Resume Writing

Overview of Resume Writing
Resume Styles
        Functional Resume
        Chronological Resume 
Resume Format
Resume Worksheet (WORD document)
Resume Do's and Dont's
The Electronic Resume
Is Your Resume Searchable?
Sample Chronological Combination Resume
        View Resume
         Print Resume (WORD document)
Cover Letter (Format)

• The purpose of a resume is to prove how your skills and experience match the job objective for which you are applying.
• The resume is your most important marketing tool. You are the product and the employer is the buyer. How well can you sell yourself?
• A resume is a highly personal and individalized summary of a person's previous employment, education, training and skills. a resume should detail what you want to accomplish in your chosen field and cite related experience which supports your objective.
• A resume serves as a point of reference in the interview. After the interview, your resume continues to act as a marketing too, serving as a reminder of your strengths.
• A resume should be consistent in format, including punctuation, spacing and bolding.
• A resume should be clear and concise. It should be a vivid picture of your greatest strengths

• Use separate paragraphs or bulleted phrases, each highlighting a particular area of expertise or involvement.
• List the functional paragraphs in order of importance, with the area most directly related to your present job target at the top of the list. This first paragraph should contain more information than the less important items.
• Within each functional area, stress accomplishments, results you have produced and your greatest strengths.
• An advantage of using a Functional Resume style is that you can include any relvant accomplishment without necessarily identifying which employment or non-employment it was connected to.

• List a brief synopsis of your actual work experience at the bottom, listing only dates, title, employer and company location.

• Use separate bulleted phrases to highlight a partiular area of expertise. List only skills that are pertinent to your job objective.

• Start with your present or the most recent positions and work in reverse chronological order. Devote the most space to recent employment. Keep your next job target n mind as you describe your responsibilities and accomplishments. Detail only the last four or five positions, or employment over the duration of the last ten years. Don't show every position change with a given employer, unless it will support your objective.
• Use year designations, such as 1997-1998, unless the job was less than a year. In that case, use month and year.
• Avoid repeating detils that are common to various positions.
• Use the appropriate jargon and action verbs for your area of focus.

• Include education toward the bottom. List your most recent education first, unless it is an unrelated field. List unrelated courses at the end of your list.

• Your name, address, telephone number, and email address should be printed at the top of the page.
• After your objective and Summary of qualifications, you should list your best asset, whether it be Skills, Experience or Education, and move down the page from there.
• The page should be easy to review. Be sure your categories are clear, the dates easy to find, and the format consistent.
• Keep your resume to one page wherever possible.

• Use conservative fonts, such as Times, Helvetica, Palatino, or Arial.
• Font size should be 10 or 12 point, and never larger than 14 point.
• Use bold, bullets and capitalization minimally and consistently.
• Keep tabs, margins, and line spacing consistent.
• Always use tabs when indenting; never use the space bar.
• Try to evenly distribute the text on the page, both horizontally and vertically.
• Use left justification and allow the right side of the page to "rag".

• Do use action verbs and active voice.
• Do be direct and expressive with your language.
• Do appear neat , well organized and professional.
• Do use ample space and highlights for emphasis.
• Do maintain an eye pleasing balance.
• Do carefully check spelling, grammar and punctuation.
• Do communicate your strongest points first.
• Do write out numbers one-nine, but use numerals for all numbers above 10.

• Don't use abbreviations except for states and career buzzwords.
• Don't make the resume cramped and crowded.
• Don't make statements you cannot document.
• Don't change verb tense.
• Don't use lengthy sentences and descriptions.
• Don't use personal pronouns, I, me, my etc.
• Don't include negative information
• Don't include extraneous information.
• Don't use words with which you are not familiar.
• Don't put salary history or requirements.
• Don't put gender, age, race, marital status, or other personal information.

1. Proofread very carefully. Be sure there are no spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors.
2. Have at least two other people read your resume and give you a feedback.
3. Print your resume on good quality paper, either resume or heavy bond paper, and use natural tones, ivory, cream or white.
4. Use the same paper for your resume, cover letter, references and thank you letter.
5. Always bring several hard copies of your resume and references to an interview.

• The objective of an electronic resume is the same as a traditional resume: to get an interview.
• Resumes are sorted electronically via database searches.
• Whereas traditional resumes focus on visual aesthetics and content set off by action verbs, electronic resumes ocus on grabbing a computer's attention by pulling out keywords.
• The successful electronic resume is:
  

  1. Scannable	formatted for easy and accurate computer scaning.
  2. Searchable	containing appropiriate nouns or keywords for database searching.
  3. Uploadable	stored in a file format easily digested by the computer on which it will be stored.