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This module reviews the standard format you should use to create your resume.
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This module is part of a series of modules dedicated to wri9ng your resume. This module focuses on understanding each sec9on of a standard resume. Be sure to review the other modules in this series for informa9on on how to determine your interests and skills, research job descrip9ons, and cra@ effec9ve bullets. There is also a special module focused on career changers. You can also check out the supplemental resources sec9on for a checklist of what to include on an ideal resume.
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A resume is a marke9ng tool – and the immediate purpose of your resume is to get you an interview — once you get your foot in the door, you can convince them to hire you. Your resume will summarize your educa9on, experience and accomplishments to present the skills which are relevant to your career objec9ves. A few 9ps to men9on here are that lis9ng your “academic projects” is op9onal. Similarly, lis9ng your interests is also op9onal. If you have room and you think it adds value, feel free to include your them. An objec9ve is NOT needed – your cover leOer should state your objec9ve.
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Here’s a 30,000-‐foot view of a quick sample resume to show how the sec9ons can fit together. We’ll zoom in on each sec9on in a moment – but there are a few high-‐level formaXng things we want to cover first. No9ce that the formaXng of this resume makes it easy to scan and read. Part of this is choosing the right font. When you choose a font, select a standard font such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri – and s9ck to the 10-‐point to 12-‐point range. Regardless of which font you choose, use only one -‐ and be sure that you use the same font size for corresponding content. For example, headers may all be a bigger font to help them stand out. When you line up your text, do so in a way that’s easy to scan. Most o@en text is lined up along the le@ margin and dates along the right margin, but whatever you choose -‐-‐ be consistent. You can use white space and margins to keep the page balanced. For example, you can include a blank line in between sec9ons and keep margins between a half inch to an inch. Also, anything else you can do to make informa9on stand out will help. Use bolding, underlining, or all caps. Just be consistent and don’t overuse any one technique or it will lose its effect. Finally, proofread, proofread, proofread and be sure there are no typos. Recruiters have told us some9mes they don’t even bother to read resumes with typos, and even if they do read it, it makes a bad first impression! Check out the supplemental resources sheet for a few more detailed examples. Now let’s zoom in on this resume’s sec9ons.
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First, in the personal informa9on sec9on – your name should be visible, but not huge. Your email address should be professional -‐-‐ and your voicemail should be employer-‐ready. Double check that you listed the correct email address and phone number so you don’t miss an employer’s call! Op9onal informa9on to include here are your LinkedIn, TwiOer, or other personal webpage. You’ll only want to include these if they are professional and you can use them as an opportunity to show off your work to an employer. Check out the supplemental resources for more examples of the personal informa9on sec9on of a resume.
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In the educa9on sec9on, the degree received, dates aOended, GPA, and other informa9on will be included under the name of the school. If you are lis9ng more than one school, the order should be reverse chronological, meaning the current school is listed first followed by the school or schools previously aOended. Check out the supplemental resources for more examples of the educa9on sec9on of a resume.
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In the Experience sec9on, list Professional, Volunteer, and Academic experience. Just like in the educa9on sec9on, you should list your work experience in reverse chronological order, meaning that the most recent experience is listed first. For every experience, first you’ll need to list the company name and the loca9on including the city and state (or country). It’s a good idea to use bold to make the company name stand out and to help the resume feel organized. Be sure to include the dates you worked there and your 9tle. Underneath all of this informa9on are details of each par9cular experience. These will ALWAYS be in bullet point format. There is no “right” number of bullet points, just remember that you want to include all the relevant informa9on without being over-‐the top. As a rough guideline, you probably want no more than six bullet points for each work experience. Check out the module called, “Create Effec9ve Bullet Points to Describe Your Work Experience” for more specific 9ps. And you can find more examples of the experience sec9on of a resume as part of the supplemental resources.
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The last sec9on on your resume is the Skills sec9on. Remember that “So@ skills” such as interpersonal skills, wri9ng skills, or leadership skills do not belong in the skills sec9on! Computer skills, lab & field skills, language skills, and cer9fica9ons would all be appropriate to include. Check out the supplemental resources for more examples of the skills sec9on of a resume.
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Resumes are important and we are here to help. As always, if you have any ques9ons, contact Career Development.
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