Employment & Career Assistant

Writing a Resume

What is a Resume?

A resume is a concise document for introducing your skills, work experience, and education to an employer. The goal is to match your skills and experiences with the needs of a company in which you are applying in order to land an interview. A resume should highlight your strongest assets.

A good resume should include:

• Your name and contact information
• a headline statement or a summary
• education and internships
• work experiences
• skills
• include a reference section with accurate contacts for reference purposes

Some optional sections to include:

• Extracurricular/Volunteer Activities
• Honors and Awards
• Certifications, Skills, and Training
• Hobbies, clubs, and Interests

Tips for writing a resume

• A resume should be limited to 1-2 pages

• Tailor your résumé to the job you’re applying for. Pay attention to the job description and the competencies they require. What skills is the company looking for? Take a look at the experiences and skills you have and convey to the company that your skills and job experiences match what they are looking for.

• Format your resume so that it is easy to read.

• Use bullet format when conveying your skills or work experiences always include the what, how, why, and an impact of the job or project if possible. Use active voice and when writing bullet points start them out with a good "action" verb.

• Don’t use words such as I, me, or my on your resume

Formatting a Resume

There are four common formats to write a resume: chronological, functional, combination, and targeted.

Chronological: It lists your work history, with the most recent positions shown first. Most used by job seekers with a strong, solid work history.

Functional: A functional resume focuses on your skills and experience, rather than on your chronological work history. Used by job seekers who are changing careers, little work experience, or have gaps in work history.

Combination: A combination resume is a mix between a chronological resume and a functional resume.

Targeted: a resume that is customized to specifically highlight the experience and skills you have that are relevant to the job you are applying for. 

• A resume should be formatted so it is easily read. Most companies will just skim through the resumes for 30 to 60 seconds, so make sure your resume stands out and is easy to read.
• Use a professional font and use a font size that is between 10 -12 point. 
• Use margins that are greater than or equal to .05 and have margins the same on all sides of the page.

• Your name and contact information should be at the top of the page.Make sure all information is current and up to date. Your name should be bold, centered, and have a larger font than the rest of the page in order to standout. Use font size 14 to 16 for name.

• Use capitalization, bold, and italics to highlight key items and or titles. Use white space to easily separate each section of the document. Make sure that you remain consistent throughout the document.
• Write experiences in reverse chronological order. Start with the most recent.

• Proofread!!. Check your resume for spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors