College of Business Career Services – THE RESUME
QUESTION: What are the two most important documents you will ever write??
A. Resume
B. Cover Letter
Your resume and cover letter are two of the most important documents you will ever compose.
The purpose is to secure an interview that leads to a job offer. Therefore, each document must
be well prepared, error-free, and focused on the position desired so that the employer will be
compelled to invite you for a personal interview.
The purpose: convince prospective employers to contact you for an interview
The Resume
• Critical to a successful job search
• Recruiter’s first introduction to you
• Your chance to make a good first impression
• Marketing tool that highlights your accomplishments, work experience, and education
while reflecting your strengths and skills
For students, the best type of resume to write is accomplishment-oriented. This means your
resume should convey the skills you have to offer an organization and set you apart from the
competition. You want your resume to catch a recruiter’s attention. A recruiter may look
through hundreds of resumes and spend only fifteen seconds or less on each one.
Typically, your resume should not be longer than ONE page; however, a longer resume may be
acceptable for students with at least 7-10 years of full-time work experience. We edit and
critique only this resume. This is the only resume that will be sent to employers through
e-Recruiting.
To gain access to e-Recruiting you must register with Career Services. To register, you must
submit your resume in the required COB format. Some students ask, “Why does my resume
have to conform to the College of Business format? Why can’t it be unique?” When employers
look at many resumes, it is easier for them to pay attention to the content if they don’t have to
navigate through different formats and figure out “what’s where.”
College of Business Center for Student Success
Career Services
3016 Bate Building
Greenville, NC 27834
252-737-1236
[email protected]
College of Business Career Services – THE RESUME
“How do I format my resume?”
Career Services requests that all students use a specific format (hyperlink) for their resumes.
This format is called a chronological resume where you begin with your most current position at
the top of your resume. It is important that every resume submitted to the Career Services be
written in the standard chronological format. Employers have indicated that it is easier to focus
on the content of a resume with specific format for all students.
IMPORTANT:
For distance education MBA
students who are seeking full
time employment while
completing their degrees it is
advisable that their employment
history, with their current
employer be placed first,
precede their education which
should be placed near the end of
the resume before Honors and
Activities. It is most likely that
your employment history will be
the determining factor for an
employer making a hiring
decision. You may also want to
indicate that you are working on
your degree on a part-time basis,
thus letting a prospective
employer know that you are
available now.
•
Standard font: Times New Roman
•
Font size: 10 to 12 point font (Avoid fonts that are either too large or
small)
•
Margins: it might be necessary to extend your margins to fit
company/school title on your page, but try to avoid this because it
makes your resume not appear centered
•
Bold: only use bold words when referring to category on resume
(Experience/Education), title of company/school (ECU) or job title
(waitress)
•
All caps: avoid all CAPS at most times. It can appear that one is yelling
within a document and can be hard to read at times.
“I just don’t know where to start or what to write…”
A. Type out a list of your current/past duties at each of your employment opportunities
B. Review the skill-based verbs and determine what verbs you can use with your
skills/accomplishments
a. Example:
i. Role: Administrative Assistant
ii. Job role: filed employee records, helped VP with daily tasks, etc
• Organized and maintained (skill-based verb) employee file records
for over 350 employees in the Southeast Division
• Assisted Vice President of Southeast Division with creating power
point presentations, scheduling conferences, and responding to
specific questions through email
College of Business Center for Student Success
Career Services
3016 Bate Building
Greenville, NC 27834
252-737-1236
[email protected]
College of Business Career Services – THE RESUME
Detailed Description of Resume
NAME AND ADDRESS
If you have…
ONE address your contact information should be margin left
BOTH local (current address) and permanent address:
• Center name and e-mail
• Place street addresses and telephone numbers margin left and right respectively
EDUCATION – First category at the top of your resume.
It is not
necessary to
say “Expected
Graduation.”
Only indicate
month and
year.
May 2011
Remember, your
specific “degree”
precedes your
major.
Bachelor of Science
in Business
Administration,
Finance
East Carolina University College of Business, Greenville, NC
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Management
GPA: 3.67
√ Month and date of expected graduation
√ Current university, City and State of the university/college (Street address or zip
code not necessary)
√ Degree and Major, minor, or specialization
√ Honors –i.e. With Distinction, cum laude, Dean’s list:
√ GPA - if 3.0 or above
√ Professional licenses, certifications, if any
If previously transferred from another institution, only indicate
college/university if you received a degree.
College of Business Center for Student Success
Career Services
3016 Bate Building
Greenville, NC 27834
252-737-1236
[email protected]
College of Business Career Services – THE RESUME
EMPLOYMENT
Employers look for achievements, accomplishments, and relevant, transferable, skills. Give
them what they are looking for!
•
Top 3 things:
o Put the most recent employment first (chronological order)
o Include: name of company, city, state, job title, and dates of employment
(September 2005- March 2006)
o Use bullet points - easier to read
•
Content:
o Stress achievements, accomplishments, and skills.
o Quantify whenever possible, (e.g., percent sales increase, number of people
supervised.)
o Use short, concise, sentence fragments, each beginning with a strong action
verb. Do not put periods at the ends of the fragments.
o Use strong, descriptive, skill-based verbs
o Place current employment verbs in present tense, previous employment verbs in
past tense.
SKILLS
List only computer applications and foreign language skills. Exclude any subjective skills, such as
hard worker, team player, decision maker etc.
HONORS and ACTIVITIES (Ask yourself these questions…)
 Do you have a scholarship? (if they are based on academic achievement)
 Have you held an office or position in club/organization? It indicates leadership
 What are any hobbies and pastimes that will add substance to your resume?
 Note: Military experience may be listed as a separate heading (MILITARY EXPERIENCE)
or under EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE depending when it was completed. If in doubt
contact Career Services.
Note: cum laude
should be lower
case and italic and
Dean’s List has an
apostrophe.
College of Business Center for Student Success
Career Services
3016 Bate Building
Greenville, NC 27834
252-737-1236
[email protected]