Guidelines for Writing The Résumé Guidelines for Writing

What We’ll Cover Types of Résumés Parts of a Résumé Ways to use action words Reasons Employers Disregard a Résumé

Types of Résumés Chronological Functional Combination

Chronological Résumés The most popular format Places information in reverse chronological order (most recent is first) Demonstrates a candidate’s steady and upward career growth Focus is on time, job continuity, growth, and achievements Employers prefer this format

Functional Résumés Focuses on skills, credentials, and accomplishments over the course of all jobs Emphasis is on what you did, not when or where you did it Accomplishments, qualifications and experience are grouped together, to emphasize experience in specialty areas

Combinational Résumés Uses a functional style listing of relevant skills and accomplishments Then describes employment and education histories in reverse chronological order A combination of the other two résumés The experience section directly supports the functional section

Which Résumé Should You Pick? Whichever works best for your circumstances Normally, Experience precedes Education 3 situations where Education beats Experience: Currently in school or a recent graduate Changing careers A position where specialized education is a prerequisite Remember that whatever information is first will be what catches the employer’s attention first Put your greatest asset first – whether education or experience

Parts of a Résumé Heading / Identification Job Objective Summary / Profile Work Experience Qualifications / Skills Education Awards / Achievements / Honors Activities / Associations

Heading/Identification Include Your full, legal name Permanent address with the area code Phone number Cell phone number E-mail address

Job Objective State what you want to do, the position you are interested in and should be employer-focused Modify your objective to fit each employer and position you target

Summary/Profile Three or four bulleted statements highlighting your skills Entice the reader to look at the rest of the résumé Supports the objective Quantify statements whenever possible

Work Experience Name of the employer, geographic location (city and state only), position title, dates of employment, a brief statement of duties and your major contributions and accomplishments Military experience, internships / cooperative and volunteer experience List in reverse chronological order - the most recent first

Qualifications/Skills Provide a concise list of your qualifications, skills, and accomplishments that are requirements for the position you are seeking Use action statements to describe these and quantify whenever possible List in order of importance. Include computer software/hardware skills, technical skills, percent of increase in production, sales, etc

Education List all your relevant education, training, and certifications List degrees awarded, school attended, dates of attendance or year of graduation/completion and your program/major List your education in chronological order, starting with your most recent first Include your grade point average if it is a B or better

Awards/Achievements/Honors A separate category or under the Education heading Highlight formal recognitions, professional and academic awards.

Activities/Associations Include participation in professional associations, student government, clubs, or community activities Include the name of the organization and any leadership roles you held

References Assumed – Don’t indicate that these are “available upon request” Prepare a list of references on a separate piece of paper Include the person’s name, job title, phone number, name, and address of the organization Ask if person is willing to provide a great reference

Action Words Action keywords relate to the position Words like prepared, managed, developed, championed, monitored, and presented will cause your resume to stand out If your résumé stands out, so will you If your résumé is scanned electronically, the computer will pick up on the words

What Not to Put on a Résumé Age References Gender Weaknesses Religion Political Belief Preference Salary Required Marital Status Fake Employment Number of Children “References Available”

Why Employers Disregard Résumés PHYSICAL APPEARANCE IS SLOPPY: poorly typed and printed, uneven margins or inconsistent spacing, font too small or to fancy to read, paper not appropriate, looks unprofessional ERRORS: misspelled or misuse of words, poor grammar, typographical errors DISORGANIZED: information is scattered, hard to follow, employer has to search for information􀂾

Why Employers Disregard Résumés TOO LONG/OVERWRITTEN: one page, no more than two; unnecessary information, unrelated to your job qualifications, long paragraphs and sentences TOO SHORT: not enough information, gives only bare essentials of dates and job titles, sparse in describing duties or accomplishments on various jobs WRONG RESUME: resume does not fit position applying for; content does not support objective􀂾

Why Employers Disregard Résumés INFORMATION NOT CURRENT: resume does not include current information CONTACT INFORMATION MISSING: leaving out information such as your name, mailing address or telephone number CONTAINS PERSONAL INFORMATION: do not include information about age, marital status, health, height, weight, gender, photographs, etc NO COVER LETTER: resume misdirected, sending resume without a cover letter

Summary Objective should be similar to job listing Quantify your accomplishments List your skill set List your education One page