10 Steps to a Great Resume
Step 1.
Self-Analyze
Before you begin writing your resume, you
must first plan the information you believe should be included. Here are a few suggestions to think about
before you begin:
- What
are my career goals?
- What
skills and/or abilities do I possess?
- What
experience do I have?
- What
extracurricular activities have I done?
Step 2.
Format
Once you decide on the information you
would like to include in your resume, you must choose a format. There are two types of resume formats that
you can choose from to use in your resume.
A Functional
Resume is one that lists your employment, education, volunteer work, and
internships or co-ops in order of importance and relevance to the position
being applied for. It is most
successfully used in cases where you have relevant job experience, are changing
careers completely, or for students with no prior work experience.
A Chronological
Resume is one that lists your employment, education, volunteer work, and
internships or co-ops in chronological order beginning with the most
recent. This format is most successfully
used in any situation for resume writing including general employment.
You may also format each section as you wish
by using underlining, bold, and italics as you
see necessary in the Employment, Education, Volunteer Work, and
Internships/Co-ops sections.
Step 3.
Contact Information
Your contact information should be located
at the top of your resume. You may right
justify, left justify, or place your information in the middle of the top of
the page. You may also choose to list your name in the middle, right justify
your address and left justify your phone number and e-mail address, or list the
information vertically, horizontally, or use a combination of the two. This is how a potential employer will contact
you if you are selected for an interview; therefore, you should always use
accurate information.
The
following should be included in your Contact Information:
- Name.
This should be the very first thing on your resume and should stand
out. It should include your first and
last name. You may also add your middle
name or initial if you choose to do so.
You may use a nickname only if it is a shortened version of your given
name.
- Address. This should be your full, permanent address.
- Phone Number. You may include your home, work, and/or cell
phone number.
- E-mail Address. Use the e-mail address you check most often.
- Personal Website. Include your personal website only if it is
relevant to the position you are applying for.
Step 4.
Objective
The Objective included in your resume is
used to inform your prospective employer of your career goals. An objective should be included in your
resume unless you are applying for multiple positions at the same
organization. This section may be
labeled as Objective, Professional Objective, or Career Objective.
Your objective should contain at least the
first two parts below. You may add the third to highlight what skills or
experience you have to offer the employer, especially if you do not elect to
include a summary of skills, summary of qualifications, or demonstrated skills.
The 3 main parts should create one smooth sentence.
The 2 to 3 parts that should be included are:
1. Position title desired. What
position are you applying for?
2. Organization type. What
type of organization are you seeking for future employment? E.g. – medical facility, business, law firm,
etc.
3. Special skills, knowledge, or experiences. What
special skills, knowledge, or experiences do you have that could present you as
the most qualified candidate for the position? E.g. – customer services skills,
technical knowledge, etc.
The next 4
steps may be included in your resume in any order you choose.
There is no
set order as to what sections should go first, second, third, etc. on your
resume. Whichever section you believe is
more important to the employer should be first.
Step 5.
Education
You
should include the following for each degree obtained and/or in progress:
- Degree
- Major
- College/University
- City
- State
- Graduation
Date
Your highest degree should be listed first. Degrees that are still in progress should
also be listed on your resume along with anticipated graduation date. High School education should only be included
on a resume that is intended for internships or summer jobs. If you are
currently working on a degree or have just graduated with a degree, you may
want to add any specific courses or training you have that are specific to the
position for which you are applying. Specific
courses and training may be included in the Education section or may be formed
into an independent section.
Academic honors or achievements can also be
included in this section or in a separate section if you choose.
GPA should also be included if it is 3.0 or
above on a 4.0 GPA scale. List the
highest of your GPAs, whether it be in your major or overall.
Step 6.
Employment
The
following should be included in any order for each job listed:
- Job
Title
- Organization
- Location
of Organization (city, state)
- Brief
list of duties and responsibilities, and/or accomplishments, results
- Dates
employed
It is standard to list your employment history in reverse
chronological order beginning with your most recent job. If you have had more than one job for the
same company, be sure to list the most recent first and continue backwards. Be
sure to include dates in this situation so that the job progression is visible
to the prospective employer.
If you are listing responsibilities for a position you
currently obtain, use present tense. If
you are listing responsibilities for previous jobs, use past tense.
You only need to list your employment history for the past
10 to 15 years. Other employment may be
summarized briefly at the end of the section in a few sentences.
You may list employment under a variety of section titles
including Employment, Related
Employment, Experience, Related Experience, Employment
Experience, Employment History, Work History, etc.
Co-ops and internships are also considered employment;
however, they should be listed in a different section. You should include the same information for a
co-op or internship as listed at the beginning of this step.
Step 7.
Skills (Optional)
You may, if you choose, add a section with transferable
skills you possess that could contribute greatly to the position you are
applying for. Transferable skills are
those that you have gathered from previous experiences in your job, sports, or
life in general, that can be used in a future career.
Here are a few examples of transferable skills:
- Multi-task
- Responsible
- Self-Motivated
- Organized
- Personable
- Customer
Service Skills
Step 8.
Hobbies, Activities, Volunteer Work, etc. (Optional)
Hobbies and activities should be mentioned in your resume
if they are pertinent to the position you are applying for. For instance, if you enjoy outdoor activities
such as camping or biking and you are applying for a position with the local
park service, you should mention that in your resume. If the hobby is completely unrelated to the
position you are applying for, you should consider your purpose in mentioning
it. For example, do you wish to demonstrate that you are a well-rounded person
with interests outside of the workplace? Employers sometimes like to know that
the person they hire is not a candidate for burnout because they have other
outlets.
Volunteer work should be mentioned on your resume if it
relates to the intended position or if you learned transferable skills through
completing your volunteer work. You may
name the section Volunteer Work, Volunteer Experience, etc. You may list the information in the same way
you would employment if you wish. You
may also abbreviate the information to include a brief description of what you
did, the organization you did the work for, and when you did it.
Step 9. References.
References should not be listed directly on your resume,
but should instead be provided on a separate sheet along with your resume if
the employer requests references. If the
employer does not specifically request references, a line is commonly added to
the bottom of the resume indicating that references are available upon request.
Who a reference can be:
- A
current or former manager or supervisor
- Professor
or teacher - Major clients or
customers - Peers, etc.
**Be sure to use a variety of references because each one will have a
different positive prospective about you. Try to avoid using relatives as
references. Also be sure to ask before you add
someone as a reference.
What information you should provide about your references:
- Full
name and title
- Organization
name
- Work
address and phone number (unless they prefer to be contacted at home) - Best time to call
- Relationship
to you
Information your references are typically asked about:
- Professional
Demeanor
- Personality
/ Attitude
- Team
work
- Communication
skills
- Dependability
/ Responsibility - Leaderships
skills - Learning Ability, etc.
Step 10. Proofread.
Sloppy work on your resume will indicate to a potential
employer that you may do sloppy work for them as an employee. Be sure to check for uniformity, grammar,
tense, spelling, etc.
It is always a good idea to have your resume reviewed by
others to assist in identifying errors.
Have your resume critiqued by a Career &
Professional Development Center Advisor. Walk-in hours and appointments are
available.
Contact
our office for more information.
No comments:
Post a Comment