Resume Tips

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.

Resume Review
After you have written a draft of your resume, have someone give you feedback on it.
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:

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/caa/career/artist_cv.html

JobWeb: Comprehensive guide to resume writing. This site provides useful information related to: What is a resume? Career Exploration, Self Assessment, Resume Tips, Contents of a Resume, Sample Resumes, References, etc.
http://www.jobweb.com/resumes_interviews/default.htm

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

Resumania! On-line: "Resumania On-Line is an interactive workbook designed to make resume writing less of a pain in the, and hopefully a bit more fun."
http://www.umn.edu/ohr/ecep/resume/resume.htm#steps