Samples
What is a résumé
• A brief
history of your accomplishments that you prepare for potential
employers.
• A marketing
tool to highlight your strengths and unique qualifications.
Take time
and care in writing this important document.
A
good résumé is:
•
Clear: presents the facts about you in a clear easy-to-read-style
•
Well Organized: The reader can see your strong points in a glance
•
Dynamic: Action verbs make your accomplishments come alive
•
Neat: the appearance says, "I’m proud of who I am and
what I’ve done
What
to include on your résumé:
These
are the standard resume elements, but remember that you can (and
should) organize your résumé so that it works the
best for you and highlights your unique strengths. Below are examples
of categories for your resume:
HEADING: include
full name, complete address (if you’re a college student
include your present address and a permanent address), phone number
(at college and at permanent address if applicable), and e-mail
address. Be sure the message on your answering machine and your
email address show that you are a mature, business-like person.
JOB OBJECTIVE
OR PROFESSIONAL PROFILE: An objective statement is optional, but
it can let the employer know what kind of position you’re
looking for. If you include a job objective, avoid being vague
but don’t be so specific that you eliminate yourself from
other closely related positions. Poor Objective: A challenging
position that uses my education and creativity. Good objective:
A position as a writer in a public relations firm.
A Professional Profile
is also optional, but it gives the employer a summary of your
skills and experience you would bring to the job. This is your
chance to highlight your key skills and achievements and make
an employer want to learn more about you. Poor Profile: Many work
experiences. Good Profile: Worked 20-30 hours per week to finance
70% of college education.
EDUCATION/TRAINING:
this section should contain: Name of School (s), location, date
of attendance, degrees/certificates awarded, major(s) and minor
(if applicable). You may also want to include your GPA, coursework
that may be related to the job you want, honors or awards.
RELATED EXPERIENCE:
For this section think of all the work and volunteer experiences
you’ve had. Think about the skills and knowledge you’ve
gained from those experiences and emphasize those qualities. Remember
that employers hire you because of your skills, knowledge and
personality, not necessarily because of what was your college
major. Always be sure to include the names and locations of employers,
dates of employment and job titles. Try to be descriptive and
qualitative when telling about your work but write it in quick
phrases or short narratives. Leave out experience that’s
more than 10-15 years old unless it relates to the job you are
seeking.
Internship(s):
describe your key accomplishments and responsibilities, the type
of work environment you were in, experience with computers, industry-specific
tools, etc.
Full-time
and Part-time Work: consider the work environment, your
skills and accomplishments from the job. Which of these skills
will transfer to other jobs? Describe as you did for your internship.
Volunteer:
these experiences can be valuable as they show your commitment
to helping others; they can also show your leadership skills and
your ability to manage your time.
Leadership:
include descriptions of skills you have gained and used in various
leadership positions on the job or on campus. Leadership skills
are among the top skills sought by employers.
ADDITIONAL
EXPERIENCE: these are other work or volunteer experiences that
may not seem closely related to the job you’re applying
for but will demonstrate employability and work ethic to an employer
as well as your ability to get along with co-workers and customers.
TECHNICAL SKILLS: Let’s
the employer know what you feel comfortable using on the computer.
If you are fluent in a foreign language, you can mention it in
this section or under your Professional Profile section.
ACTIVITIES AND/OR LEADERSHIP
EXPERIENCE: Interests or activities that will show an employer
you have leadership, organizational, social skills, etc. To decide
how much and what to include, ask yourself: ‘What am I trying
to convey to a prospective employer? Does this activity illustrate
my strengths in relation to this position?’
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:
List membership in organizations related to your career. Shows
an employer you want to further your career by getting to know
other professionals in your field.
The
Tone of your Résumé
Set
the right tone in your resume by showing that you’re a dynamic
individual with a lot to offer! Here’s how:
Emphasize the positive.
Sell your strengths. Focus on the positive contributions you’ve
made to your employers, your school and your community.
Highlight accomplishments.
If you’re a college student or a recent graduate, list education
before experience since that’s your most important qualification
at this time in your life. When listing job experiences, don’t
just list the duties, list what you actually achieved and be specific.
Poor example: Supervised staff at a store. Good example: Supervised
6 staff persons at a retail clothing store.
Use action verbs—especially
at the start of a descriptive phrase. Check list for good verbs
to use.
Avoid wordiness. Use
keywords and phrases instead of complete sentences. Don’t
use the pronoun "I". Be direct. Poor wording: Staged
an extensive campaign to increase membership and raise funds for
the professional women’s organization at my company. Good
wording: Increased organizational memberships and fundraising
profits by 10%.
Use familiar terms.
Use common language appropriate to the job and the industry that
interests you.
Be neat. Make your
resume look professional. Check and double check for spelling,
grammatical and punctuation errors and word usage. Have several
professionals proof it for you. Use a quality printer and print
on high quality bond paper in white or off-white. Use matching
envelopes when sending in the mail.
Action
Verbs
Incorporate
Action Verbs in your employment correspondence. Listed below are
words you may want to use:
Using Data, I have:
Interacting with People I have:
Dealing with things I have:
administered advised adjusted
analyzed coordinated altered
compared counseled assembled
computed directed balanced
compiled encouraged built
coordinated entertained driven
designed evaluated fabricated
developed guided guided
directed helped handled
edited instructed inspected
figured interviewed lifted
implemented managed made
innovated motivated mixed
organized negotiated moved
planned organized operated
recorded persuaded repaired
reported protected set up
researched referred shaped
synthesized served tended
theorized shared tested
written supervised trained
supervised trained
Creating
a Scannable Keyword Résumé
Many
employers are using computerized tracking systems to manage the
large numbers of resumes they receive. Instead of a person reading
your resume and deciding if your qualifications meet their needs,
the resume is scanned into a database. The tracking software searches
the database for keywords that describe essential qualifications
desired for the position.
Success in having your
resume selected from the employer’s database is determined
by how effectively you have used keywords in your resume. Keywords
are usually nouns that define skills, experience and education.
Employers are searching
for the presence of keywords from their industry. To help you
identify appropriate keywords you should be using, answer these
questions:
• What
are some ‘jargon’ words commonly used in the industry?
• What are some of the ‘catch phrases’ used in
the profession?
• What are some of the skills required for the posted position?
• What are some of the qualifications the employer is seeking?
Follow these steps
to create a scannable keyword resume:
1. Remove all graphics;
they confuse scanners. This includes art, shading, and horizontal
and vertical lines. Bullets confuse some systems, so replace bullets
with asterisks.
2. Be sure your name
is on the top line of the resume and no other text is on that
line.
3. Move all text to
the left margin, remove tabs and use the space bar to indent.
4. Use common and
easily recognizable fonts. Ideally use a sans-serif font (without
the little ‘feet’ on characters) such as Arial or
Helvetica, or common fonts such as Times or Times New Roman.
5. Keep all point
sizes between 10 and 14 points.
6. Use standard line
spacing. Do not compress lines of text.
7. Remove italic,
bold and underlining. Use all caps as an alternative to bold.
8. Keep ‘To’
and ‘From’ employment dates on one line. Use only
a single date on college degrees.
9. Don’t use
parentheses around the area codes in telephone numbers. Replace
them with a hyphen: 303-345-6789 vs (303) 345-6789.
Résumé
Writing Do’s and Don’ts
DO:
• Be honest.
Employers can usually spot any exaggeration or false information
• Keep it brief. Most employers only spend 20 seconds looking
at a resume so try to limit it to one page.
• Write your own resume. You know yourself better than anyone
does.
DON’T:
• Don’t
include any unnecessary personal information such as race, age,
religion, political affiliation. It is not legal for an employer
to see this information because it may give them opportunity to
discriminate.
• Don’t include any salary requirements. If you’re
asked for this information, put it in the cover letter (but be
careful how you state it so not to eliminate you from a job).
• Don’t use gimmicks like photographs, unusual formats,
loud colored paper, etc. It may attract the wrong kind of attention.
For sample
resumes please contact Career Services at careers@mtmercy.edu.
