intro to resume writing

Planning | Resume Formats | Contents | Federal Job Resumes | Resumes and Technology | Links

A resume is a synopsis of what you have to offer an employer for a particular job. Its purpose is to organize the relevant facts about you in a written presentation, which will serve as your personal advertisement. Your resume must indicate WHO you are, WHAT kind of work you can do, and HOW you are qualified. It must sell as well as tell!

The resumes that you use should be well-planned, distinctive, and professional in appearance. Good format, high-quality paper and well-written text greatly improves readership. Above all, each statement needs to be accurate and not overly inflated. Avoid either revealing potentially negative information unnecessarily, or selling short your accomplishments. Consistency in date, punctuation, indentation, style and tense is very important. If a second page is needed, repeat your name at the top. Refer to the sample resumes at the end of this handout, as a springboard to develop effective ideas and approaches for your own resume.

Planning Your Resume

Before you can write a persuasive resume, you need to answer the following questions:
What is the employer looking for in a potential candidate?
• What skills/qualities can you offer an employer?
If you are unsure about either of these areas, you need to:
• Review want ads and articles in newspapers and professional journals to become familiar with current trends, issues, and jargon in your field.
• Analyze your past experiences (courses, special projects, paid employment, community involvement, clubs, and student organizations) to determine in what ways you have demonstrated desired qualifications.
• Don't automatically discount minor or unrelated jobs. Employers are interested in the total person, so consider all aspects of your background as possible strengths. Ask yourself what you learned from these experiences, what qualities were necessary for good performance, and how these might be applicable to your objective.
• Formal education and previous experience related to your field are your most significant qualifications. Don't underestimate the skills you have acquired from your courses and projects, you do have related experience from your classes, labs, and projects.

1. Functional Format

This format goes beyond simply outlining experience and education. It is appropriate for a more seasoned individual. The focus is on what is termed "transferable skills." The key element of this type of resume is the section on skills. The skill clusters chosen should support the stated job objective. Group your work accomplishments, responsibilities, and duties according to functional skill areas such as "Computer Skills", "Technical Skills", "Project Planning Skills", "Managerial Skills", "Sales", "Communication". Choose your skill headings according to your job objective and briefly describe, using action statements, the work you did in each of the broad categories you identify. Work history and job titles take a subordinate position in this format. In fact, you may draw upon volunteer positions, education and other life experiences for many of the skills you wish to note. [Resume example]

2. Reverse Chronological Format

This format typifies 80% of all resumes. It is most appropriate for the typical student or new graduate. Education and job history are described in descending order, with the most recent events first. It tends to emphasize job titles and organizations.

Resume Review

After you have written a draft of your resume, have someone give you feedback on it. Your program coordinator in the Office of Co-op & Career Services is available to look over your resume with you.

Contents of a Resume

• Identifying Information - your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. Usually both local and permanent data should be indicated. Consider including your personal URL (if appropriate).
• Job Objective - a brief statement indicating the type of opportunity by title and/or function. Make sure your objective fits the type of job you want.
• Educational Background - list of colleges and universities attended, dates, degrees, diplomas, and certificates with emphasis on highest-level achieved and special training pertinent to your job objective. List your major(s) and any concentration. You may also include your GPA and any academic honors received at each school. Don't include high school information.
• Experience or Work History - indicate dates of employment, name of employer, city and state, title of each position. Describe your major duties and responsibilities and relate any notable achievements (e.g. promotion) and/or skills developed. Use action words to attract attention to your skills and accomplishments (refer to the action verb list in this handout). You may want to have one section for related work experience and a separate section for other experience. Employment relevant to your stated job objective should be elaborated on; that which is unrelated, including part-time, should be mentioned briefly.
• Skills Section - a list of specific skills and abilities most useful in your career field. For example, computer, technical, laboratory, foreign languages.
• Activities or Interests - at least a brief mention of extracurricular activities, professional memberships and affiliations, community activities, or hobbies. Be sure to mention any offices held.
• Optional Categories - Military record, licenses/certifications, publications, major projects (e.g. research), other experiences (e.g. volunteer, travel)

Action Verbs
Use action verbs, not "duties included" or "I was responsible for". Verbs should be in the past tense for a job that is over and present tense for a current job. The following list of action words should be used to succinctly accentuate tasks, functions and achievements, especially when describing work and other experiences:

Accomplished Achieved Adapted Administered Alleviated Analyzed Appraised Arranged Assisted Audited Authored Balanced Built Chaired Communicated Completed Computed Conceptualized Conducted Constructed Consulted Contributed Controlled Coordinated Corrected Counseled Created Demonstrated Designed Developed Diagnosed Directed Documented

Edited Employed Enabled Enforced Enhanced Enlarged Equipped Established Estimated Evaluated Expanded Facilitated Forecasted Formulated Guided Handled Identified Implemented Improved Increased Initiated Installed Instructed Integrated Invented Investigated Launched Led Managed Marketed Maximized Modeled Modified Monitored Motivated Negotiated

Offered Operated Organized Originated Oversaw Performed Persuaded Planned Presented Produced Programmed Projected Promoted Published Qualified Rated Recommended Reconciled Repaired Reported Researched Resolved Reviewed Revised Selected Sold Solved Strengthened Studied Supervised Tested Trained Translated Updated Wrote

Resumes for Federal Jobs

What are the differences between a federal and a private industry resume? More information can be found on our Federal Job Search page.

Private Industry	Federal Resume
1-2 pages No social security number, supervisors, or salaries Fewer details in descriptions Creative, graphic, functional resumes are acceptable Keywords are desirable	3-5 pages is acceptable supervisor’s names, salaries More details for work descriptions to demonstrate your qualifications for a job Chronological, traditional format Keywords are needed

Resumes and Technology

 

E-mailing Your Resume

Employers are requesting, sometimes requiring, that resumes be sent by e-mail. The format choices you make can have an important impact on your ability to do so effectively. Follow these guidelines for an e-mail version of your resume:

Prepare several different file format versions of your resume. For example, both plain text (ASCII) format and Rich Text format documents are easily interpreted by most computers and support bold characters, underlining, italics and other formatting. Word document and Adobe PDF format resumes are also widely used and readily accessible by employers. Employers may request that resumes be submitted in a certain file format for e-mail purposes
Don't include your resume as an attachment only. Instead, include your resume as part of your email message, perhaps separated by something like the following: [begin resume] and [end resume] and indicate that it is attached to the e-mail as a Word or PDF document.
• Don't use boldface, underlining, or bullets in your resume when it is included as part of the email text. You can use asterisks (*) or plus signs (+) instead of bullets and do consider using CAPITAL letters as a highlighting technique.
• E-mail your resume to yourself or a friend, as a test, before e-mailing it to employers, to be sure the format transfers as desired.
• You can mail an original resume to the employer as a follow up to your e-mail.
• Always include a cover letter as part of your e-mail message text. Follow the same guidelines for cover letter development as you would if you were mailing a cover letter to an employer by regular mail.

The Scannable Resume

Many large companies use scanning technologies as a productivity aid in human resources. Resume images are entered into a system using an optical scanner, thereby building a database of applicant information. The employer then accesses candidates by searching this database for those with desired qualifications. You may choose to develop a separate version of your resume in scannable format.

These systems search by using "key words" (particularly nouns) or phrases. So, in order for your resume to have appeal to those in your chosen field, explicitly and extensively use the jargon of that field! Caution: when including acronyms alone be sure they are widely recognized; otherwise spell the words out.

Tips for Making Your Resume "Scanner-Friendly"
• Standard Serif and Sans Serif fonts work best - Ariel, Times New Roman, Helvetica, Futura, Palatino. Avoid ornate fonts.
• Font size is also important; sizes between 10 - 12 pt. work best.
• Italics and underlining may cause problems for the scanner, especially if combined. Avoid reverse type. Use boldface for emphasis.
• Use vertical or horizontal lines sparingly, leave at least a quarter of an inch of space around the line.
• Avoid graphics, shading, shadowing, and boxes.
• Do not compress or expand the space between letters or lines. Do not double space within sections.
• The resume you submit should be printed with a laser printer on white or light-colored paper.
• Position your name at the top of the page on its own line; use standard address format and place each phone number on its own line.
• Do not fold or staple the resume – if mailing your resume.

 

Links

Acorn Career Counseling and Resume Writing: This site provides helpful information on HTML, scannable and formula resumes. It also identifies free places to post your resume or job skills data on the Internet. General resume posting links and links for resume posting for specific types of job seekers are listed, as well.
http://www.acornresume.com

College Art Association Guidelines: Visual Artist Curriculum Vitae Recommended Conventions.
http://www.collegeart.org/guidelines/visartcv.html and an Artist Resume.

Quintessential Careers: Here is a great article about creating online resumes. The site also provides you with numerous links to other career-related articles.
http://www.quintcareers.com/Web-based_resume.html

Rebecca Smith’s eResumes Resources: Provides information on preparing, posting and promoting electronic resumes. See how people are using their online resume to promote their skills. Research the job marketplace with Links and find out what the latest trends and techniques are in online job search and recruiting.
http://www.eresumes.com