Resume

Theoretical overview

1. Basic Facts
2. Writing Skills 

 Hiring personnel likely to hold a poorly written resume against the applicant 

 Used as a weed-out tool 

 Should use minimal wording, thus making sure each carefully chosen fact produces a lasting impression on an employer 

2. Time Allotted and Length

 Average time spent on a resume is 10 to 30 seconds

 Should be one page

3. “Does it Help” Rule 

When adding information, ask yourself “does it help?”

 Will the piece of information help get the interview 

Is it relevant to the position I want 

Does it solve their problem 

 Is it more important than something else 

2.  Resume Defined
3. Purpose 

• A resume is a summary of your experiences and skills relevant to the field of work you are entering.
• It highlights your accomplishments to show a potential employer that you are qualified for the work you want. It is not a biography of everything you have done.
• Its purpose is to get you an interview. 
• A resume can and should reflect more than just your paid work experience. Include the details of your more important extracurricular, volunteer, and leadership experiences. 

2. Tailored Resumes 

• Tailor separate resumes to fit each career field in which you are job searching. You can create slightly different resumes tailored to each job opening

3.  Resume Types:  

• Chronological Resume 
• Most common
• Objective statement followed by chronological job history, including some highlighted achievements at each position
• Shows progress in a single profession, thus puts emphasis on work experience (may not be the best choice for a college graduate) 
• Functional Resume 
• Emphasis on abilities instead of work history
• Objective statement followed by list of skills an employer wants with a brief example of the qualifications; employment history follows at the bottom in a brief format
• Chrono-Functional Resume 
• Combines the strengths of both resumes
• Objective statement followed by a list of a few key skills followed by an in-depth employment history similar to a chronological resume 
• Good for students who have internship experience and career-oriented extracurricular activities.

4. Getting Started

 Step 1: Make a list of your various activities over the years 

• Include paid work, volunteer positions, extracurricular activities (especially those in which you had a leadership role) and internships
• Can go as far back as four or five years. Graduating seniors will often have one or two items from high school on their resume if those items stress an important skill.

Step 2: Write a paragraph about each important item in your list. 

• “Important items” would include most paid work, internships, extended volunteer activities, and activities in which you had a leadership role.
• Don’t worry about the wording of your paragraphs at this point ; “resume language” will come late
• Describe accomplishments as well as duties (provide a skill and its result) 
• An example of a duty might be “I maintained ten computers, loading new software and resolving problems as needed,” while an example of an accomplishment might be “I created two self-paced PowerPoint presentations to train people in our office on the new company software, and it was so successful that my manager asked me to present it to five other managers in the company.

Step 3: Pick the items that you will highlight or emphasize on your resume.

 ∙ Give this some thought. Consider two factors here: 

• What are your greatest strengths, and how can you demonstrate those strengths through your experience? All employers value certain qualities: team player; good communication skills; leadership abilities. In addition, you have particular skills that you consider your strong points, you would generally try to bring those to light, as well.
• What are the requirements and needs of this particular industry, this particular employer and this particular job?

Step 4: Create the sections of your resume.

Section 1: Name and Address

Section 2: Objective

Section 3: Education

Section 4: Experience

Section 5: Activities, Volunteer work, Interests

Section 6: Skills

Section 7: References

Step 5: Format your resume.

 ∙ Direct the employer’s eye to the most important information: (remember, 10-30 seconds) 

1. Leave plenty of white space on your resume – don’t make your resume look crowded. 
2. Emphasize job titles by boldfacing them (except where the name of a prestigious organization you have worked for will grab their attention first). 
3. Place the most important information closer to the top of your resume. (For example, if you are a student and your paid work has been fairly mundane, but you have great computer skills or excellent extracurricular leadership experience, then put the skills or the extracurriculars near the top of your resume.) 
4. Where appropriate, descriptive category headings can attract an employers attention (for example, “Counseling and Tutoring Experience” or “Leadership Experience” instead of just “Experience”). 
5. Leave blank space between the separate sections and items on your resume. ∙ Other formatting details: ∙ Condense to one page. Exceptions: two-page resumes for nursing, for education and for those alumni who have over two years of experience in that field (however, before going with a two-page resume, check with others in your career field). ∙ Center and balance your resume on the page, leaving approximately 1 inch margins. ∙ Design your resume for easy skimming: emphasize by boldfacing, capitalizing and italicizing. ∙ Use 8 1/2″ x 11″ white, off-white or very light-gray bond paper. Do not use colored paper. ∙ Proofread carefully and have others review your final draft.

General Resume “Don’ts”

• Include information for leaving a job
• Letters of recommendation 
• Race, religion, age, sexual orientation 
• Starting date (should be included in the cover letter)
• Photographs 
• Inflated jargon
• Use “I”  Use clichéd adjectives like “dynamic” or “self-starting”; use detailed descriptions of accomplishments to convince employer; 
• Just use job duties—prove what you have done 
• Send a resume without a cover letter
• Use a resume wizard or place your resume in a table 
• Use elaborate fonts (Arial or Times New Roman will suffice) 
• Avoid unnecessary personal information such as marital status and date of birth.

5. General Resume Do’s  

• Use consistent format and alignment
• Keep in plain text ∙ Vary sentence structure to avoid bored 
• Keep sentences to under 25 words; average about 18 words, but change it up so the resume is not the same line after line 
• Shorter sentences: start with a clause: follow with a colon, then add bullets of information relating to the introductory clause 
• Add bullets to accomplishments to make them stand out
• Proofread by you and other people; watch out for spelling and grammar—spell-check does not catch everything (manger v. manager) 
• Use quality paper (at least 50% cotton); no scented or decorative paper 
• Potentially include preferences on job location and personal hobbies 

Points to remember

• A resume is a summary of your experiences and skills relevant to the field of work you are entering.
• It highlights your accomplishments to show a potential employer that you are qualified for the work you want. It is not a biography of everything you have done.
• Its purpose is to get you an interview. 
• A resume can and should reflect more than just your paid work experience. Include the details of your more important extracurricular, volunteer, and leadership experiences. 
• Leave plenty of white space on your resume – don’t make your resume look crowded. 
• Use 8 1/2″ x 11″ white, off-white or very light-gray bond paper. Do not use colored paper.