Resumes 101

There is no one strategy to write the perfect resume, but the steps here can help you to create a resume that highlights your skills and accomplishments in a clear and concise manner to increase your chances for an interview.

Formatting

• Be consistent with your margins (1”, 0.7” or 0.5” are the best), font sizes (10-12 pt. for body text, 14-16 pt. for headers, 18-24 pt. for your name), and professional fonts (Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, or Cambria).
• Develop a header with your personal contact information, including a professional email.
• Keep your resume to one page unless the career field indicates otherwise. If you do have a longer resume, make sure you have full pages of content.
• Avoid abbreviations; spell out everything (industry exceptions may apply).
• Do not include personal information such as photos, date of birth, hobbies, ethnicity, and/or religion.

Customize

• Review the job description and mark the skills you have that you would like to highlight in your resume.
• Start your bullet point with the skill verbs used in the job description.
• Organize bullet points within your experience blocks; the most relevant experiences should be first.
• Instead of using generic headers like “Work Experience” create custom, specific headers such as Retail Experience, Childcare Experience or Leadership and Management Experience based on the job description.

Education

• If you graduated from high school less than one year ago or if your high school education directly pertains to the position you are applying to, then you should add your high school to your resume. Otherwise, do not include high school information.
• Adding previous college experience to your resume is optional. If it is relevant, add it to your resume.
• Education experiences should include the following information: name of the school, location, expected graduation or completion dates, degree, major or concentration, and GPA if it is 3.0 or higher.

Experience Sections

This includes: work, internships, volunteering, student leadership, and clinical rotations.

• Include the organization or company name, location (city, state), title, and dates (month and year)
  •  2-3 accomplishment bullet points per experience: Start with a skill verb + what you did + why you did it (the impact or result)
  • Use reverse chronological order (most recent first) for the experiences within each of your custom headers
  • Past or present tense? If you are still in the position, write in the present tense. If you no longer hold the position, write in the past tense.
  • No personal pronouns (I, me, or my) should be in your resume.
  • Experiences do not have to be paid to be on your resume. Internships, volunteering, student groups, and athletics are all valid experiences and should have an experience block.
  • Use bullet points to list experience and highlight skills concisely.
  • Check for grammar and spelling errors.

Additional Sections:

Advanced Skills

• Certifications and Training
• Language: Literate: Read and write the language; Conversational: Speak the language; Proficient: Read, write
  and speak the language well; Fluent: Read, write, and speak the language with similar skill to a native speaker
• Lab: include laboratory procedures or techniques you can conduct or equipment you can operate
• Computer: include software, languages, and hardware experiences required for the job, as well as your skill level

Coursework

• Include only if it directly relates to the position and is an upper-level class (300 level or higher)

Volunteer and Leadership Experience

• Use experience blocks for these activities with at least 2-3 bullet points

Accomplishment Statements

Your resume is your personal “marketing tool” which advertises a specific product—you! In designing your resume, use action verbs and statements to show not only what you did, but what you accomplished. Each time you present an accomplishment, you communicate what happened as a result of your skills and strengths.

To help you formulate your accomplishment bullet point statements, below is a formula that you can follow.

Bullet Point Formula

Skill verb + what you did + why you did it (the impact or result) and add number values/frequency when applicable

Example: Marketed launch of the new product line using daily social media posts and local radio station press releases, increasing website traffic by 1,000 views in the first week.

Upgrade #1

Here is a way you can improve your bullet point statements to incorporate not only what you did, but how and the results.

Upgrade #2

Begin with a basic statement of what you did and add specifics as you think about how you did it and the result.

1. Facilitated a meeting
2. Facilitated a student government meeting
3. Facilitated weekly student government committee meetings
4. Facilitated weekly student government committee meetings for a group of 15, resulting in an approved proposal for recycle bins throughout campus in an effort to decrease the campus environmental footprint

Communication Skills

Creative Skills

Data Collection/Finance Skills

Research Skills

Teaching/Mentoring Skills

Problem Solving Skills

Technical Skills

Leadership Skills

Organizational Skills