How to write a resume
What is the point of a resume?
- To outline your academic and employment history in a concise, readable, and favorable way.
- To convince a prospective employer to consider your qualifications for a job.
- To win you a job interview.
What makes a resume successful?
An intelligent selection of those items in your background most relevant to the job you are seeking and most representative of your personal and educational achievements.
An accurate and well-organized presentation of your qualifications, background, and experience.
An attractive format that highlights essential information, presenting it in language that is correct and spelled right.
What are the parts of resume?
A resume may be tailored for a specific job or employer; a standard resume would include the following items:
Your name, current address, and phone number. You may also want to list a second, more permanent address if your current address (an apartment, a dormitory) is likely to change during the period of your job application.
Relevant personal data. Use your judgment in this area. You need not mention your age, marital status, physical condition unless such factors are important to the job you are seeking. You should not include a picture with your resume.
Educational background. In most cases, include the dates and institutions of your college and university degree(s) and other post-high school training. List this information either in chronological order, most recent first, or in order of importance for the job you are seeking. Elementary and secondary school information should not be mentioned unless directly relevant to the job application.
List your academic major or areas of concentration, language skills, and significant honors, especially competitive scholarship, grants, and fellowship.
Job experience. List this information either in chronological order, most recent first, or in order of importance for the job you are seeking, most important first:
- Your position
- Your employer
- The dates of employment for full-time and part-time jobs relevant to the position you are seeking
Make sure that all recent years are accounted for; don’t leave a gap in your employment history that a prospective employer might worry about. Your job history should give an employer a sense of your experience, qualifications, and dependability.
A resume prepared right out of college might list significant positions held while in school: on committees, in programs, and in clubs and social organizations.
Recommendations, credentials, or employment services. Let a prospective employer know whom he or she can write or call to get more information about you. Be sure you check that the persons you list as references on your resume are willing to speak on your behalf.
Optional features in a resume:
- A list of personal achievements or community service, especially when such activities are pertinent to your job application.
- A statement of your specific career intentions. Give this in as few words as possible. A job title usually suffices: junior accountant; medical examiner; dental hygienist.
What is the standard form for a resume?
Most resumes resemble an outline, but there is no single accept form. Arrange the items on your resume so that major points stand out clearly. Use headings to highlight major divisions. Allow for ample margins and plenty of white space. Don’t use colored paper.
Don’t crowed your resume. Try to fit everything onto a single page; a longer resume is acceptable if you have a long employment history and significant experience to chronicle.
The typical order of items on a resume is as follows:
- personal information
- educational background
- job experience
- references
a handsomely typed resume reproduced on high-quality paper is all an employer expects. You need to have your resume professionally printed ”“ though such services are widely available and relatively inexpensive.
Some advice about preparing a resume.
Proofread your finished resume several times; then get someone else to review it. Errors on a resume make you look careless and irresponsible and can cost you a job interview.
Never send your resume alone as a job application. A resume should always be accompanied by a typed cover letter explaining your interest in a position, your specific qualifications for the job, your willingness to meet for an interview, and so on. Like the resume itself, the job application letter should ordinarily not exceed one page.
Use the job application letter to draw attention to the best reasons an employer should consider you for a job or interview. The letter can be more specific about these major points than the resume. Don’t merely repeat information already on the resume in your application letter