RESUME WRITING
Updated 3-29-2008
A well-designed, carefully written résumé serves two purposes: it enables you to get “in the door” for an interview, and it provides the basis for discussion in the interview. Do not be discouraged if you have had little or no paid work experience directly related to the job you seek. For people just graduating, it is often more important that you communicate your experience and skills in ways that will portray you as a potential employee. For full-time employment, it is usually best not to use a wizard or template, and to create your résumé from scratch, exhibiting your word processing skill. Remember, your résumé may be one of hundreds reviewed by the employer, and is an addition to the regular day’s work. Your résumé must stand out by relating who you are to the position for which you are applying. Most employers seek some of the following qualities:
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Elements of a Résumé
Heading, Identifying Information : Include your full name centered at the top of the page, complete address (present and permanent if applicable) and phone number (you will need a polite message on your answering machine), with the area code. Include your email address.
Objective
(optional): useful so the reader can quickly identify your area of
interest. An objective should state in 1-2 lines what you want to do
and should be employer-focused rather than self-serving. Whether or
not you choose not to include an objective, you need to very clearly
provide that same information in the first paragraph of your cover
letter. You will always compose a cover letter or letter of
application when you send your paper
résumé.
Qualifications
Statement/Summary/Profile/Skills/Keywords
(optional): possible alternative to an objective, becoming used more
often. This is a concise statement of your qualifications for this
position. This statement can be longer than an objective. Skills can
be listed as simply as “conversational Spanish, C++, fluent French,
html,” etc. If you suspect that the employer may scan
résumé
s
into a database, then this can also list keywords. Keywords are those
things required and/or preferred for employees.
Education
:
List degrees awarded, schools attended, graduation dates, majors,
minors, GPA if 3.0 or higher, and perhaps honors. Begin with your
most recent degree or current degree sought, then work backwards. It
is not necessary to list institutions from which you did not earn a
degree or certification. High school information is usually not
included. Exceptions are those seeking summer, part-time, or
internship positions. For internships, it is common practice to list
the relevant courses you will have completed at the time of the
internship (see example).
Experience: Include paid, volunteer, part-time, summer, leadership, intern, and other experiences. Start with the most recent, working back. List your title, employer, location, dates (either month and year, years, months, or academic terms), and an explanation of your duties or accomplishments. Be consistent. The most common form is to begin each statement with a past-tense verb, and to include keywords.
Some individuals choose to separate their experience into two
categories--related or professional experience in one category, with
explanations, and additional experience in another, without
explanations. This can be an effective way to emphasize experiences
related to your employment goal, and to list other unrelated jobs that
may be more recent later.
Awards/Honors/Achievements
:
If you have at least three achievements to mention, you can use this
as a separate category; otherwise, state academic distinctions under
the Education heading.
Activities
:
Include the name of the organization and any leadership roles you
held. Quantify any results of your participation if applicable
(years, membership increase, etc.). It is not good form to state
“member” for each item—that is assumed if the organization is listed.
Use abbreviations only if you are sure the reader understands them.
Interests
(optional): Include strong interests only if they are truly
significant to your lifestyle and/or to your work, and will enhance
your candidacy. Playing golf might be significant for some management
positions.
Do NOT Include the Following on Your Résumé :
- Personal data such as age, height, weight, health, disabilities, religion, marital status, dependents, appearance.
- Reference data—this is placed on a second, parallel document. If you have space to fill, you may mention the availability of a reference list. See the example of a reference page.
- Photographs, unless you are applying for a job as a model or actor.
- Salary history or requirements. Even if they ask for it, be as vague as you can in a letter, phone conversation, or interview. Just out of college, you can dodge the issue by stating that you have worked part-time during school and are flexible in regard to starting salary. However, in the interview, you should be prepared to know a reasonable starting salary, or an acceptable range such as $25,000 to $30,000 for many entry level positions.
If your résumé is too short:
- Consider adding a well written, exciting qualification statement.
- Rethink the duties and requirements of your past experiences. You may be able to elaborate on some significant responsibilities, especially if you enhanced sales, production, process efficiency, or creative endeavors.
- Include special projects (academic or civic), committees and task forces,
community involvement, special events, etc.
Consider changing to another format.
Come to Career Development & Placement for assistance. Business majors should
contact Scott Peterson in Lincoln 204. Others should see the
secretary in 217
Student Center for an appointment.
If your résumé is too long (over a page, for most):
- Reevaluate the relevance of the information you provide. Some things can be assumed or understood by the nature of a position such as “wait staff” or “receptionist.”
- Instead of listing every job, limit yourself to “Professional Experience” or “Relevant Experience.” Additional jobs can be merely listed without explanation in another category such as “Additional Employment.”
- Come in and ask for assistance. It is occasionally possible that you will end up with two pages of relevant information, especially if you have significant experience and leadership. Just avoid a few lines that spill over like a mistake—make the second page count and look good with your name and “page 2” at the top.
- A chronological
résumé
is by
far the most common and preferred in most fields. It is easily read
and understood, so your readers appreciate the quick read. Start with
your most recent or current position (include title, employer,
location, dates, and usually an explanation) or educational
achievement. In subsequent items, be consistent by listing those same
pieces of information in the same order as in the first item.
-
A functional resume is sometimes used by people with either little traditional experience to list or so much experience that is takes too much space to document all of it. In these cases, the candidate emphasizes skills and abilities rather than employers and tasks. Functional resumes are more difficult to write, requiring much more creativity and thought. If you choose this format, seek several critiques.
-
Combination resumes can also be written, utilizing the best of both of the above formats.
EXAMPLES OF RÉSUMÉS AND A REFERENCE PAGE ARE PROVIDED. PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE ARE ONLY SIMPLE EXAMPLES AND ARE NOT TO BE USED AS TEMPLATES. Instead, demonstrate your good thinking, writing, and creativity by producing documents that truly reflect YOUR strengths, experiences, and individuality.
General Guidelines:
- Limit your résumé to a page, if possible. Some employers will not even read beyond page one. Be concise, use phrases rather than sentences, and eliminate unnecessary verbiage.
- Use no personal pronouns (I, me, my, they, etc.).
- Maximize visual appeal and ease of reading/scanning, without clutter. One-inch margins are best; minimize punctuation; simple font styles, size 11 or 12.
- Organize clearly. Be consistent in the use of bolding, capitalization, bullets, etc. Place the most vital information at the top and work your way down.
- Verbs generally start your job explanations. However, if the employer uses optical scanning, you will also need keywords, which are nouns or acronyms.
- Punctuation should be logical and consistent, though not necessarily correct (because you are not using sentences). Periods are not necessary at the ends of lines.
- Proofread, proofread, proofread! Use spell-check after each revision, remembering that you may have used the wrong word, spelled correctly. Read slowly, aloud, including the address and phone numbers. Read in reverse, too, so you don’t anticipate what is coming next. Finally, get at least three sets of eyes to read your work. Call on the pickiest people you know, ask them to hatchet your résumé, and offer to do the same for others.
- Laser print on plain, 8.5”x11” bond paper, 20 pound or heavier. Double-check for errors.
- If mailed, include a personalized cover letter that is written with similar care. Be positive, enthusiastic, and honest. This is an example of your communication skills, so be sure it is flawless.
Verbs you might consider using:
| accommodated | decided | inspected | promoted |
| accomplished | decreased | interviewed | published |
| achieved | delegated | invented | purchased |
| administered | determined | investigated | qualified |
| advised | demonstrated | instructed | ranked |
| analyzed | designed | involved | raised |
| applied | developed | installed | recommended |
| arranged | devised | judged | recruited |
| assessed | directed | led | reduced |
| assigned | documented | listened | reported |
| assisted | drafted | marked | researched |
| attended | edited | managed | reviewed |
| authorized | engineered | manufactured | satisfied |
| bought | established | marketed | scheduled |
| budgeted | evaluated | motivated | selected |
| built | exercised | met | served |
| catalogued | exhibited | mobilized | sold |
| charted | expressed | operated | solved |
| clarified | explained | ordered | sorted |
| communicated | formulated | organized | spoke |
| compiled | furnished | originated | staffed |
| completed | gained | paraphrased | started |
| composed | graduated | participated | submitted |
| conducted | guided | performed | supervised |
| constructed | handled | planned | supplied |
| contributed | hired | predicted | synthesized |
| controlled | improved | prepared | taught |
| coordinated | implemented | presented | trained |
| corrected | increased | provided | utilized |
| created | initiated | produced | wrote |
- If possible, use ASCII to create your resume. It works best because there are no automatic codes or graphics as are used in standard word-processing programs. For example, Microsoft Word will automatically underline and make blue your email address. However, that coding will not survive email and Internet transmission. If using Word to write your resume, use the “Save As” command, go to the bottom left corner of the box and in the “Save as Type” box, select “Rich Text Format” or “Unicode Text,” and then OK the save.
- Write everything left aligned or left flush (not fully aligned), including your name and address. This is done because it will be left aligned when received. The final product will both look better and be much better organized if you write it left aligned.
- Use no columns or tabs.
- Use one line for each item, regardless of length of the document. Internet resumes are typically stored electronically, so length is not important.
- 65 characters per line maximum.
- No parentheses or brackets.
- No underlining or italics.
- No bullets. Instead, use an asterisk* (or a hyphen-) followed by a blank space.
- No graphics, lines, shading, or boxes.
- No Social Security number, personal information, or reference information.
- Clear, easily read fonts with no characters touching each other. Font size of 12-14.
- No bolding, as it will likely disappear in transmission.
- For emphasis, use capital letters consistently (all headings or all job titles, for example), not occasionally.
- To separate ideas, use empty lines (not indentations, as they are not left-flush).
- USE KEYWORDS, especially if part of an on-line application.
- Use industry jargon.
- Abbreviate only commonly understood items such as BS, SD, and acronyms in your field of study or work.
- Do not compress space, if using a Mac computer.
Now that the résumé is written, save it on a disk. To send:
- Be sure your résumé goes in the text of your email message, not as an attachment. The only exception to this rule is when the employer specifies that you send it as an attachment.
- In the subject line, title your resume in 45 characters or fewer. For example, “Accountant/150 hours/3.75 GPA/US”
- State your database: entry, experienced, or 3rd party.
- The first few lines of your email message can serve as a cover letter, quickly followed by the actual résumé
- Open A:\ to access your saved résumé
- Block the résumé and copy it (Edit menu).
- Return to the email message or on-line application form and paste the résumé in the appropriate space.
- View the entire message for accuracy, clean up as necessary.
- Send.
- Phone the next day, use your best smiling phone voice, and ask if your résumé was received clearly. If it wasn’t, ask for suggestions for your next attempt. Thank the person for the assistance and information.
To apply on-line and send your résumé, READ the on-line instructions for each company very carefully. Each company has its own procedures you must follow. Complete all sections of the on-line application form, review for accuracy, and follow steps 5-10 above.
Federal RésumésThose applying for federal jobs often need to write a résumé that includes much more information. In fact, some of this would NOT be included in any other type of job. Several years ago, the federal job application process was decentralized, and individual agencies and bureaus were given the option to design their own application process. Some of these agencies and bureaus continue to use the standardized federal application form, some give you a choice between that form and a very precisely written résumé, and some allow use of a more standard résumé. In recent years, most federal jobs require you to apply on-line and build an electronic résumé with their template. This can be saved and reused. Be sure you respond to each item, leaving no blanks. some require that you submit additional documents. You must read each vacancy announcement very carefully to know how to apply. Those applications that do not include exactly what is asked for are eliminated from consideration. If you are interested in federal employment, it is a good idea to use the USA Jobs website locate vacancies in which you are interested, read the directions for applying, and create a résumé that meets those specifications. It is not at all unusual for federal employers to require your Social Security number, age, citizenship, veteran status and discharge information, or other personal information; names, phone numbers, and street addresses of all past supervisors; and other pertinent data. The good news is that there is no need to worry about going beyond one page! Your first challenge is to include all the required information in a manner that is attractive, accurate, and well-organized for easy reading. Your second challenge is to check the vacancy announcements often enough to meet the deadlines. A few days to a week is typical for many vacancies. Late applications are not read. Please visit the Other Vacancy Links on our web page for more information.