RESUME WRITING GUIDE

Resume Blueprint

A resume is a brief summary of your skills, education and experience written with one purpose in mind – to generate interviews.  You will need a resume for your job search but also for internships, selected part-time jobs and even some graduate programs, classes or informational interviewing.

The first step in preparing your resume is to begin with a rough draft.  The staff of the Office of Career Planning and Placement provides workshops, the "Job Search Guidebook" and this handout to assist you in this process.  A separate handout with resume samples is also available.  Once your draft is developed you are strongly encouraged to schedule an appointment with a member of the professional staff of the Office of Career Planning and Placement for suggestions on enhancing the content and graphic design of your final form resume.  The following tips will get you started.

1. Begin with self assessment.  Assess your skills, education and experience as you decide on your job target and focus for your resume.

2. Gather and collect necessary information about employment, activities and achievements, making sure to check accurate dates for each.

3. Emphasize results you have accomplished in your prior experience.  Attempt to quantify achievements where possible,  i.e. store sales increased 20% during first six months of employment.

4. Sell your strengths. Highlight your most positive assets in a way that will interest an employer in wanting to meet you.

5. Select the appropriate resume format. Resume formats include:

• Chronological
• Functional
• Federal Government
• Electronic/Internet Ready
• Curriculum Vitae

For most students, the chronological format is the preferred style.  If you have questions about other styles you can schedule an appointment with a career professional to discuss the best format for you.  Handouts are available in the Office of Career Planning and Placement on alternative resume styles.

6. Be unique. Resume samples are meant to offer a guide in designing your own resume, not to be copied verbatim.  Your resume should reflect who you are as an individual.
   

Employers identify some of the following as the most common mistakes that eliminate candidates from consideration for opportunities.
 

• Spelling and grammatical errors.
• A lack of clear communication.  Fuzzy writing can shoot down even the most qualified candidate.
• Cluttered formatting staffing professionals want to scan a resume quickly to pick out what is most important.    Make sure there is enough white space in the resume to separate out sections.  Also, don’t go below 10 points on your font size to guarantee easier reading.   Be sure to review the tips on electronic resumes included in this information sheet.

Increasingly companies are using technology to scan and screen resumes and job applications.  Use of this type of technology requires a few changes in resume formatting and style to make sure your resume is selected for consideration for an interview.  Here are some tips on how to make your resume computer friendly:
 

•  In addition to action verbs, be sure to use nouns or "key words" to describe relevant skills in your  field.  Maximize the use of standard industry jargon and abbreviations.  Employers will often scan their resume database for "keywords," words that define the requirements for the job, in selecting candidates to contact for interviews.
• Keep the  design simple.  Avoid complex tables and  minimize the use of italics, script, and underlining.  Avoid horizontal and vertical lines; this includes brackets around telephone area codes. Avoid using graphics and shading; the computer is set up to read text, not graphics.
•  Use popular, nondecorative type faces.  Font size should be between 10-14 points.
• Use a high-quality printer to print your resume.  A laser printer is best, but a 24-pin, letter-quality matrix is usually acceptable.  Use black ink on light-colored, 8 ½ by 11 paper, printed on one side only.
• Send an original or high quality copy of the resume.  If at all possible, do not fax it.  Copies and faxes degrade the quality of the text and increase the likelihood of scanning errors.  Send the resume and cover letter  unfolded in a large 9 1/2 by 13 inch envelope.
•  Your name should be the first readable item on your resume.

Information is available in the Office of Career Planning and Placement on resumes and on-line applications for the Internet.  Also check out Margaret Riley’s tips on the Internet at http://dbm.com/jobguide

If you are staring at a blank page trying to decide what information to include in your resume,  here are typical resume sections and a few questions to ask yourself as you decide what information to highlight.

Personal Identification.  Include your full name, your school and/or permanent address, your school and home phone numbers.  If you are not home during the day, make sure there is some way for an employer to leave a message.  Answering machines are very helpful to the job search process!   Also include your e-mail address if you are on-line and proficient in using electronic mail.
 
Career Objective.  This is a brief statement about your job target.   In what fields are you interested in working ?  What types of industries?  What skills would you like to apply in your next position?  If you have several diverse job targets, several different resumes may be necessary.  If you are having difficulty deciding on your job target, schedule an appointment with a career counselor to discuss your options.

Educational Background.   List and describe briefly your college educational experiences.  Include schools from which you have received a degree.  State the name of the school, location, your degree and major.  You will also want to include minors, certificates, and your GPA if a 3.0 or better.  Some students also calculate their GPA’s in their major only, minor, etc.  See a Career Counselor for more information on reflecting the most positive information on your academic experience.

Educational Highlights.  Is your coursework your most relevant experience in your field?  Highlight significant coursework and skills.  Include special projects if appropriate.  In majors where your coursework provides hands on skills training, this may constitute a significant portion of the resume. This is an optional section students may choose to enhance their resume.

Achievements and Honors.   What are your accomplishments in your academic career?  Have you achieved Dean’s List, special awards or academic scholarships?  Are you a member of an honor society?  What leadership experiences have you had in extracurricular activities or in the community?  Have you contributed financially to your college tuition and expenses?  Employers are interested in learning what you have accomplished inside and out of the academic environment.

Activities and Interest.  Are you a member of professional associations?  What extracurricular activities have your participated in?  Have you volunteered your time at King’s or in the community?  Do you have career related hobbies or interests?

Related or Other Work Experience.  This section highlights your work experience and experiential learning such as internships,  senior practicums and student teaching. Depending on your background you may want to separate your experience into two separate sections Related Experience and Other Work Experience.  Related Experience often appears higher up on the resume.  Beginning with the most recent position, list the name, and location of the organization as well as the time period of your position.  Include a description of your responsibilities focusing on the use of action verbs and results oriented language.  What did you accomplish in your work?  How can you quantify results if possible?  Are there transferable skills and relevant knowledge you developed in your experience that will be useful in your career?

References.  If you are a senior, have you established a placement file with the Career Planning and Placement Office?  If  so, list our address and phone number in this section.  If not, simply make a statement that references are available upon request.

Additional Content Areas.  Do you have special skills or areas of knowledge you would like to highlight?  Consider a special skills section to include language skills, technical knowledge or computer expertise such as word processing packages, spreadsheets, databases, desktop publishing the Internet and electronic mail.  If you have military experience you can include a separate section for this experience.

A career professional can help you decide what sections to include and how to organize sections to take advantage of your strengths and most relevant skills areas.

1. Keep your resume short and simple!  One page is sufficient.  Keep your descriptions clear and to the point.
2. Check for errors.  Run a spell checker but also proof your resume for grammatical errors or errors in
    dates.
3. Be professional.  Use good quality paper and high quality print for a strong, professional presentation.
4. Be consistent.  Check the resume for verb tenses and consistency in formatting.
5. Use black ink on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper in a conservative color.  Resume paper is of a heavier weight than standard computer paper and the print should only appear on one side of the paper.
6. If mailing your resume to a large employer who is likely to scan it into a database, use a 9 1/2 by 13 inch envelope. Otherwise a standard envelope is appropriate.
7. Check  the Resume Samples in the Office of Career Planning and Placement.  It will greatly benefit you in the preparation of your own unique resume.

Any questions or comments about this Web Page can be directed to Christopher Sutzko, Director of the Office Career Planning and Placement 

christophersutzko@kings.edu