How to Write a Resume

Your resume is often what creates a first impression of you with potential employers. It is critical that there are no typographical, grammatical or spelling errors. While you may consider one error insignificant, it could result in your resume being thrown away. In addition to experience (both paid and unpaid), employers are most often looking for competencies and skills in new graduates that lead to success in their organizations.

On the following pages, instructions and guidelines are provided for writing a resume. We encourage you to have your resume critiqued at Career Services before you send it out to employers or post it in Career Services Online.

According to surveys conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers [Spotlight, 23(8), 2001], these are the top five qualities on which candidates are rated:

• Communication skills (verbal and written)
• Honesty/integrity
• Teamwork skills (works well with others)
• Interpersonal skills (relates well with others)
• Motivation/initiative (employers are interested in people who do not always need to be told what to do)

Skills that are desirable and can be applied in a variety of careers and work settings are considered “transferable” skills, such as:

• Budget management
• Public speaking
• Supervising
• Writing
• Public relations
• Organizing/managing/coordinating
• Coping with deadline pressure
• Interviewing
• Negotiating
• Teaching/instructing

As you prepare to write a resume, conduct your own personal inventory of the skills and qualities listed above. If you need to expand your skills or acquire more of the qualities desired by employers, you can participate in the following types of experiences:

• Internships
• Part-time and summer jobs
• Participation in college and community activities
• Volunteer work
• Study/work/travel overseas
• Specific skill courses/workshops

HOW DO I WRITE A RESUME?

What is a resume? A resume is a summary of your skills, accomplishments, experiences, and education designed to capture the interest of a prospective employer. Accompanied by a cover letter, the purpose of the resume is to generate an interview. It is the primary tool of your job search and usually takes several drafts to prepare effectively.

Building an effective resume requires you to prepare by identifying your skills and abilities, as well as your personal qualities. Prepare a list of your accomplishments, honors/recognition, activities, memberships in organizations, and class projects.

As you organize your information, keep the following things in mind:

• the needs of the employer who will be reading it
• select appropriate category headings to make it easy for the reader to pick out your skills
• present the most related experience and skills higher on the page or within a section (the order of information conveys importance)
• be consistent with your pattern of spacing, highlighting, order of information presentation, and punctuation
• include current work experiences (less than 10 years) and appraise whether unrelated part-time work is relevant to the current position
• start with a chronological resume format (most recent to oldest information)

Overview of the Resume Writing Process

• Customize the objective for each position (employers dislike generic objectives that indicate the same resume is being sent out to everyone)
• Create a good first impression by highlighting skills and abilities appropriate to the position
• Use action verbs to describe your skills and responsibilities (past tense verbs for previous positions AND present positions)
• Present information in reverse chronological order (most recent first) within sections
• Check for grammar and spelling errors (one error can eliminate you from consideration!)
• Choose a high quality (20#) paper in white or off-white to present a professional looking resume (use the same paper for your cover letter and references)
• Prepare your resume as a regular word processing document - avoid the use of templates and wizards because they often use a nontraditional format and do not allow you to change margins or move information
• The final version should be no longer than one page for an undergraduate and no longer than two pages for a graduate student

Avoid:

• High school information, except for something VERY relevant to the position
• Salary requirements
• Reason for leaving previous positions(s)
• Geographical preferences
• Opinion words, such as “excellent” and “superior” (use instead: “proficient", “knowledgeable”, “skilled”)
• Complete sentences
• Photographs, charts and graphs, clip art, borders, colored text (consult with a Career Counselor regarding exceptions)
• Health/physical description
• Mention of age, race, religion, sex, national origin

Resume Content

There are many ways to organize a resume. Career Services follows the chronological format in order to provide consistent feedback to students and alumni. Employers have also stated a preference for chronological resumes.

A resume consists of multiple sections that are presented in a specific order. Review the section titles listed below to learn about the information to be included in each section. As you create the first draft, do not be concerned about the length - sections/information can be added or eliminated in later revisions.

REMINDERS:

• Type your resume as a Word document with no auto formatting (no templates, please!)
• Start with 1” margins on all sides
• Use Times New Roman or Arial font (no smaller than size 11; size 12 font is preferred)
• Print out a resume packet with these guidelines and examples of resumes to refer to while you are typing your resume
• Section headings stand out best when they are bold and capitalized - avoid the use of underlines
• Remove hyperlinks from email addresses (highlight text, right click, “Remove hyperlink”)

CONTACT INFORMATION

• Name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address should be the first information on the page with your name in a larger font size (14 or 16)
• If an employer may be contacting you during vacation or after graduation, list both campus and permanent addresses and phone numbers
• Remember to include area codes with telephone numbers
• Avoid the use of “cutesy” or suggestive email addresses

OBJECTIVE OR POSITION

• The objective statement should give the prospective employer a clear idea of the type of position for which you are applying
• As an alternative to an objective, you can use a “Position” heading and simply state the correct title of the specific position as it is known within the targeted organization
• The information in the rest of your resume should support your interest in, and capacity to perform, this position

Examples:

• Objective: A position teaching science and/or math at the secondary school level
• Objective: Sales representative with an industrial firm that markets technical or semi-technical products
• Objective: To obtain a position in a social service agency using my administrative, counseling, and programming skills
• Position: Network Administrator
• Position: Management Trainee

EDUCATION

This section describes the scope of your academic preparation beyond high school. List your highest or most recent degree first and include:

• your degree and major as listed in the UNC Catalog (minor is optional), bolded
• name and location of your college
• date of graduation or anticipated month and year of graduation (not dates of attendance)
• GPA (the “rule of thumb” is to list it if it is 3.0 or higher; GPA is REQUIRED for Accounting majors)
• special emphasis areas, honors thesis or study abroad

Example:

Bachelor of Science, Biological Sciences;
Emphasis: Biomedical Sciences
University of Northern Colorado (UNC), Greeley, CO
Anticipated graduation: May 2005

SELECTED COURSEWORK

When you have little or no work experience related to the professional field you plan to pursue, create a section with this title. This section helps to build a “bridge” between your student experience and the professional world of work.

• Select three to four courses already completed and develop a descriptive statement for each one
• Describe a project or assignment to show you have knowledge learned in class that can be applied to the workplace
• Courses selected may need to be varied to support different types of positions

EXPERIENCE

In this section, summarize your work experience (YES, employers want to see your work experience - even in unrelated jobs!) highlighting the most recent or most relevant first. Internships, student teaching, summer employment, and volunteer work can all be included. Stress the level of responsibility, achievements, and motivation you demonstrated in previous jobs or activities.

This is the only section of the resume where bullets are used. Do not use periods at the end of bulleted statements. Include:

• the title of your position (bolded), name of organization, location of employer (town and state), and dates
• descriptions of your work responsibilities (list the most important and related responsibilities first)
• the most relevant work experiences in the greatest detail - be brief with irrelevant experiences or omit them (it may be helpful to divide your work experiences into two categories: RELEVANT (or RELATED) EXPERIENCE and OTHER EXPERIENCE

Making Your Resume Unique
Develop your own categories to highlight additional special experiences and skills. Examples of category headings for this additional information include:

• Experience With Children
• Related Courses
• Leadership
• Language Proficiencies
• Community Volunteer Work
• Military Experience
• Professional Memberships
• Honors and Awards

In place of RELATED EXPERIENCE, you might want to indicate your field of experience in the category heading; for example, BUSINESS EXPERIENCE, HUMAN SERVICES EXPERIENCE, SALES EXPERIENCE, etc.

References

References are individuals who can provide positive information about your work experiences and skills. They may be present or former employers, internship supervisors, faculty members, coworkers, clergy, or other members of student organizations or volunteer activities. Keep the following guidelines in mind:

• In most cases, references are listed on a separate sheet of paper, not on the resume itself
• It is not necessary to put the statement, “References available upon request,” on your resume - employers presume you can provide references if they request them
• Be sure to ask the individuals you have in mind if they are willing to serve as references for you
• It is very beneficial to inform your references when you apply for a position, providing them with a copy of the job description and indicating which skills or responsibilities you would like them to address, if they are contacted by your prospective employer
• Some employers will request letters of reference, while others will only ask for contact information for your references

Examples:

REFERENCES

Robin Jones
Manager
Ultra Cool Shoes
2001 Main Street
Anytown, CO 86000
(970) 379-0000
rojo@aol.com

Jamie Kaleske, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biology
University of Northern Colorado
Greeley, CO 80639
(970) 351-0000
jskales@unco.edu

Scannable Resumes

Some employers now scan resumes into a database in order to use keyword searches to identify applicants who have the traits they are looking for. Features of resumes that make them difficult to scan include:

• when resumes are printed on blue or gray paper
• unusual formats, such as columns; complex fonts, graphics or lines

Tips for Maximizing Scannability

• Use white paper and do not fold or staple your resume
• Use a laser printed original rather than a photocopy
• Use standard fonts such as Times New Roman, Helvetica, Futura, Optima, Univers or Palatino
• Don’t use anything smaller than a 12 point font
• Do not condense spacing between letters or use a condensed font
• Use boldface and/or all capital letters for section headings as long as letters don’t touch each other
• Avoid fancy styles such as italics, underline, shadows and reverses
• Fax only when necessary and fax in “fine” mode, if possible

Tips for Maximizing “Hits” (Matches between your resume and employer’s search criteria)

• Include a Qualifications Summary detailing your most relevant skills and experience
• Use jargon and acronyms specific to your field; use action verbs
• Increase your use of keywords by including specifics such as software names - Microsoft Excel, Access, dbase, etc.

WHAT DO I DO WHEN I’M CLUELESS?

• Take some time to look through the other pages and links on this website
• Make an appointment with a career counselor to ask questions, explain your dilemmas, and get assistance with developing your “Action Plan”
• Attend career development workshops on different topics offered throughout the semester
• Career Services staff can assist you with every part of your career plan, from choosing a career to helping you locate employment opportunities when you are getting ready to graduate