Basic Features of Résumés Mary McCall :: WAC for ANSC 481 :: Fall 2015 Adapted from Emily Legg’s and the Purdue OWL’s PowerPoints on Resumes and the Purdue OWL resources on Résumés and Vitas

Short informative document that lists credentials Education, work experience, job objective, technical skills, etc. Size/length? Job versus internship versus grad school app While you want your résumé to generally meet the conventional requirements for the résumé, you want to make sure that your resume is distinctive. The Rhetoric of the Résumé

You should always tailor your résumé as closely as you can to the position you’re applying to Thus, having multiple versions of your résumé is often a good strategy Your résumé should reflect relevant professional experience you have, but you should also think about communicating transferable skills through previous positions that may not seem directly applicable Your cover letter can serve as a way of making these connections more apparent to a recruiter Important Takeaways

Sections

Contact Information Include:  Name  Permanent and/or campus addresses  Permanent and/or campus phone numbers  address

Objective Statements  Two different approaches to objective statements  Brief and to the point  Detailed description of desired position and qualifications  You must decide which approach is best

First Approach: Brief To obtain a summer internship in sales/marketing at Owens Corning A full-time position as a system analyst A summer internship as a project engineer

A summer internship in a sales/marketing position at Owens Corning where I can employ my team building skills and versatility to create new ideas A full-time position as a systems analyst which will allow me to use my programming, technical writing, and supervisory skills to lead a group of dynamic employees A summer internship as a project engineer with a construction company that will utilize my experience in field engineering, cost controlling, and estimating Second Approach: Descriptive

Education Beginning with the highest level of educational achievement, include:  University attended  Major/Minors  GPA (if 3.0 or above)  Date of program completion information

Work Experience  Include positions you have held which are related, in some way, to the job you are seeking  Can be both paid and volunteer positions  Be creative with this section of your résumé by describing and emphasizing your experiences in the most relevant way possible.

Action Verb List (Power Verbs)  Handout  List of Action Verbs List of Action Verbs  Action phrases will help you avoid being too brief and from understating your qualifications.  Example:  Before: Planned activities  After: Planned arts and crafts activities for preschool aged children

Parallelism with Action Verbs  All of your verbs should be parallel (have the same tense and plurality)  Generally, use present tense for present jobs, past tense for past jobs  Tip: Place an invisible “I” before the bullet point to see if a) there is a verb and b) if the verb tense is consistent Example 1: Library Information Assistant Develop and organize individual projects for library patrons Make decisions regarding addition of and removing library materials FileMaker Pro used extensively to track circulation Responsible for cataloging and processing books, videos, and CDs

Purdue Equestrian Team Women in Business Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society Alpha Lambda Delta Phi Eta Sigma Boiler Gold Rush Team Leader School of Management Peer Mentor Activities, Honors, Volunteer Experience Include relevant activities, honors, and volunteer experiences

Scanability/readability first Uniqueness second (but it helps) Often you will want numerous versions  For different jobs (or types of applications)  For different situations (more unique for a job fair or F2F meeting, standard for submission, no frills for a text entry website submission, etc.) Résumé Design

The Quadrant Test  Divide your résumé into four quadrants. Each one of your quadrants should have an equal amount of text and white space.  When your page is balanced, the reader will typically read anything in quadrant 1 first. So, you should put your most important information— anything you want the employer to see first—in this quadrant.

Serif and Sans-Serif Fonts  By manipulating the fonts used in your résumé, you can easily create a hierarchy of information.  American audiences are used to reading serif fonts, so these fonts tend to keep the eye reading along the text. Sans-serif fonts, on the other hand, make the eye stop.  Therefore, sans-serif fonts are typically used for headings and titles, allowing the reader to quickly locate information, while serif fonts are used for descriptions. San-Serifs Serifs

20 Second Test How do you know when you have successfully created an easily read résumé that allows employers to process information quickly?  Try having someone read your résumé for 20 seconds. What all did he or she learn about you?  If your reader noticed within twenty seconds what you want employers to learn about you, then most likely you have created an effective résumé.  If not, try moving important information to the first quadrant, checking that you have used sans serif and serif fonts consistently, and limiting the tools for emphasis you use in your document.

Résumés and CVs  A résumé is a 1 page document that highlights the necessary skills and experience you have for a particular job/internship to get you an interview  Usually for non-academic jobs in fields like marketing, accounting, communications, engineering, etc.  A CV is a longer document that reflects your research and academic work (e.g. work you presented at conferences and/or published, classes you taught, etc.)  Usually for faculty positions and/or grants, fellowships, and research positions in industry, academia, and the government

Résumés and CVs (cont.)  Examples of résumé design:  Organization: Headline, Objective (if applicable), Education, Experience, Awards, and Skills  cv.aspx#resume-rotation cv.aspx#resume-rotation  Examples of CV design:  Organization: Headline, Objective (if applicable), Education, Teaching Experience, Research Experience, Postdoctoral Work, Internships, Publications, Presentations, Skills, Awards  section section

Resources  Purdue OWL resources on resumes: