Resumes are formatted in either of two basic ways, as a list of employment in a reverse chronological order, or as a summary of functional skills.
Street • City, State Zip • Phone
JOB OBJECTIVE
Briefly describe the job you want or the career path you want to follow.
Degree, Major, Year of Graduation [NOT the dates you spent on campus; that means you didn't graduate.]
University, City, State
Earlier Degree, Major, Year of Graduation OR dates of attendance if you did not graduate.
University, City, State
Company Name, City, State Dates, including month and year
Job Title [list jobs with most current at the top]
One or two sentence description of the job scope and responsibility, which would have been true of anyone who held
the job. This is followed by three or four bullet points that highlight things that are unique or special to the applicant.
• An accomplishment that shows expertise at this profession, perhaps a problem solved and the results.
• A scope of responsibility that was not typical of the position, maybe an early promotion or special jobs.
• Awards, commendations, publications, etc. you achieved that relate to your job objective.
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The complete name, address, phone, and email must appear at the top of the resume.
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Objective, Career, or Skill Summary The resume should begin with a summary that provides a context for the rest of the information to follow. For a person who has established an area or areas of expertise, a career summary serves as review of the work the person can do or the career path: Full-Charge
Bookkeeper—Office Manager—Administrative Assistant Established MIS consultant with experience in document imaging systems, network administration, and user documentation. For the person who is actively job-hunting, this is the place to make a statement of employment or career objectives. Seeking supervisory or staff position with financial responsibilities The point of this section is to allow a quick understanding of the applicant's background. Employers are not impressed with a generic statement that offers no useful information. Don't ever provide an objective that says something obvious and meaningless like "looking for a position in which I can use my skills” or “wish to experience career growth.” These are worse than no objective at all. |
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The resume should start with the information that is most relevant to a prospective employer. Most graduating college students are being recruited on the basis of their degrees, so the degree should appear first on the resume. The person who has been working for three to five years, or the new graduate with relevant professional experience would reverse the order of these sections, placing the education after the work experience. The key consideration is whether the applicant wishes to be compared to other recent graduates or to those with some work history; the order of the resume sections tells its reader which category to place the candidate.
A degree with honors should be indicated on the resume. An overall grade point average, grade point average in the major, or class standing can also be listed, especially if they are exceptional, as well as any other academic accomplishments such as Dean’s List or academic scholarships, or honors courses.
Additional information can be provided about the education, including relevant coursework, internships, semesters abroad, service education projects, significant research, or publications. |
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Generally, all jobs are listed in reverse chronological order. The recent graduate with a long list of part-time or summer jobs, might list those together or even summarize them, leaving more space for the more important job experiences that relate to the new career field. The general format should remain standard, however, and even low-level positions demonstrate a familiarity with business practices. What seems like an unimportant part-time job can still exhibit team, communication and organizational skills to a prospective employer. Each entry must include the job title, the organization, a short description of the job duties, and the dates of employment. The job responsibilities should be quantified so that a reader can get a sense of the scope or size of the position. Additional accomplishments, significant responsibilities, and quantifications of your level of responsibility should be bulleted below the general job description.
You will usually provide the most detail about the most recent jobs, but you should be sure to highlight positions and responsibilities that are relevant to the kind of job you are seeking. List volunteer activities, student and community organizations, civic service, and any other responsibilities that demonstrate professionalism, organizational experience, and relevant skills or experience. An applicant can legitimately include anything that highlights work ethic, leadership skills, communication abilities, team experience or technical skills. Avoid listing overtly social or political activities that do not demonstrate organizational leadership (i.e. “interactive video gamer” or “distributed flyers for Senator Green”). If you have held positions of major responsibility or worked with a single organization for a long period of time, the entry can be formatted like a paid position. When they are relevant to the career field, these can even be included chronologically in the experience section so long as that section is labeled “experience” rather than “work experience.” Students and very recent graduates should list internships and co-op education positions, either in the education or the work experience sections, indicating any specialized research or project management included in the experience. |
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List all professional and community memberships, including student organizations and athletic teams. Be cautions with social or religious affiliations. Listing organizations that indicate ethic background, age or religion can provide information that is illegal for an employer to request, and most organizations would prefer not be given such information on the resume. It is perfectly acceptable, however, to list an activity as a generic category, such as “active with youth in my church” or “performed and traveled with a cultural dance group.” |
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List the skills or technical capabilities that illustrate professional competence. These might be functional categories (Network administration; Individual and partnership tax preparation), equipment or software (Certified in TIG and MIG welding; Experienced with PeopleSoft and Ceridian), or areas of special expertise (ADA Compliance; CFA Level I Exam passed May 2005) Languages should always be included on the resume, specifying level of fluency, literacy, and any translation experience or extensive travel to nations where the language is spoken. Generic computer skills or basic office software should no longer be listed on the resume as a “special” skill. Any business professional is expected to be competent in the use of word processing, spreadsheets, internet search engines and email. Similarly, listing knowledge that anyone would typically gain from similar educational or work experience is inappropriate. |
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References do not have to be listed on the resume, but they
are particularly helpful for those seeking an entry-level position. Employers who must call you in order to
request a references might not take the time if they have sufficient applicants
who have already provided them If the resume is a full page or a full two pages, the references should be provided as a separate sheet, with applicant’s identification information at the top, formatted identically to the resume. If the resume is at an awkward page and a half, the references are an excellent item to fill up the second page. |