Your resume is an important element of your job-hunting campaign. It will provide the important first impression an employer will have of you, so it is important to prepare it carefully. In its completed form, your resume is both a promotional piece as well as a concise and truthful statement of your qualifications and interests. Think of it as an advertisement: everything you say must be true, but you do not have to include everything. Include those entries which make you look good; you are the product being marketed.

The directions given are for chronological resumes. Students finding this format inappropriate should discuss other formats with a career counselor.

General Guidelines

Your resume is NOT designed to get you a job - it is designed to get you an interview. Therefore, it is not necessary to include absolutely everything.

An employer will probably not read every word on your page. He or she will most likely only glance or skim down the page, giving you about 30 seconds to make your impression and communicate the most vital facts.

Your approach should demonstrate organizational skills and your ability to communicate effectively. It will also offer insight into what you consider important - as you will put those entries first or highlight them in some way.

Everyone's resume will look slightly different. Beware of making yours a clone of someone else's ( even if it was successful). While it is helpful to study samples, each person is an individual with different entries, different accomplishments, different goals, different priorities and different personal tastes in appearance.

A resume is NEVER submitted alone - it is always accompanied by a cover letter (preferably on matching paper). See "Cover Letter or Letter of Application" section.

Brainstorm to Get Started

In developing the content of your resume it may be advisable to write down everything you can think of which might possibly be appropriate to include in a given section. Don't worry about order, format, relative importance or appropriateness - just get it down so it won't be forgotten. Once you have completed your initial "brainstorming", put the lists aside for a day or two. Other things you may wish to include will occur to you later and you will still have time to include them. Having done this, it will then be easier to organize, delete, group and title sections based on your unique set of entries.

Some thought should be given to who will be reading this document. Who are you trying to impress and what will impress them? Having identified the readership will assist you in stressing the appropriate skills and experiences.

Directory Information

This section does not need to be titled but should simply appear at the top of the page and include name, address and telephone. Temporary and permanent addresses may be noted where appropriate.

If you are using an answering machine, review your "message" with consideration that employers may be listening to it and forming an opinion about you. Be sure to include your email address. Check it for appropriate images.

Do NOT include information about your height, weight, health or marital status. These are not usually "factors" that you are selling; you are selling skills and experience.

Employment Objective

While very helpful for the employer, these statements are difficult for entry-level job seekers to develop. The statement should be specific enough to be meaningful while not so specific that the resume becomes too limited in its target and use. If you have a specific job goal, say so; if not, it may be best to leave out the section. If you choose to include an objective, make it targeted to what the employer will get, not what you will get.

An alternative is to prepare different resumes for different types of jobs (eg. law enforcement vs probation /parole; CPA vs management accountant).

While you may not be able to develop a standard employment object, some thought should be given to who will be reading this document. Who are you trying to impress and what will impress them? Having identified the readership will assist you in stressing the appropriate skills and experiences.

More Information for Education Majors

Summary of Achievements

This new addition to the resume is used to summarize the "conclusions" you want the reader to reach while reading the document.  It is often a bulleted list and speaks to the "soft skills" like leadership, decision-making, team play, organizational ability, communication, etc.  Each entry typically begins with a descriptor and is further supported by evidence throughout the rest of the resume. 

Students in the liberal arts majors often include this section as a way of summarizing the "processing" skills they have developed through their college experience. 

Hopefully, there will be support throughout the document of the when, where and how these skills were developed.

Education

List educational experiences in reverse chronological order; current or last school attended appears first. This should be a simple outline form recitation of what degree, what major, what school, when graduate, what GPA and anything unusual about the course work you completed.

Mention of a minor or concentration is also appropriate for Bachelor degree recipients.

The month and year of graduation will suffice and can be stated as such if it is anticipated within the year .

GPA is typically included only if noteworthy (usually 3.0 or better). Grade point average can be overall or just in your major, but should be clearly indicated as one or the other. If GPA is not noteworthy, but Dean's List was achieved a semester or two, that entry can be included in a section titled "Honors and Awards" or "Achievements". (See Other Experiences section) It is not necessary to list every course in your program.

Sample:
        BA - (major)
              Alvernia College, Reading, P A
                      May 2004
                      GPA 3.45
                      includes 15 credits in Computer Science

Note that complete sentences are NOT used. Think outline, not paragraph. Remember that 30 seconds is all you have to make your point.

Transfer schools can be included if a degree was earned which would enhance your marketability, i.e. the degree was in a related field. Including a transfer program you did not complete may, however, raise more issues than it answers (did you leave, flunk out, change your mind, etc. ) and it may be best to omit that entry .

High school can be included if needed for visual balance or if highly prestigious or if it indicates some other important factor. Beware if age is an issue for you, high school graduation is a "give-away" as to your age.

 

Clinical Affiliations for Nursing & OT Majors

Student Teaching for Education Majors

Continue with Part 2 of the Resume Starter Kit