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Resume
Types
There
are three basic types of resumes. Depending on your career field,
your resume may be different, but it is safe to start with one of these
three.
Chronological- for those who have
job-related experience; focus is detailing those experiences
Functional- for those with little or
no job-related experience; focus is on detailing skills obtained through
life experiences
Targeted- for those
with extensive experience in career field; focus is detailing only those
experiences related to the industry.
**NOTE: the majority of college students and recent graduates will
have a functional or chronological resume
Resume
Guidelines
Text: Use
standard typeface such as Times new Roman, Arial or Century Gothic.
Indent the body for consistent paragraph line-up.
Font: Font size
should be 10-12 point for the body text. Only your name should be
larger, up to 18 point. Subject Headings may be bolded or ALL
caps. Italicize or bold categories or highlights if you want
to. Avoid underlining or shadowing...keep it simple and crisp.
Margins: Side
margins should be between 1.25 inches and .5 inch; Top and bottom margins
should be between 1 inch and .5 inch.
Name:
Use
your legal name with middle initial (Jane C. Smith) unless you go by your
whole name; If you go by your middle name, use only the first initial
of your first name (J. Carol Smith). NO nicknames.
E-Mail: Your
e-mail address MUST be professional. If you don't have a professional
looking e-mail, get one. Hotmail, Yahoo and many others are FREE.
INAPPROPRIATE e-mail: #1stunner@hotmail.com
APPROPRIATE e-mail: janesmith@hotmail.com
Address:
You
should include your school address and permanent address if you have
both. Phone numbers (at both locations) should include area
codes. Don't list a number you don't want to be contacted at.
Your voice mail must sound professional.
Headings: Should be
aligned on the left hand side of the paper in ALL caps, bolded if you
like. These will include Objective, Education, Work Experience,
Skills, etc...
Paper:
Should
be white, ivory, or light colored; high quality, cotton fiber, 8 ½” x 11”
paper only.
NO staples, paper clips only.
BASIC
Subject Headings
Aside
from “Objective”, which
should be placed first in all cases, these subject headings should be
placed in the order in which they are relevant. The following are
listed on most resumes, regardless of type.
OBJECTIVE:
States
the type of position sought, with field/division/department (if applicable)
and related qualifications (degree, skills, etc.)
EDUCATION:
Colleges
you have received a degree from or are currently enrolled in. Include
City, ST. Do not list High school once you are beyond your sophomore
year in college. List in reverse chronological order (most recent
first). Include degree, major, minor and GPA (optional) only if above
a 3.0. Graduate students should include Theses or Dissertation
information here as well.
WORK
EXPERIENCE: List
all paid and unpaid work experience, internships, externships, military,
etc…List in
reverse chronological order. Chronological resumes should also
include bulleted explanation of duties/tasks beginning with Action verb
(see back of this book).
SKILLS: List any
special skills including computer, languages, etc… Functional resumes should
pick 3-5 skills to highlight (with explanation) in lieu of bulleted work
experience. Functional Skill ideas: Management, Customer Services,
Leadership, Communications, Technical, Accounting, etc...
HONORS: All
athletic & academic awards, perhaps some others (i.e. Eagle
Scout). Avoid high school level awards. Includes dates.
ACTIVITIES: This
should include most organizations that you are/were involved with,
including social, academic, athletic, community, church related,
etc...Should include affiliation and level of responsibility (member,
president, chair, etc.). Include dates.
NOTE:
You may be combine two headings into one (i.e. Honors &
Activities)
Additional
Subject Headings
The
following are optional and may be put in your resume wherever you feel they
are relevant (usually this is after the above headings).
VOLUNTEER: Any
volunteer work you have been involved with including continuous or one-time
experiences. May list in bullet form or in paragraph form, separated
by commas/semi-colons
CERTIFICATIONS: Any
professional Certifications. Include dates.
PUBLICATIONS:
Any
professional publications (i.e. professional journals) including title of
publication, location, and dates. Include topic if not obvious.
REFERENCES:
Your actual references will be on a separate page (see below), however, you
may list this as “Available upon
request”
on your actual resume. ONLY list this as such if you are NOT
including your References Page with your Resume.
PORTFOLIO:
Collection of articles, designs, research, presentations, artwork
etc. This will obviously be an addition to your resume. Like
References, this can also be listed as “Available
upon request” unless you are including it with your resume.
Reference
Page
Your
reference page should be separate from your resume. For consistencies
sake, repeat your name and contact information exactly as it appears on
your resume.
Your
references should include a variety of people (3-4) who can attest to your
work ethic, character, talents and abilities. Avoid using 3 coaches
or 3 professors. Use a professor, a coach, a former employer, an
advisor, etc. Avoid friends unless they served in the previously
listed capacities. DO NOT USE FAMILY.
Include
the following information for all references: Name, Title, Company,
Complete Address, Phone and e-mail.
Your
Header should be References in ALL caps. Align your header with the
text on the left OR center of the page.
DO
NOT include a reference until you obtain their permission.
It
is courteous to send a note to your references to let them know when you
will be applying for jobs, so they can expect to be contacted.
General
Resume Rules to Remember:
- Your
resume is an extenuation of yourself, your abilities and your
achievements. Make sure it reflects that.
- Your
explanation/descriptions should be written in sentence fragments NOT
FORMAL SENTENCES.
- Resume
information should sound detailed but not wordy. Don't make it
sound too fancy. If you don't understand what you wrote, no one else
will.
- Generally,
resumes for recent college graduates should be one page long. It MAY
be longer than one page ONLY if it contains relevant
information. Make sure it isn't just wordy. If you are
only a few sentences over one page, play with your margins and/or font
size to make it fit on one page.
- Avoid
including personal information (hobbies, family information, etc…) as interesting as it
may be, this is
not appropriate for a resume.
SAMPLE Chronological Resume
SAMPLE Functional Resume
The
following links include valuable resume suggestions and impressive sample
resumes and other job correspondence
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