praise from stakeholders?

Examples might include:

  • “Received 80% positive feedback on clarity and impact.”
  • “Increased outreach to 500+ community members.”

Quantifying achievements helps illustrate the scope and significance of their contributions.

Describe challenges and growth

Real-world projects often present unexpected obstacles, offering valuable learning opportunities. Students can reflect on how they adapted, prioritized tasks, or managed deadlines.

For instance:

  • “Balanced deadlines with schoolwork, by creating a project timeline and setting team check-ins to ensure tasks and goals remained on track.”

Highlighting how students navigated challenges demonstrates adaptability and problem-solving skills, which colleges and employers highly value.

Strategically positioning KnoPro participation on applications

Extracurricular section

Encourage students to keep descriptions brief but impactful. Action verbs like “led,” “developed,” or “organized” convey confidence and competence.

For example:

  • “Led a team in creating a social impact proposal for a community challenge, earning a feature on KnoPro’s website.”

Clear, concise language ensures their experience stands out on a resume or application.

Essays and personal statements

Students can dive deeper into their KnoPro experiences in essays, using the space to explore how the challenge shaped their skills and goals.

For example, they might discuss how the project improved their ability to prioritize tasks or strengthened their communication skills.

Encourage students to share what they learned, why it mattered, and how it influenced their aspirations, such as a desire to pursue a career that builds on the skills they developed.

Final thoughts

Incorporating KnoPro Challenges into resumes and applications enables students to showcase not only their achievements, but also their growth as learners and collaborators.

By describing their roles, quantifying results, and reflecting on challenges, students can effectively demonstrate their readiness and enthusiasm for future academic and professional opportunities.

Check out this article for more tips and tricks!

Get ready! This January, we’ll be launching a Social Entrepreneurship Challenge with the Fleischer Scholars Foundation!

Do you dream of making a difference while building something extraordinary? In this Challenge, you’ll tackle a social issue—like homelessness, accessibility, or rainforest protection—by developing a new product, service, or business idea that creates real impact.

Learn more here: Social Entrepreneurship Challenge | KnoPro [powered by NAF]

View Bio

Lindsey is the Vice President of Product & Innovation at NAF. For more than a decade, she has worked for several amazing nonprofits, including her current role at NAF, to help schools and training programs ensure that students are future ready, with the in-demand skills and social networks that lead to socioeconomic mobility.

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