Writing a Resume


What is a Resume?
A resume is a short, concise document that states relevant information regarding your education, skills, experiences, accomplishments, and job-related interests.

Why do I need a resume?
The purpose of a resume is to obtain an interview.

Where do I start?
Resumes are usually broken down into 4 sections:
  1. Contact Information
  2. Education
  3. Experience (Work Experience)
  4. Honors, activities, and outreach

Guidelines to Consider:

Contact Information
When creating the contact information section, a header is not needed as with the remainder of the resume. You should also be sure to include the following information at minimum in the contact information section.

  • Your full name
  • Your e-mail address
  • Your permanent address
  • Your phone number(s)
  • Your local or campus address (if applicable)
  • Your web address/URL (if applicable)
  • Your fax number, etc. (if applicable)

Education Section
Within the education section, you should list the institution at which you have attended such as universities, 4-year colleges, junior and community colleges, as well as any other professional and technical schools. (Only include High School, if it is somehow relevant.) All educational institutions should be listed in descending order with the highest point of educational attainment  listed on towards the top.  The following information is usually included in this section.

  • Location of schools
  • Date of graduation, actual or anticipated
  • Degree(s) earned
  • Grade point average (GPA) if over 3.0.

Experience Section
An experience section emphasizes your past and present employment and/or your participation in relevant activities. This section should also be list in descending order as well. Sometimes this section goes under other names such as the following:
  • Work Experience
  • Professional Experience
  • Work History
  • Field Work
  • Volunteer Work
  • Relevant Experience
The experience section usually contains the following information.
  • Company or organization, location
  • Position title
  • Dates of employment or involvement
  • Descriptions of responsibilities and duties
When writing the description for your responsibilities and duties be sure to use Action Adverbs & Adjectives.

Honors, Activities, etc. Section
This section is where you would list anything that may be relevant to the position which you are applying for and that will make you stand out from the competition. You can include some of the following information or more in this section.
  • Scholarships
  • Academic Honors
  • Memberships in Professional Organizations
  • Community Service Positions

Customization of Font Steps to follow:
  1. Write name in bold w/ info.
  2.  It also helps to make your heading slightly bigger than the rest of your resume so it stands out at the top of the page
  3. List work history
  4. If it's your job titles that are impressive, lead with them in bold
  5. Summarize positions
  6. Adjust to job description

Remember that each industry has its own way of tailoring the design if a resume or curriculum vitae. Therefore, you should customize your resume for a particular industry and refrain from the temptation to just use one standardize resume for different field. Some sample resumes can also be found by visiting Monster and/or templates can be downloaded via Microsoft website.

Compounded with information from Purdue Education.