How to mention media attention in a resume?

Question

I'm a recent graduate with a degree in Electrical Engineering. I've worked as a research assistant for 3 out of my 4 years at the University, and in my final year of research, several media outlets became interested in my work. The attention began to snowball, and in the matter of a few weeks I had several radio interviews and news paper articles done about me and my research. Even my University began to feature me in several of their official recruitment brochures/documents.

I am now applying to several jobs and I am not entirely sure how/if I should mention the media attention I received in a CV. I would hope mentioning it would validate the quality and meaningfulness of my work, and speak to my ability to generate broad interest in my work among the public.

Is this the sort of thing that belongs in a technical resume, or does it come off as slightly unprofessional? Is it something that I include in a cover letter instead? Or do I not mention it at all and hope a hiring manager Googles my name at some point during the process and finds the stories organically.

Answer 1

If your goal is to stress the technical/scientific content of your research and not just to shout "I have been on TV!", just be sure to mention your research in your resume. You can maybe add a note at the bottom of the section about your activity, mentioning "used on University recruiting material" or something similar.

Media attention will pop up in a Google search upon your name and/or activity (which I think most of the recruiters normally do by default without any trigger from the candidate), making you already more visible.

Just don't make it the focal point of your resume: recruiting material gets updated, media attention comes and goes while the technical content of your job stays for longer, and that's what technical recruiters look for.

Answer 2

It is a fairly common thing to list on a CV if somebody has done talks, given large presentations, TV/radio appearances etc... This should not been a focus point of the resume any more than a 'Hobbies/Interests' section and should be kept as a side note more or less to give you the competitive edge.

The headings media attention could be listed under is 'Public Speaking Events', 'Professional Appearances', or 'Media Appearances'.

Keep it short, a list if you will, referencing the event and what you did (e.g. co-host, keynote speaker etc...).