Resume Advisor

Guide To Resume Writing

What is a resume?

A resume is a one or two page summary of your skills, accomplishments, experiences, and education designed to capture prospective employer’s interest. The purpose of a resume is to secure an interview. It is the primary tool of your job search and may take several drafts to prepare effectively.

Building An Effective Resume

I. Self Assessment

Before you can write an effective resume, you must first be able to identify your skills and abilities as well as your special needs relating to the work environment, salary, geographic location, and people environment. This step will help you to develop a career objective.

  1. List at least 10 skills which you have developed in each of the following areas: Education/Work/Internships or Volunteer/Extracurricular. Use action words to develop one liner summaries.
  2. Circle each of the skills noted in part A that you would like to use in your employment. Are there other talents you possess that you would like to use on the job? If so, add them to the list of circled skills. Now rank these skills in order of those you most want to use.
  3. Make a list of what you consider to be 5 great accomplishments in your life. What personal qualities helped you reach each goal?

II. Writing The Resume

As you organize your resume, keep in mind the needs of the employer who will be reading it. Consider what s/he is looking for in a candidate and make it easy for the reader to pick out those skills by selecting appropriate categories, using underlining, boldfacing or capitalizing and presenting relevant experience and skill areas higher on the page.

KEEP IN MIND THE FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS AS YOU BEGIN DEVELOPING YOUR RESUME:

  1. Sell yourself. Create a good first impression by highlighting skills and abilities appropriate to the position.
  2. Use active language. Check out our on-line list of action words to spice up your resume. Articulate marketable skills acquired through your positions. Example: Salesperson, Smith Shoe Store, Portland, Maine. Assisted clients with selection of shoes, developed and promoted special marketing events, trained new employees, monitored cash. Store increased in sales by 7 percent in 6 month period.
  3. Be consistent. Choose a pattern of spacing, an order of information presentation or a format of highlighting and be consistent throughout.
  4. Present information in reverse chronological order within categories. List education and work experiences starting with the most recent first.
  5. Check for grammar. Misspellings and poorly constructed sentences communicate negative impressions about a candidate.
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