Resume workshop

Formatting Stick to a traditional font Font size: 9-12 Try a different size for your name and the companies you have worked for Do not use a template Max – 2 pages, really only 1 Shorter the resume, the better Apply bold and italic typeface that help guide the reader’s eye Leave white space will improve the legibility of your resume Use bullets to call attention to important points

Getting started First thing on your resume should be your name Name and contact info should be all pages of your resume Make your contact info prominent Use your permanent address and a professional email Replace objective with career summary Brief overview of who you are and what you do Gets their attention immediately and accurately/powerfully describes you as a solution to their problems Try to make your resume unique to the company you are applying to When applying, try to have certain keywords on your resume Applicant Tracking Systems, Keyword-searchable databases

Work experience & Education Use strong action verbs when describing what you did for a company Managed, coached, enforced, planned Use words that refer to titles (use effective titles) Customer service, manager, accountant Identify accomplishments not just job descriptions/responsibilities Focus on what you did in the job Keep job description to one to two lines Accomplishments should be unique to you Make sure too list your secondary education Include Institution, area of study, expected grad date, what college (ex. College of Natural Science), and location. Also, if you have a good GPA and any other academic achievements (actuarial exams passed) include these. List your most recent job first and then work backwards Avoid negativity Do not include things that you hated about your last company You do not need to list all your work experiences No real work experience? Include your summer jobs/volunteer work Be specific when describing your past/current jobs Quantify wherever possible

Skills, awards, and interests Put the most important information first When describing experiences/skills, list the most important ones first Show personality Include interests but try to keep them related to the company Don’t bury relevant skills at the bottom of your resume If computer skills are relevant to your field, put them in your summary atop of your resume Avoid empty words Detail-oriented, team player, hard worker, quick learner Professional goals

Finishing touches No pronouns or first person Update it frequently No slang Design for skimmability Mix up your word use Update it frequently Save it as a pdf No “references available upon request” Name your file smartly (ex. Last, First Resume) PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD Make sure you have no grammatical errors Show your resume to other people before sending it out Your resume should be a summary of who you are that would appeal to the company you are sending it to. Make sure you can provide additional information to each point that is on your resume.