RÉSUMÉ WRITING BASICS
A RÉSUMÉ IS AN OUTLINE OF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, highlighting the strengths and skills that
make you unique: your education, experience, skills and interests. The purpose of a good
résumé is to get an interview, so the picture you paint should highlight areas relevant to the
kinds of positions that interest you. The employer's point of view will be your guide.
Getting Started
CREATE A MASTER LIST The first step is to list every experience you can think of, without worrying
about the format. Include volunteer/community service, internships, paid jobs, and major research
projects, as well as campus activities, student organizations, and all of your educational experiences.
ELABORATE ON YOUR LIST Next, write descriptions for each of the items on your list. Include
information about your specific responsibilities, skills used, and outcomes you achieved.
ORGANIZE YOUR RÉSUMÉ Think of category headings for your different experiences (see p. 4 for
ideas). You do not need to include everything: be strategic. Experiences that will be of most interest
to your prospective employer should be included in a section near the top.
Common Categories/Headings
CONTACT INFORMATION It’s a good idea to include both your current school address and a
permanent address. Be sure that your phone numbers are correct, and always include an email
address. If you use an email address other than your Oberlin one, be sure to use a professional
sounding address. Do not include your social security number or date of birth.
EDUCATION This section gives details about your college, degree, graduation date, and majors. An
overall GPA and a Major GPA are optional. Typically, include your GPA if it is 3.0 or higher and add
your Major GPA if it is higher than your overall GPA. Include study abroad, additional educational
institutions, or select coursework if appropriate. Generally, you will not include your high school or
high school experiences.
EXPERIENCE This includes the organizations where you’ve worked since high school. List your title,
the organization you worked/volunteered with, and the dates of employment, and give an overview
of your duties and your accomplishments.
•
Position descriptions should not be written in full sentences.
•
Omit all personal pronouns and use action verbs in your description.
•
Write the description of your experiences either using bullets or in a paragraph style, making
sure it is easy to read.
•
Do not simply list job responsibilities; instead focus on accomplishments and results.
Illustrate position descriptions with specifics about numbers, outcomes, and goals you met.
Use quantitative information when appropriate and be concise.
Career Center | Stevenson Hall – Longman Commons | 440-775-8140
new.oberlin.edu/office/career-center | [email protected]
SKILLS This is a list of your “hard” skills—that is,
quantifiable abilities that can be measured and taught,
such as computer software or programming, foreign
languages, or specialized equipment.
ACTIVITIES/LEADERSHIP Use this section to describe
activities not included in the Experience section,
especially if you played a leadership role.
REFERENCES Don’t include references on your résumé. If
references are requested, use a separate sheet of paper
to list at least three people who know you well and who
are willing to be positive references for you. Be sure to
ask their permission first, tell them what kinds of
positions you are seeking, and provide each of them
with a copy of your résumé. If possible, include at least
one professional reference (someone who knows about
your work habits), at least one education reference
(someone who knows about your educational abilities),
and at least one personal reference (someone who
knows you as a member of the community and can
vouch for your character).
EXAMPLE LIST OF DUTIES AND SKILLS
USING ACTION VERBS:
•
Created a safe and supportive
atmosphere
•
Maintained highly accurate
database for Marketing
Department
•
Supervised clerical staff of 12
regarding all administrative
activities
•
Planned and organized special
events: concerts, dinners,
receptions
•
Consolidated client database
and performed market analyses
on 100+ organizations
Format Your Résumé
Since most employers now accept and even prefer online applications, keep the format of your
résumé simple and straightforward. Be sure to convert the file to a PDF if you are sending it
electronically. Hard copies should be printed on the same paper as your cover letters. Choose a
conservative color: white, ivory, off-white, light gray or eggshell.
ORGANIZATION Your résumé should emphasize experiences or transferable skills the employer is
looking for, so you will likely create different versions for different audiences. If your most relevant
experiences are not your most recent, or if they involve volunteer or extracurricular activities, you
may want to separate your experiences into different sections; for example, you may have
“Internship Experience” listed separately to draw special attention to your relevant work history and
list other positions under the heading “Work Experience.” Within each section, list your experiences
in reverse chronological order (most recent first). You can list either your employer or your job title
first—whichever is stronger—just be consistent.
LENGTH Most entry-level résumés should be no more than one page, although two-page résumés
may be acceptable under certain circumstances, such as with science résumés that require more
detailed descriptions. Remember that employers spend very little time scanning your résumé, so
good information on the second page might never be seen. If you must use a two-page résumé,
make sure your name is at the top of both pages.
APPEARANCE Your résumé must be easy to scan, so make sure you have a good balance of text and
white space, with clear distinctions between each section. Three-quarters to one inch margins are
standard, and don’t use font sizes smaller than 11 or 12 point. You may use one font style for the
headings and another for body text, but no more. Don’t try to be too creative—the format should
enhance your content, not distract from it.
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Finalize a Draft
PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD! Even if you use spell-check and grammar-check, proofread
carefully and have your résumé critiqued by at least one other person. Bring it to the Career Center
for review by a Peer Advisor or a professional advisor. If your résumé is for a specialized or technical
field (science, theater or computer science for example), be sure to have a faculty member in your
department look it over.
A Word about CVs
A CV (curriculum vitae) is an academic version of a résumé, and emphasizes earned degrees,
teaching and research experience, publications, and presentations. It is usually longer than the
typical one-page résumé, and may include more detail about each item listed. You may be asked to
provide a CV when applying to graduate school or for research positions. If you finish a Ph.D.
program, you will need a CV for your job search. As an undergraduate, you probably do not have a
great deal of this type of experience, but you can still tailor your résumé to fit an academic
environment by including relevant academic information, presentations or poster sessions at
professional conferences, and publications, if applicable.
Critiquing Your Résumé
Use the following guidelines to self-critique your résumé’s quality & effectiveness.
VISUAL PRESENTATION
•
Does it look neat? Is the layout pleasing
and easy to scan
•
Is it too busy? Are there too many
different fonts or sizes?
ORGANIZATION
• Do headlines/categories stand out? Were
you consistent in placement of headings?
SECTION REVIEW
CONTACT INFORMATION
Does your name stand out?
•
Are your address, phone and e-mail easy
to find?
EDUCATION
• Is it free of typographical errors and
misspelled words?
• Are experiences grouped according to
topics? Do the categories correspond to the
experiences?
• Have you presented experiences in reverse
chronological order?
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•
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•
Have you presented college(s), degree(s),
course(s), honor(s)?
•
Are GPA(s) presented?
•
Did you include any study away
experiences?
EXPERIENCE
ACTIVITIES
•
Have you included experiences that
project skills and accomplishments?
•
Have you listed appropriate activities,
noting leadership?
•
Did you describe experiences in active
phrasing? (see action verb list)
•
Have you avoided using acronyms?
•
Do job titles, organizations or both stand
out?
SPECIAL CATEGORIES
•
Have you presented your skills in an easy
to read format? (i.e. computer skills,
language skills)
Sample Category Headings
Headings will depend upon your background and what will be of interest to the prospective
employer. You may choose to include some of the following:
Academic Highlights
Academic Honors
Achievements
Areas of Expertise
Awards
Classroom Experience
Coaching Certification
College Activities
Community Service
Course Concentration
Degree
Departmental Service
Education
Sample Action Verbs
accomplished
adapted
administered
advised
analyzed
appraised
approved
assembled
assisted
authored
broadcast
budgeted
built
catalogued
clarified
coached
communicated
compared
competed
compiled
composed
conducted
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constructed
consulted
controlled
coordinated
copyrighted
correlated
corresponded
created
delegated
demonstrated
designed
developed
devised
discovered
directed
discovered
earned
eliminated
enhanced
established
evaluated
examined
Employment
Extracurricular Interests
Field Experience
Honorary Societies
Honors & Distinctions
In-service Training
International Experience
Internship Experience
Languages
License(s)
Objective
Part-time Work
Presentations
facilitated
financed
fostered
founded
generated
guided
illustrated
implemented
increased
installed
integrated
interpreted
interviewed
introduced
invented
investigated
launched
lectured
maintained
managed
marketed
mastered
4
Professional Activities
Professional Leadership
Professional Societies
Publications
Scholarships
Service
Skills & Competencies
Special Training
Student Teaching
Study Abroad
Teaching Certificate(s)
Volunteer Activities
measured
mediated
modeled
moderated
motivated
negotiated
organized
originated
performed
persuaded
planned
prepared
presented
prioritized
produced
programmed
promoted
proposed
provided
publicized
published
purchased
questioned
realized
recommended
recorded
recruited
redesigned
reduced
regulated
reorganized
represented
researched
reviewed
scheduled
screened
simplified
solved
sponsored
strengthened
succeeded
supervised