Résumé Content
A résumé’s strength rests on its selection and presentation of basic content. As you organize your résumé, consider
what a prospective employer is looking for in a candidate. Make it easy for the reader to pick out those skills by
selecting appropriate categories; using appropriate formatting; and presenting relevant experience and skill areas.
The following categories can be used as a guideline for organizing your résumé. In constructing a rough draft, do not
be concerned with length. Remember, categories may be omitted or added in later revisions. There is no one right
way to organize your résumé.
Contact Information
Present yourself with the name you use in your
personal and business life (casual nicknames should
be avoided). If you have a campus address that does
not apply during vacations or after graduation, you
should present both a college and permanent address.
For your permanent address, use your permanent
home address, a post office box or the address of
someone who will know where to contact you.
Always include phone numbers with area codes and
an e-mail address if you frequently check e-mail. Your
e-mail address should be professional. For example,
[email protected] is not appropriate. Also,
keep in mind the message callers hear on your
voicemail. Make sure it is appropriate for potential
employers.
Do not include anything that may bias an employer
against you, such as age, gender, marital status,
religion, health, etc.
Objective
Opinions vary on the importance of including a career
objective on a résumé. Human resource professionals
prefer résumés with career objectives to assist them
with routing application materials. However, if you
are applying for a specific position which is detailed
in an attached cover letter, an objective statement may
not be necessary.
Why might you want to include an objective? An
objective informs potential employers that you are
moving in a certain direction, relays your work
preference(s) and serves as a focal point from which
to review and analyze your résumé. If you choose to
include an objective, it should be concise, clearly
stated and consistent with the accomplishments and
demonstrated skills listed on your résumé. If you are
considering more than one professional objective, you
2020 McCarty Hall PO Box 110270 Gainesville, FL 32611‐0270 should develop more than one résumé, each with a
different objective.
Education
This category is particularly important if you have not
had a great deal of work experience. Your most recent
educational experience should be listed first. Include
the following for each institution you received a
degree from or spent significant time at:
 Your degree (A.S., B.S., M.S., etc.)
 Major, specialization and minors
 Institution attended and location (city and
state)
 Graduate date or expected graduation date
(month and year)
You may also wish to include any special workshops,
seminars, related coursework or senior projects. If
your G.P.A. is 3.0 or higher (either overall G.P.A. or
major G.P.A.), you may wish to list it on your résumé.
High school information is not necessary in this
section in most instances. If you are in college, it is
assumed that you graduated from high school.
Work Experience
Many students have limited paid work experience, but
have been involved in volunteer, internship, research
or student teaching experiences. Do not overlook nonpaid experiences. Potential employers want to know
what your skills are and what you can do on the job.
Be sure to include all significant or relevant work
experience and list it in reverse chronological order.
 Include: 1) job title, 2) name of company, 3)
location (city and state), 4) dates (ex. Summer
2008; 2007-08 academic year; May 2007-present),
and 5) responsibilities.
 Describe your work responsibilities with an
emphasis on achievements. Use action words to
communicate your skills. List the most important
and most closely related responsibilities first and
quantify your experiences whenever possible.
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Identify the most relevant work experiences and
describe them fully but briefly. Be brief with
irrelevant experiences or omit them. Dividing
your work experience into two categories, such as
Relevant Experience and Other Experience, can
emphasize the significance of related skills.
Make Your Résumé Unique
You may wish to develop your own categories to
highlight your unique and relevant experiences and
skills. Frequently, job seekers separate their related or
professional experiences from other work experience
by creating separate categories for those content areas.
By doing this, you can call more attention to your
relevant skills, putting them in categories closer to the
top of the résumé to be read first. In place of Related
Experience you might use your field of experience in
the category heading. Examples: Marketing
Experience, Agricultural Production Experience,
Consulting Experience, Sales Experience, etc.
SUCCESS STRATEGY: Refrain from using résumé
templates. Your résumé is all about you and should
not look or be exactly like anyone else’s résumé.
Other Categories
Activities may also be important to include. If you
have participated in activities which required
leadership responsibilities, be descriptive. The
employer is interested in the skills you have
developed, whether through volunteer or paid
experiences. Be sure to mention any offices you have
held or committees you have actively participated on.
Recognition and demonstration of leadership roles are
valuable.
Other possible categories include: Awards/Honors,
Relevant Coursework, Publications, Licenses,
Research, Language Skills, Computer Skills and
Professional
Memberships.
An
"Additional
Qualifications" category may be useful for displaying
information that doesn't fit into any other category.
For example, if you only have one statement to
include about computer skills and one statement to
include about language skills, they may best fit under
Additional Qualifications.
References
Always ask individuals if they would be willing to
serve as a reference for you before mentioning their
names to prospective employers. Be sure to provide
your references with an updated copy of your résumé
and information about the job for which you are
listing them as a reference.
References are not usually listed on résumés. And,
your résumé does not need to include “References
available upon request.” This is assumed. Employers
will request references if needed.
You should prepare a typed list of three or four
references to provide at the interview if requested by
the employer. This list should include name, title,
employer, address, preferred telephone number and email (if used). You might also wish to indicate the
nature of their relationship with the reference listed.