General Resume Guidlines

Length

Appearance

• An organized, readable layout determines whether a resume is read. Direct the reader's eye with the format. Make sure it is well-organized and concise. Avoid dense text appearance, which is difficult to read.
• Consider using high-quality white of off white paper.
• Always type or word-process your resume and have it professionally copied.
• Make sure there are no typographical, spelling or grammatical errors.
• Information that has been crossed out or handwritten is unacceptable.
• Make sure that your resume will copy well. Do a photocopy test.

Content

• Design your resume with a particular objective in mind. Present information important to the objective first. Edit.
• List information in descending order of importance.
• Be selective in what you include in your resume, but never falsify or exaggerate information
• Sell yourself - attract attention to your special abilities.
• Concentrate on the positive and use action verbs to describe your background.

Necessary Categories

• Personal Data - Make sure your name is the most obvious piece of information on your resume. Also include your address and phone number, with ZIP and area codes. List a message phone number if you do not have an answering machine, and give an e-mail address if you have one. It is unnecessary to include personal information such as age, marital status or health.
• Objective or Career Summary - An objective or career summary gives your resume a focus. It also gives credibility and direction to your resume and suggests commitment on your part. It should be specific enough to tell the employer the kind of work you seek, yet general enough to include the full range of jobs you will consider. This will take some thought! If the statement is so specific that it would eliminate you from consideration for other jobs in which you have interest, you might consider having a resume for each type of job (not necessarily each job). Some disciplines require objectives; others discourage their use.
• Education - List your educational background in reverse chronological order, starting with your highest degree and working your way backwards. Do not go back to your high school degree. Listing your grade point average (GPA) is optional. Dissertation and thesis topics are also included in this section as are honors bestowed at graduation time.
• Experience - This category includes volunteer or intern experience as well as employment. Include job titles, employers, responsibilities and dates. Remember to list the city and state of each place of work. Concentrate on the positive and use action words. (See Action Word List.) A statement of the percentage of college expenses earned can be included if you were self-supporting or nearly so. You may include paid work experience, academic assignments of significance and extracurricular assignments relative to your desired field of employment. If your experience has not been relevant to your field of desired employment, you should still include a description of your responsibilities. Strive to show growth or contributions you made while in each assignment.
• Additional Information - Skills, activities, honors, awards, membership on committees or in honorary societies, public service, or even language ability can be placed under this, or a more specific category.
• References - It is acceptable to use the phrase, “Available upon request. ” Be prepared with a typed list when requested. Generally, a reference sheet will consist of the name, title, business mailing address, and phone number of three to five academic or business references. Do not use relatives, friends or other students as references. Be sure to obtain permission from each person you plan to list.

Additional Categories

• Qualifications or Technical Skills Statement - Qualifications, or skills, may be established from any prior employment, educational achievement, internship, volunteer experience, hobby or community service. For your qualifications statement, list your past in terms of the skills you have acquired that are relevant to your resume’s objective. This section is particularly helpful to those who are making a career change or for students whose major is not obviously related to the job objective.
• Language Ability - You can list this section separately, as a part of the qualifications statement, or in the additional information section if there is a likelihood that this ability will be used by employers. Specify the language(s) you read, write, and/or speak and your facility in each.
• Military - In the functional resume your military experience can be included in the “Experience” category. A chronological resume would list military either under a separate heading or in chronological order under “Experience.”
• Publications - List articles you have published and those which have been accepted for publication.
• Research - Give the employer insight into your professional abilities and training by listing research projects in your field on which you have participated.
• Extracurricular Activities - Employers often look to extracurricular activities to indicate how you developed your interests and leadership abilities during college. The extracurricular activities you list should include organizations in which you are a member and offices you have held. You may also wish to include awards, honors, hobbies, and interests in this category. Avoid listing controversial activities, particularly those that are political or religious in nature.

Active Word List

Examples of active words that describe your functional skills:

Examples of adaptive skill words that describe your personal traits: