Resume Guide

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Resume and cover letter are your chance to make a positive first impression on the employer. A good resume markets your education, experiences, and skills in addition to focusing on what is most relevant to the employer. It is important to dedicate time to developing a focused resume for each type of position you apply for.

Some helpful resources might be:

The Resume

If possible, keep your resume to one page in length. Be specific, concise and brief.
Use “action verbs” to describe your accomplishments.
Laser print and copy on good quality bond paper in off-white, buff or light gray.
Use a layout that is easy to read. Use Times New Roman or Bookman, 12 point font.
Choose either the functional, chronological or combination style resume.
Proof for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors!

Resume Styles

Chronological emphasizes education and experience by dates in reverse chronological order.
Functional organizes and emphasizes experience and skills. Good to use if you have a limited work history or gaps in your work history.
Combination emphasizes your abilities and accomplishments.
Electronic is a format that eliminates the use of bolding, italics, underlines, graphics, bullets and shadows, etc. The resume is scanned into a computer and accessed by keywords and phrases or emailed via the Internet.

The Anatomy of a Resume

1. Identifying Information: At the top of the first page: name, address, home (with answering machinge) or cellular telephone number and e-mail address. Usually in bold type and 14-pt font.

2. Job Objective: Position for which you are applying and a clear, well thought-out career path that fits perfectly with that position. If, however, you do not have a specific job in mind, you can eliminate the job objective.

Example:

Seeking to utilize my education and experience in a management trainee position for a software company.

3. Education: Most recent college or university degree completed or in progress. Also include information regarding Certificates of Completion for technical training.

Example:

Southwestern Assemblies of God University – Waxahachie, TX
Bachelor of Science, Business, with Marketing Specialization
GPA 3.45

4. Skills and Accomplishments: Summarize three to five (but no more than seven) highlights of your achievements or job-specific skills. Use bullets to make them stand out and grab the attention of the reader.

Example:

*2 years marketing experience
*Excellent written and oral communication skills
*Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite

5. Experience including internships and volunteer work: List the name of the company, organization or agency, your position, the dates (month and year) you were employed, and your specific job duties, equipment you used, skills you used or learned, goals or quotas you achieved, and supervision or training you conducted. Use positive, “action verbs” to describe your experience. Avoid using flowery language or too much industry jargon. List your most recent experience first and then in reverse chronological order.

Example:

Southwestern Assemblies of God University – Waxahachie, TX (8/01-Present)

Research Assistant: Assisted with data collection and computer analysis of marketing data. Engaged in an in-depth study of current marketing issues relating to student enrollment.

6. Additional Information could include professional organizations, affiliations or clubs, awards, leadership experiences, credentials, professional licenses or certificates, and community services.

7. References are usually requested and listed on a separate sheet of paper. References should be professionals not family and friends. At the top of the Reference page include all your Identifying Information. List reference name and job title, their employer, address, and telephone number. Always request permission to use someone as a reference.

Electronic Resume Information

Scannable

Use black ink on white paper. Use fonts between 10-14 points. Print on a laser printer.
When faxing your resume, use “fine mode” and back it up with one by mail.
Avoid italics, underlining, boldface, shadowing. Use all capital letter for emphasis.
Include a “keywords” paragraph summarizing your marketable skills. Mention the keywords in your cover letter for easy scanning.

Email: Follow the above guidelines for scannable resumes and…

Copy and paste your resume to a new document and save it as a text (ASCII) file, not a word processing document.
Remove all formatting: columns, tabs, italics, boldface, indenting, centered, and justification. Change bullets to dashes or asterisks.
Use no more than 70 character per line.
Use the space bar to indent not the tab key.
Before emailing to an employer, send it to yourself or a friend and print out results.
Mail in the body of the message, not as an attachment, to ensure the receiver does not have trouble opening it.