While there is no one way to write a resume, there are some best practices to keep in mind to help your application stand out to your reader and increase the likelihood of getting an interview. Below, we’ve answered some top resume questions to set you up for success!
Résumé Formats
Is it true that a résumé can only be one page long?
Most college students or new grads should be able to summarize their experience and skills in a single page. Keep in mind that most recruiters will spend only about 8 seconds on their initial review of your résumé, so it’s quite likely that if you have a second page, it could be missed. What’s important should be on page one. If your resume expands to a second page, consider if all your content makes it clear why you’re qualified for the job at hand and if you are making the best use of your space.
What’s the best font to use when producing a résumé?
Ariel, Times, and Helvetica are all good fonts – they’re easy to read, most people have them loaded into their computers/printers, and they’re easy to digest by scanners. Stick to an 11-12 point font size.
Where can I see samples of well-formatted résumés?
The Career & Co-op Center’s website offers an Effective Resume Writing Guide that includes a variety of samples that may guide your own resume-building. Rather than using templates, all of these samples were built from plain Word documents making effective use of bold, underlining, and other basic features that you can replicate in your word processor of choice.
How can I make my résumé stand out?
The best way to make your résumé catch the attention of a hiring manager or recruiter is to tailor it to the needs of the job. Tailoring requires that you carefully review the job description or posting and highlight your corresponding accomplishments, skills, experience, and knowledge in an easy-to-digest format. Some options you may consider include: putting a summary near the top of the résumé with carefully chosen key words and phrases; putting your most relevant experience for each job in a “Related Experience” section above an “Additional Experience” section; and formatting the document so it’s clear, consistent, and easy to read.
When would I need a “text only” version of my résumé?
In addition to a résumé developed in MS Word that uses bullets, underlining, and boldface type, having a plain text version without special characters, columns, tables, or font variants will be useful if you need to copy and paste it into a web form. Large companies may require you to submit your résumé via a web form. By having a version in text-only format, you can easily paste it into a web form and quickly determine whether it will be easily read.
Résumé Content
Do I have to develop different résumés to use when applying for different jobs?
By all means, do so whenever possible. If you tailor each résumé to the job of interest, you’ll be much more likely to be called for an interview. Just be careful to keep track of which résumé you send to which organization!
What can I do to make the content of my résumé really catch the interest of the hiring company?
Tailor the résumé to the job. Review the job posting carefully and build as many of the posting’s terms (keywords) as you can into the résumé. Review the order of the material you’ve put in your résumé. Can the bullets be reordered to bring more relevant experience to the top of the list? Can computer skills be reordered to list the most requested software first? If you have an objective statement, does it “fit” with the job and organization? Is the document consistently and clearly organized? Is it easy to read?
What are “keywords” and “action verbs” and how should I use them in my résumé?
Keywords, as the name suggests, are terms that are important to a particular job. Keywords vary by discipline, by company, and by job, so it’s important to research what sort of terms are “key” to a particular opportunity. One critical source of information is the job description or posting. Another source is postings of other jobs that are similar to the one you’re seeking. You can even go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics for insight (see O*Net to look up specific occupations’ descriptors).
Use keywords to describe your experience, skills, and knowledge. Put them in your objective, or in a qualification or skills summary at the top of your résumé, and demonstrate how you’ve used them in the bulleted descriptions of your past jobs. There may also be opportunities to put them into descriptions of activities and honors.
Action verbs are words that show action. After each bullet on your résumé, start the text with an action verb (e.g., “Coordinated,” Wrote,” Tutored,” Organized,” “Initiated”) which gives the reader a quick view into your experiences and lets you succinctly describe what you’ve accomplished in past positions. If you’re describing your work in a current job, your action verbs would be present tense.
How far back should I go when describing work experience?
You may need to consider several factors when deciding how far back to go into your employment history. If you have only a few jobs to describe, you will want to include them all. If you’ve had many, many short-term jobs (sometimes the case with students who work during summer and school breaks) the decision often comes down to “How relevant is this work to the job I’m currently seeking?” and “How much can I realistically expect a recruiter to read?”
Keep in mind that the most important information should be on the first page of a résumé – and page two may never get read. Perhaps you had a relevant job or internship sometime in the past, but have had less-relevant positions more recently; this is an opportunity to list your older “Relevant Experience” in a separate section nearer the top of the résumé where it may get more attention. It may be a good idea to see a career counselor for some objective feedback if you’re having trouble deciding how to present your experience.
Should I present my experience in a chronological sequence or in a functional format?
Most recruiters appreciate the clarity of a chronological résumé. And most college students or new graduates would be best served by using a modified chronological approach that allows them to separate relevant experience (such as co-ops and internships and related part-time work) from “survival jobs.” The idea is to pull your relevant experience together in reverse chronological order in a section near the top of your résumé, so it’s easy to find and read. Functional formats allow candidates to present their background in sections based on skills or functional areas, which can be useful for people who are changing careers. If you’re unsure which format is best, seek the guidance of a Career Services staff member.
Should I include volunteer work and unpaid experiences?
If your volunteer and unpaid experiences are relevant to the job you’re hoping to get, yes! Many volunteer positions provide leadership experience, which is certainly relevant to nearly all jobs.
Should I include my GPA?
The rule of thumb is to include your major and/or your cumulative GPA if it’s at least a 3.0/4.0.
Should I include my high school information?
If you attended a highly prestigious school or a school in which you completed a highly relevant vocational program, it might be worth noting, but most people can leave high school information off their résumé once they are college sophomores. By this time, you’ll want to start putting more relevant information in that valuable space.
Should I include my references?
While it’s important to line up people to serve as positive references for you when you begin the job search, you should not put your references’ information on your résumé. Rather, create a separate document, topped with your name and contact information as it appears on your résumé, add a heading that says “References,” and list the name of each reference, his/her connection to you, and his/her phone number and/or email address.
What information do I need to include about my past jobs? What can I leave out?
The experience section is really the “meat and potatoes” of the résumé, so it’s important to cover your past jobs to some extent. The key is to make it as easy as possible for a potential employer to see the relevance of your experience to the new company. So, read job postings carefully and see if you can tailor your résumé more closely to the job of interest. That may mean developing new versions of your résumé every time – more work, but well worth the effort.
College students sometimes worry that they’ve had so many short-term job experiences that they can’t fit them on a one-page document. It’s important to realize that every job has value in molding your abilities to deal with people, solve problems, manage and organize work, and develop other “transferable” skills. However, if many of your past jobs are “repeat jobs” – for example, waiting tables at four different but similar-style restaurants – you may want to save space and consolidate them by listing only the company names and locations, with one set of bullets describing your accomplishments and skills developed at those four jobs.
Questions often arise also about whether to include very short-term jobs (e.g., shorter than a month or so). If you have very little other experience, anything will help. However, if you have other job experiences that provide a potential employer a complete picture of your qualifications, you may be able to leave a short-term job out. When in doubt, it’s always a good idea to consult with a Career Services staff member.
Whatever positions you list on your résumé, list the employer’s name, city, and state (or country), and the month and year you started and left that work. Leave out the street address, zip code, phone number, and supervisor’s name.
Do I have to include dates of my college degrees and my college locations?
It’s always correct to include the locations (city and state or country) of the schools you attended. Rather than listing the duration of your college coursework, list the month and year of graduation or anticipated graduation. If you’re worried that your age may negatively impact your chances of landing an interview, you may choose to leave the date of your degrees off the résumé. If you’re having difficulty deciding whether to include your degree years, it’s probably a good idea to talk with a Career Services staff member about the options.
Should I include personal details on my résumé (such as birth date and marital status)?
No, with a couple of exceptions: 1. Some people note on their résumé the fact that they’re legally eligible for United States employment. They might note this if they’re concerned that an employer may assume they’re not eligible (for example, if they went to school in a different country). 2. Some people who wish to work at a U.S. defense contractor or the U.S. government may want to note on their résumé the fact that they are U.S. citizens, which may be a requirement for consideration.
While every resume is not the same, there are good best practices that can be applied to many different résumés. Of course, when in doubt, you can also come the Career & Co-op Center to meet with a career peer and discuss any changes you’d like to make to your résumé.
