Resume Tips

Resumes are flexible documents. There are no "rules" about what you must or cannot include, how or where to present the information, or any real taboos except that your resume must not contain any spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors. A good resume is concisely written and tightly formatted. It’s important that you start out with a good organizational structure so that you can include just the right information, arranged for maximum impact.

Resume Structure

Resumes are structured into 5 Principal Categories:

• Header / Contact Information: A well-organized presentation of your name and contact information (mailing addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and other ways of reaching you).
• Objective and / or Skills Summary: Immediately identifies what you’re looking for and highlights your most important qualifications.
• Education: All facets of your recent college experience, such things as coursework, academic honors, internships, and activities.
• Work Experience: Details of your employment experience, whether co-op or internship, part-time during school year or summers, or full-time experience before, during, or since you graduated from college.
• Extras: Information that you would like to include but doesn’t fit neatly into any of the prior categories.

Tips For New Graduates

1. Attend resume workshops offered at the Career Development Center.
2. Expand your work experience by including all unpaid positions: internships, special projects, volunteer jobs. Be sure to list them in chronological order in your Work Experience section.
3. Highlight your work experience that is most relevant to your intended future.
4. List awards, honors, and citations.
5. Show evidence of dedication and goals.
6. Include your GPA if it’s at least 3.0 or high enough for employer prerequisites.

Tips For Seasoned Aces

1. Focus your resume. Concentrate on highlighting your two most recent or relevant jobs.
2. Be sure to use concise, crisp writing. Avoid dated words such as people person, self-starter, and go-getter. Instead, use enjoy interacting with people, self-motivating, and motivated to succeed.