A resume is a summary of an individual's experience at a particular point in time, and should be updated each time a persons' experience changes. When writing a resume, think about the things you have accomplished and be specific. The person reading the resume, whether an employer or an internship supervisor, or a graduate school admissions counselor, wants to see what you have done. Writing a resume takes time and can be challenging. Ask faculty, career counselors, or friends to give you feedback.
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What goes into a resume?
Most resumes include the following categories.
Name of school, location of school, degree and major, relevant courses, and dates or expected date of graduation.
EXPERIENCE, listed most current to least current
- Title, Company/Organization Name and Location, Dates
List the name of the place where you worked - internships come first if they are the most recent experience, followed by a comma, city, state and dates.
- Datescan be listed in months and years, or just years, and should be lined up on the far right margin. If your resume is in English, the person reviewing it will read from left to right and this format will help them to focus on the job title and place of employment, not the amount of time that you worked at a specific place.
Resumes are not written in paragraph style since the resume needs to be kept to 1 page. Use phrases or bullets to describe skills and experience. Be concise and choose your language carefully. Start each phrase or bullet with an action word, a verb.
- List two - four bullets; having only one bullet; it is like listing an (a) without a (b).
- Try not to list similar skills. For instance, if you have worked at two customer service jobs, try to make each one different.
- Google similar job descriptions to get a sense of how to phrase your experience.
- Market yourself!
SERVICE TO COMMUNITY/VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
This comes after the EDUCATION section if you participated in on-campus volunteer projects.
This would include thing such as, CPR/First Aid, CNA, seminars.
This section includes language skills or computer and technical skills.
Valuable Resume Tips
Do not include an objective! It takes up valuable space, and it is obvious that your objective is to get an internship or a job, or gain entrance to graduate school or some other opportunity.
Do not include “References furnished upon request”. References should be written on a separate piece of paper. For more information about references, see References and Thank You Letters Guides.
Length: Resumes should be limited to one page, unless a person has more than five years of full-time professional work experience.
Font Sizes: Fonts sizes can range from 10-12 points, except for your name, which can be up to 14 points. Keep the font simple and professional. Recommended type faces are Arial, Times New Roman, or Veranda. No scripts!
Paper: Use white or off-white bond paper.