| Categories | Resume Formats | Sample Resumes |
| Power Verbs | Skill Headings | Cover Letters |
| The Resume Doctor Resource Center | From Military to Civilian Resumes | |
| Writing Curriculum Vitaes | ||
Employers generally spend about 30 seconds looking at a resume. Keep in mind these important points as you write yours:
-
The overall appearance is very important
-
Be brief, clear, neat and honest
-
Your resume should be well organized and easy to follow
-
Minimize abbreviations to only those that are well know, i.e., states
-
Make sure all relevant education, experience and skills are clearly highlighted
-
Be focused; employers do not want to make career decisions for you
-
Your resume is a formal, professional document and a work sample
-
Always send a cover letter with your resume
The following are topic areas often included in resumes. These are typical heading, but not the only ones you can include. Use them as guidelines in developing your first draft. You can also use theCareer Centers' Drop-Off Services to get a critique of your resume draft. Just drop it off in University Union 106 and pick up your critiqued resume in one to two days. Counselors are available to critique your resume during walk-in hours Monday-Friday 2 - 4:30 pm.
PERSONAL DATA:
Always include your name, local and permanent addresses and phone numbers, and your email address if available. Make yourself optimally accessible by telephone since this is how employers will typically contact you.
Evaluate all other personal information in terms of job relevancy. No irrelevant information should be offered - do not include marital status, height, weight, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national origin and any disabilities.
PROFESSIONAL/CAREER OBJECTIVE:
Make a concise, positive statement about your work goals. Indicate 1) the position or job you want, and 2) the skills you will bring to the job, and 3) a combination of position and skills. The more focused you are, the better.
If you are aiming for a diverse group of jobs, you might want to leave the objective off the resume and explain your interests in the cover letter instead, or have different resumes with different objectives.
EDUCATION:
-
Degree and major, date of graduation (month & year)
-
Name of college, city and state
-
Minor and/or area of concentration
-
GPA, if 3.0 or higher. This could be overall GPA, Major GPA or both
-
Relevant course work - list courses that you think will add to your qualifications and may not be inferred from your major or minor
-
Other colleges (same format) - list if you received a degree there or transferred from there. Always put most current college first
-
Accomplishments - i.e., financed 75% of education through...
-
Do NOT include high school information
WORK EXPERIENCE:
-
Include job title, place of employment, city and state, dates (most recent first). Typically go back 4-5 years or summer after high school.
-
Describe job in a way that clearly highlights relevant skills. This can be in brief paragraph format or with concise bulleted statements.
-
Do NOT use personal pronouns
-
Use power verbs , action verbs and qualifying adjectives. If it's a present job, use present-tense verbs; if it's a past job, use past-tense verbs.
-
Quantify when possible - use numbers (%, $, etc...)
-
Describe your experience as it relates to the position or field of interest
-
Use alternative headings if necessary to separate experience that is most directly related to your career objective. Examples include: Computer Experience, Sales Experience, Financial Experience, Writing Experience, Science/Research Experience, Retail Experience, Banking Experience, Teaching Experience, Foreign Travel.
RELATED PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION:
Any of these can become a separate category if your background warrants:
-
Co-curricular activities / leaderships
-
Honors, Awards, Scholarships, Fellowships
-
Internships
-
Special Skills
-
Affiliations with civic and community groups
-
Professional organization memberships and offices held
-
Licenses, certificates currently held (i.e., First Aid, etc...)
-
Publications
-
Research
REFERENCES:
References can be handled in a variety of ways. Currently, the most preferred method is listing your references' names, job titles, addresses (work), and phone numbers on a separate References page. On your resume you may indicate that "References are available upon request" but this is not necessary. Make sure that each of your three to four references has agreed in advance to write reference letters or answer phone calls concerning your candidacy. Professional references from work or college tend to carry more weight than personal character references.
1. CHRONOLOGICAL
This is the preferred resume format of many employers. You can also customize this format with a "highlights" section following your personal information. This is the "You're not getting older, you're getting better" format.
Use this format if: 1)Your most recent education or work experience is related to your career goal; 2) your work history shows a logical progression toward your current career objective; and 3) you have a stable work history with few or no gaps.
2. FUNCTIONAL
While this is an excellent format for many college students, some employers are suspicious of information in this format. This format showcases what you can do, as opposed to where and when you did it. Typical functional categories include skill areas such as Administrative, Service, Supervisory, Communications, Financial, Training, Interpersonal, Creative, Public Relations, Sales, Language and Computer.
Use this format if: 1) you have limited direct experience in your chosen field; 2) your skills have been acquired primarily through study; 3) your work history is inconsistent; and 4) you are changing careers.
3. TARGETED
With this format, you adapt your resume to each industry or organization which you are targeting for employment. This format highlights your capabilities in relation to that specific industry, organization or job.
Use this format if: 1) you want the reader to focus on only your education and work experience that helped prepare you for their specific job; 2) you want to emphasize some past experience that is relevant to your career objective and 3) you'd rather de-emphasize your most recent experience, which is not so relevant.
4. SCANNABLE
This format prepares your resume for the eye of a computer scanner rather than a human. Many large and mid-sized organizations are beginning to use Optical Character Reader (OCR) scanners to scan all resumes and cover letters. This puts all job applicants into a database which can be sorted on key words for specific job openings. "Hits" for key words can come from any part of your correspondence and can include words such as BS/BA, leadership, customer services, teamwork, marine biology, MBA and computer terms such as UNIX, Windows, PageMaker, desktop publishing, database management, and more. To prepare a scannable resume:
-
Less is more. AVOID fancy typefaces, bold, italics, underlined text, shading, graphics, type under 12 pt font, lines. White or off-white 8 1/2" x 11" paper scans the easiest. Don't staple or fold.
-
Use separate lines and white space. For better scanning reading, put all addresses, phone numbers, etc, on separate lines. Use white space to separate sections.
-
Use computer-friendly language. Use nouns as mentioned above. Minimize use of abbreviations.
-
One to two page resume rule is out. Three to four pages is fine for a scannable resume.
5. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RESUMES
All resumes in pdf format
| Arts & Humanities | Business | Education |
| Math | MSA | Sciences |
| Nursing | Social/Health Sciences | Freshmen Resume |
| MIT Resume | EDN 303 Resume |
About this Site | Copyright Notice |
