Communicating your Career on Paper

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Communicating your Career on Paper

• Teresa Evans, PhD, Director of the Office of
  Career Development
• Brigitta Glick, SPHR, Founder and CEO, Provenir

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What is a Resume?

• 1-2 page document.
• An account of work experience, education,
  qualifications, objectives, personal qualities
  and special skills.
• It is usually the first item a potential employer
  sees about you and therefore is very important!
• The resumes main purpose is to get you an
  interview!

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Resume Writing Guidelines
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Formatting Tips, Part I

• Acceptable type sizes are 10, 11 and 12 pt.
• Be consistent with tabs, dates and other
  formatting features

• Length 1-2 pages
• Use two font throughout
• Section in 1 and text in another.
• Use BOLD to emphasize only the most important
  features of your resume

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Formatting Tips, Part 2

• Decide on an overall design scheme bullets or
  paragraphs?
• Aim for neatness and readability
• Is the resume professional-looking and inviting
  to read?

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Common Resume Sections

1. Personal Info
2. Objective
3. Summary
4. Education
5. Work Experience
6. Special Skills
7. Memberships/Honors/Awards
8. Volunteer Experience

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Common Resume Sections

• Name should stand out.
• Can vary the placement of name, address, phone
  number, email address.
• List only one phone number.
• Professional-sounding voice message
• Professional email address

1. Personal Info
2. Objective
3. Summary
4. Education
5. Work Experience
6. Special Skills
7. Memberships/Honors/Awards
8. Volunteer Experience

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Common Resume Sections

• Short and sweet is preferred.
• Example Seeking position as elementary
  school teacher.
• Specific vs. general objective
• Can be phrase or sentence.

1. Personal Info
2. Objective
3. Summary
4. Education
5. Work Experience
6. Special Skills
7. Memberships/Honors/Awards
8. Volunteer Experience

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Common Resume Sections

• Could also be called Profile, Qualifications,
  Highlights
• Should be tailored to the job in question via the
  job description
• Example Extensive knowledge of computer
  hardware, computer communications, and systems
  engineering. Strong team-building, multitasking
  and communication skills due to four years sales
  experience. Quick learner and effective
  decision-maker.

1. Personal Info
2. Objective
3. Summary
4. Education
5. Work Experience
6. Special Skills
7. Memberships/Honors/Awards
8. Volunteer Experience

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Common Resume Sections

• List graduation with honors or high GPA
• Most recent degree or current study first
• List expected date of graduation.
• List options, minors and certificates.

1. Personal Info
2. Objective
3. Summary
4. Education
5. Work Experience
6. Special Skills
7. Memberships/Honors/Awards
8. Volunteer Experience

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Common Resume Sections

• Current or most recent job experience first
• Not all jobs need to be listed-Be sure there are
  no gaps. If there are you must explain them.
• List job title first.
• Include employers name and city.
• Use bullets or paragraphs to detail job duties.
• Each descriptive phrase should begin with an
  action verb.
• If using bullet format, no more than 5 bullets
  items per job.

1. Personal Info
2. Objective
3. Summary
4. Education
5. Work Experience
6. Special Skills
7. Memberships/Honors/Awards
8. Volunteer Experience

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Work Experience/Work History Part 2

• Prioritize the order in which you describe job
  duties, with the most relevant ones listed first.
• Remember to list all internships. It doesnt
  matter if you were paid or not good experience
  is good experience! Put those at the top most
  related to job applying for.

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Common Resume Sections

1. Personal Info
2. Objective
3. Summary
4. Education
5. Work Experience
6. Special Skills
7. Memberships/Honors/Awards
8. Volunteer Experience

• Skills could be featured in the Summary section,
  or in a separate section that highlights special
  areas, most usually
• Language skills
• Example Bilingual English/Korean
• Computer skills, listing known computer programs

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Common Resume Sections

1. Personal Info
2. Objective
3. Summary
4. Education
5. Work Experience
6. Special Skills
7. Memberships/Honors/Awards
8. Volunteer Experience

• Include memberships in campus and community
  organizations.
• Make special note if you held an office.
• Include dates.
• If listing a scholarship, indicate its name and
  who awarded it to you.
• Dont forget to list national associations.

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Common Resume Sections

• Volunteer experience can be listed. This
  indicates roundedness of interest and character.
  Include dates.

1. Personal Info
2. Objective
3. Summary
4. Education
5. Work Experience
6. Special Skills
7. Memberships/Honors/Awards
8. Volunteer Experience

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Key to Creating a Successful Resume
TAILOR IT!
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Tailor your resume

• Your resume should be targeted to the specific
  job you are applying for.
• The job description helps you customize your
  resume to the employers needs.
• Make sure the employer doesnt miss out on your
  most marketable assets put them in priority
  order in the top half or top two-thirds of the
  resume.

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Example Job Description
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Tailored Resume
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Summary of Qualifications
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Questions?