Part 1: RESUME WRITING WRITE A RESUME THAT GENERATES

RESULTS
Writing a great resume does not necessarily mean you should follow the
rules you hear through the grapevine. It does not have to be one page or
follow a specific resume format. Every resume is a one-of-a-kind
marketing communication. It should be appropriate to your situation and
do exactly what you want it to do. Instead of a bunch of rules and tips, we
are going to cut to the chase in this brief guide and offer you the most
basic principles of writing a highly effective resume.
THE NUMBER ONE PURPOSE OF A RESUME
The resume is a tool with one specific purpose: to win an interview. If it
does what the fantasy resume did, it works. If it doesnt, it isnt an
effective resume. A resume is an advertisement, nothing more, nothing
less.
A great resume doesnt just tell them what you have done but makes the
same assertion that all good ads do: If you buy this product, you will
get these specific, direct benefits. It presents you in the best
light. It convinces the employer that you have what it takes to be
successful in this new position or career.
It is so pleasing to the eye that the reader is enticed to pick it up and read
it. It whets the appetite, stimulates interest in meeting you and learning
more about you. It inspires the prospective employer to pick up the phone
and ask you to come in for an interview.
OTHER POSSIBLE REASONS TO HAVE A RESUME

To pass the employers screening process (requisite educational

level, number years experience, etc.), to give basic facts which might
favorably influence the employer (companies worked for, political
affiliations, racial minority, etc.). To provide contact information: an upto-date address and a telephone number (a telephone number which
will always be answered during business hours).

To establish you as a professional person with high standards and

excellent writing skills, based on the fact that the resume is so well
done (clear, well-organized, well-written, well-designed, of the highest

professional grades of printing and paper). For persons in the art,

advertising, marketing, or writing professions, the resume can serve
as a sample of their skills.

To have something to give to potential employers, your job-hunting

contacts and professional references, to provide background
information, to give out in informational interviews with the request
for a critique (a concrete creative way to cultivate the support of this
new person), to send a contact as an excuse for follow-up contact, and
to keep in your briefcase to give to people you meet casually as
another form of business card.

To use as a covering piece or addendum to another form of job

application, as part of a grant or contract proposal, as an
accompaniment to graduate school or other application.

To put in an employers personnel files.

To help you clarify your direction, qualifications, and strengths, boost
your confidence, or to start the process of commiting to a job or career
change.

WHAT IT ISNT
It is a mistake to think of your resume as a history of your past, as a
personal statement or as some sort of self expression. Sure, most of the
content of any resume is focused on your job history. But write from the
intention to create interest, to persuade the employer to call you. If you
write with that goal, your final product will be very different than if you
write to inform or catalog your job history.
Most people write a resume because everyone knows that you have to
have one to get a job. They write their resume grudgingly, to fulfill this
obligation. Writing the resume is only slightly above filling out income tax
forms in the hierarchy of worldly delights. If you realize that a great
resume can be your ticket to getting exactly the job you want, you may be
able to muster some genuine enthusiasm for creating a real masterpiece,
rather than the feeble products most people turn out.

FORMATTINF YOUR RESUME

1. Format your text. The first thing that a possible employer will see
on your resume is the text. For that reason, it is very important that
you make the right first impression. Choose a professional font in a
size 11 or 12. Times New Roman is the classic serif font, while Arial
and Calibri are two of the better choices for sans-serif. Even though
Sans Serif fonts are more popular for resume, Yahoo has chosen
Helvetica as the best font to use for your resum.

Times New Roman is actually a little hard to read on a screen for

many people. If you are emailing your resume, consider using Georgia
instead for a more readable serif font.

You can use multiple fonts for different parts of your resume, but try
to limit it to two maximum. Instead of changing between fonts, try making
specific sections bold or italicized instead.

The font for your header and the introduction to a section may be a
size 14 or 16, but otherwise you should not use a very large font.

Your text should always be printed in solid black ink. Make sure to
deactivate any hyperlinks (like to your email) so that they dont print in
blue or another contrasting color.
2. Set up the page. Your page should have one inch margins all the
way around with 1.5 or 2 point line spacing. The body of your
resume will be aligned to the left and your header should be
centered at the top of your page.
3. Create your heading. This is the section at the top of your resume
which gives all of your contact information including your name,
address, email, and phone number. Your name should be in a
slightly larger size - either 14 or 16 point font. If you have both, list
your home and cell phone numbers.
4. Decide on a layout. There are three general formats for creating a
resume: chronological, functional, or combination. Your work history
and the type of job you are applying for will determine the layout
style you should use.

Chronological resumes are used for showing a steady growth in a

particular career field. These are best used for someone applying to a job
within their career-path to show an increase of responsibility over time.

Functional resumes are focused on skills and experience rather than

job history. These are best used for someone who may have holes in their
work history or who have gained experience from being self-employed for
a time.

Combination resumes are, as it sounds, a combination of both a

chronological and a functional resume. These are used to show off specific

skills and how they were acquired. If you have developed a specific skill
set from working in a variety of related fields, then this is the best resume
option for you.
WRITING A CHRONOLOGICAL RESUME
List your employment history. As this is a chronological resume, your
jobs should be listed in chronological order with your most recent
employment first. Include the name of the company, its location, your
title, your duties and responsibilities while working there, and the dates
that you were employed there.

It may be beneficial to list your title first, to show off your position in
each job. You can also choose to list the company name first. Regardless
of what you choose, be consistent down your entire list.

For each listing, write a major achievements or

accomplishments section with a brief description of something
important that you accomplished for that job.
Provide your education history. Same as with your jobs, you should list
all of your education in chronological order with your most recent
schooling first. Include any college degrees, trade schools, or
apprenticeships you might have participated in. If you graduated with a
degree, list the name of the degree as well as the year you received it. If
you have not yet graduated, simply state the years you have attended the
program as well as an expected graduation date.

For each listing, give the university/program name, their address,

and your degree or area of study.

If you had a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher, be sure to list it along

with your school/degree information.
Give special qualifications or skills. Once youve listed the most
important information - your work experience and education - you can
essentially choose to list anything else you find important. Create a
section titled Special Skills or Unique Qualifications with a list of these
things.

If you are fluent in more than one language, list the multiple
languages here. Be sure to make note of your level of knowledge - for
example, beginner, intermediate, novice, advanced, fluent, etc.

If you are well versed in a special area of work that other applicants
might not be - such as computer programming - be sure to include your
level of expertise here.
Give your references. You will need to provide 2-4 professional
references (people who aren't family or friends)with their name,
relationship to you, and contact information including their phone number,
address, and email.

The best references to use are a manager or superior to you in your

work, or perhaps a college professor whose class you did well in.

The place you are applying to may contact these people, so always
call them in advance to let them know that you are using them for a
reference and are currently applying for a job.
FUNCTIONAL
Provide your education history.
Present your awards and achievements. If you were ever given a
special award or recognition, list it here with the name, date, and purpose
of the award. A common thing to list here is your presence on the "deans
list" for high GPA at a university. Make yourself sound as successful and
hardworking as you can by adding as many awards as you are able.

If you had a job in which you were given a special honor, make note
of that here.

Even if you received an award for volunteering, you are welcome to

place that under this section. Highlight the wondrous things you've done
and been recognized for no matter the circumstance.
Note your special skills. Whereas your 'awards and achievements'
section was very specific, your skills section is much more general. Create
a short list of positive personality traits that you exemplify. For example:
timeliness, outgoing, enthusiastic, diligent, or team-player.
List your employment history. Since this isnt the strongest part of
your resume, youll want to list it at the end so that the recruiter reads
through your more impressive accomplishments first.

You should include sub-headings for the type of experience each job
provided you with, such as Management Experience, Legal
Experience, or Financial Experience.

For each job, be sure to include the name of the company, the city
in which the company is located, your title, your duties and
responsibilities, and the dates of employment for each employer.

Optionally, under each job description you can include a bold

heading, which reads Major Accomplishment or Achievements, and list
two or three achievements or a major accomplishment for that position.

Make sure that your job descriptions are quantified, meaning that
you describe your experiences and achievements with numbers.
Quantifying your resume makes it easier for hiring managers to grasp the
extent of your skills and achievements.

List volunteer experience. If you have done a lot of volunteering in

your life, make a list of it here. Include the name of the program, the
dates that you worked there/the total number of hours you volunteered,
and your responsibilities.
Give your references. The last thing on your resume should be a list of
2-4 professional references. These are all people who you are not related
to, but whom you've dealt with in a professional manner. You might
consider a previous employer, professor, or volunteer coordinator to
include on your references page.

Include the name of the reference, their relationship to you, mailing

address, email, and phone number.

The place you are applying to may contact these people, so always
call them in advance to let them know that you are using them for a
reference and are currently applying for a job.
COMBINATION
Choose how you want to format your resume. Because you are
writing a combination resume, there is no strict format guidelines or
boundaries which you need to follow. Multiple people will have very
different looking combination resume, so focus on what you're good at. In
addition to your work and education experience, you can choose to
include skills, awards and achievements, volunteer history, and special
qualifications.
List your employment history. This can be done in one of two ways. If
your work history includes positions in more than one field, you should list
your jobs under functional sub-headings, which categorize the skills you
used at each particular one. If you can demonstrate that your evolving
work history highlights the key skills you want to promote, you may want
to list your work history in chronological order, without including any subheadings.

Be sure to provide the general information for each

employer/position including the name of the company, location, your title,
your duties, and the dates that you worked there.
Provide information about your education. The details you include
about your education will be the same as the details youd include in other
resume styles; the difference is in where you present the information on
the resume. For each college, university, or trade school you have
attended, list the name and location of the institution, the degree or
certificate you received, and the years you attended.

If your grade point average (GPA) was 3.5 or higher, you may want
to list it as well.
Supply other pertinent information. After you've made note of your
education and work history, give a list of any other information you feel

like might be helpful for your employer to have. Choose to include any of
the additional sections such as special qualifications, skills, awards and
achievements, or volunteer service.
List your references.
MAKE YOUR CONTENT SHINE
Create titles that will catch the employers eye. Take a look at your
job titles. Are they interesting and descriptive? Instead of saying you were
a cashier, say you were a customer service professional, or rather than
saying that youre a secretary, say you are an administrative assistant. Do
not use a job title that is misleading, however. Simply think about how
well the job title describes the work, and how interesting the title is.

For example, Manager does not describe who or what a person

manages. Sales Staff Manager or Executive Manager may be more
descriptive and desirable job titles on a resume.

Visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook

for an alphabetical listing of job titles to get ideas on how to make your
job titles more descriptive.
Use keywords strategically. Because many employers now scan
resumes with special software programs to determine the presence of
certain keywords as a way of filtering them before a select few get passed
along to an actual human being, you want to be sure that your resume
contains all of the proper keywords for your industry, and the particular
job for which you are applying.

Look at what words the employer uses in the advertisement. If an

employer lists research as a required skill, be sure to include the word
research or researched in at least one job description or skill set you
include on your resume.

Avoid using every keyword mentioned in the job posting, however,

or your resume will look suspicious.
Use action verbs to describe your responsibilities and
accomplishments.This will highlight your skills and your ability to do the
job for which you are applying. Choose verbs that describe your
responsibilities and then make sure to begin the descriptions of your
duties with these verbs. For example, if you were a receptionist, you may
want to use verbs such as 'scheduled', 'assisted', and 'provided'. You can
do this by saying you scheduled appointments assisted clients and
provided administrative support.
Spell check and proofread your resume. This step cannot be
overemphasized. Proofread your resume several times. Have someone
else proofread it. Then, have another person further removed from you

read it. Spelling and grammar errors in a resume will get it discarded
regardless of your skills and experience.

Watch out for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, incorrect

contact information, typos, and misuse of apostrophes, plurals, and
possessives.

Double check to make sure that your formatting is correct, and that
you didn't forget any important information.