the header

The header contains vital information an employer must have in order to contact you. On individual lines, center your name, address, phone number(s) and email address so they stand out. You should also:

• Begin your resume with your full name and emphasize it in bold type or a slightly larger font. Avoid nicknames.

• Use a complete street address.

• List each phone number, with an area code, on a separate line, specifying if it is (h)ome or (w)ork (only add your work number if you truly want to be contacted there).

• Include your personal email address, but make sure it is professional sounding and is one that you check frequently for responses. You don't want to keep an employer waiting for a reply.

objective

A career objective should be a brief statement focusing on the positive characteristics you offer for the job. Remember to:

• Include results or outcomes you can deliver based on past performance.

• Use action verbs and keywords.

• The objective should be between one and four sentences long.

employment and career experience

Here is the place you describe your experience and accomplishments, highlight your successes, and explain how you achieved them. Always remember the content in this section should demonstrate how you will be of value to your next employer. When putting these paragraphs together, you should:

• Start with a job outline for each position you plan to list. This will help you map out your skills, major responsibilities, special projects and analysis of each job. Pull out all areas that pertain to the job you are seeking.

• If you choose the traditional, chronologically organized resume, you should list each employer (including city/state), the positions you held (in bold), and length of time you were there in reverse order. Do not abbreviate dates.
  
• Begin each statement in the past tense using an action verb (ie: implemented, designed, organized). The only exception would be your current role, in which case you will use present tense (ie: conduct, write, supervise). Do not over use the action verb; limit one for every sentence.
  
• If currently employed, state the word "present" after your start date.

   

• List your key responsibilities and skills, but do not repeat the same information if you have had similar positions under multiple employers. Focus on unique project work instead.

• Detail your successes by using numbers and percentages.

• To make your resume easier to read, use bullet points in lieu of paragraphs.

• If you have held a series of jobs, you may want to include the last four to six positions. Usually, your current job is described in the most detail. However, if the job you held five years ago closely matches your current objective, you may want to devote more space to it.

• Job seekers with a military background should detail their experiences as part of your career history and place any training (technical, leadership, etc.) under the appropriate section.

Education and/or Training

Employers are becoming increasingly focused on training and development. Whether it is a degreed program or a workshop/seminar, showing your future employer you are interested in advanced learning is important. To include this on your resume, you should:

• Place your education and training information below the Career Experience section. (Exception: If you are a recent graduate, include your degree under the Objective).

• List your academic credentials and formal degree(s) in order of relevance or reverse chronological order.

• Include the type of degree, school and year of graduation (if recent), as well as major/minor.

• Anticipated or expected completion date should be used in parentheses if you have yet to finish your degree (example: Expected completion date: May, 2001). Do this unless the last class you took was some time ago, and you have yet to finish your degree. In that case, list the dates you attended class along with your field of study.

• Do not abbreviate the type of degree.
  
• If you had a high GPA or graduated with honors, include it. Otherwise, leave it out.

• There's no need to mention high school if you have completed a college degree.

• Separate education from training. Training includes seminars, workshops and college courses, which are not part of a degreed program.

• Don't have a degree? Perhaps you have taken courses or training that is directly related to the job you are applying for. If so, list the relevant dates and name of the institution in the Training section.

Creating a section that focuses on your technical capabilities will help the employer identify your core skills. If you include this section, you should:

• List computer languages or programs.

• Explain how many years of experience you have with those programs.

• Some employers prefer that you quantify how well you believe you know these programs by giving a level of expertise (such as beginner, intermediate, advanced or expert).

Additional Information

This section can be used to describe achievements which may not fit into the categories we've already discussed, but are still relevant to the job. These can include:

• Professional affiliations

• Awards/honors

• Language fluency

• Licenses, accreditation, published papers and patents

• Internships/Work abroad

• Volunteer activities