Resume Information, Tips and Samples A resume is a written document that is used to market your background to potential employers. The purpose of a resume is to obtain an interview with a prospective employer. Therefore, it is important that you have a resume that is organized, well written and highlights your education, experience, skills, and accomplishments. Some people think of a resume as their "life on a page," but resumes are much more specific, including only relevant information about yourself for specific employers. Like a life, however, a resume is always growing and changing. As your goals shift or the job market changes and as you grow personally and professionally, chances are you will need to re-write your resume or at least create new versions. Writing a resume is a lifelong process trying: to persuade your readers you are the best person for the job to construct a professional image of yourself and establish your credibility to provide a sample of your written communication skills to convince prospective employers you deserve an interview Resumes can be: Generic- creating one version for a broad range of readers. Tailored- creating multiple versions, each one customized for a single company or position. A traditional print resume must try to reach two kinds of readers: Skimmers: Resume readers that are usually very busy and will probably not read every word, especially on their first reading. Busy readers will scan for desired information. Try to make such information easy to find at a glance. Give your resume the 15-second test: What information stands out? What information gets lost in the rush? Skeptics: Resume readers who look more closely and critically. Your resume may leave a good first impression on readers, but: How will it look on closer inspection? Do you provide evidence and details for the careful reader? How can you make your resume look convincing? You can write a resume for both kinds of readers. The key strategy involves using organization and page design to create a resume that can be skimmed easily and read critically. Before writing your resume, it is helpful to write down your activities and accomplishments with regard to your education, employment, activities, special projects, etc.
Outline for a Resume Heading/Contact Information: Your name is your heading. It should be bold and in larger print than the rest of the Contact information includes your address, telephone numbers with area codes (remember to use a professional message on your voice mail), your email address, and web address, if you have one. Remember to check your email often. Objective: Your objective should focus on your desired job title/goal. Concentrate on what you can bring to an employer, not on what you hope to get out of the position. Use phrases such as To obtain an internship in accounting or finance or Seeking full-time position in engineering design, research, or development. Education & Skills: Include high school until you reach your junior year in college. Include colleges where you have obtained credits, or are working on getting, a degree. List dates of completion and any certification awarded. You may also list you overall or major GPA in this section. A brief description of your coursework, independent studies or research may be included in this section, along with computer, language, and other skills developed through your education. Experience (Work Experience, Related Professional Experience): List your job title/position, the name of the organization for whom you worked, the dates of employment, the job title, and an active, descriptive summary of job duties. Be sure to include important keywords, or hot topics, that are
relevant to your field in your job descriptions. Be certain to mention skills used and developed. If you have had unpaid and volunteer experiences which relate to your desired objective, be sure to include them in this section as well including community Service experience. References: You may list the names, titles, and contact information (address, phone, email) of references (people who can verify your experiences, honors, awards, character, etc.) or you may simple state that a list of references are available upon request. References can be employers, teachers, coaches, family friends, pastors or others who know you well. Always ask first before listing a reference on your Additional Resume Sections: According to your background, there may be other sections, which you will want to add to your These sections could include: Activities, Honors, Interests, Hobbies, Special Skills (computers & technology, world languages, etc.), Professional Memberships, licenses or certification. Additional Tips To Help You Write A Winning Resume. 1. Determine your job search objective prior to writing the Once you have determined your objective, you can structure the content of your resume around that objective. Think of your objective as the bull s-eye to focus your resume on hitting. If you write your resume without having a clear objective in mind, it will likely come across as unfocused to those that read it. Take the time before you start your resume to form a clear objective. 2. Think of your resume as a marketing tool. Think of yourself as a product, potential employers as your customers, and your resume as a brochure about you. Market yourself through your What are your features and benefits? What makes you unique? Make sure to convey this information in your 3. Use your resume to obtain an interview, not a job. You don t need to go into detail about every accomplishment. Strive to be clear and concise. The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest in you to have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land a job offer. 4. Use bulleted sentences. In the body of your resume, use bullets with short sentences rather than lengthy paragraphs. Resumes are read quickly. This bulleted sentence format makes it easier for someone to quickly scan your resume and still absorb it. 5. Use action words. Action words cause your resume to pop. To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, and presented. 6. Use # s, $ s and % s. Numbers, dollars, and percentages stand out in the body of a Use them. Here are two examples: Managed a department of 10 with a budget of $1,000,000. Increased sales by 25% in a 15-state territory. 7. Lead with your strengths. Since resumes are typically reviewed in 30 seconds, take the time to determine which bullets most strongly support your job search objective. Put those strong points first where they are more apt to be read.
8. Play Match Game. Review want ads for positions that interest you. Use the key words listed in these ads to match them to bullets in your 9. Use buzzwords. If there are terms that show your competence in a particular field, use them in your 10. Accent the positive. Leave off negatives and irrelevant points. If some duties in your current job don t support your job search objective, leave them off your Focus on the duties that do support your objective. Leave off irrelevant personal information like your height and weight. 11. Show what you know. Rather than going into depth in one area, use your resume to highlight your breadth of knowledge. Use an interview to provide more detail. 12. Show who you know. If you have reported to someone important such as a vice president or department manager, say so in your Having reported to someone important causes the reader to infer that you are important. 13. Construct your resume to read easily. Leave white space. Use a font size no smaller than 10 point. Limit the length of your resume to 1-2 pages. Remember, resumes are reviewed quickly. Help the reader to scan your resume efficiently and effectively. 14. Have someone else review your Since you are so close to your situation, it can be difficult for you to hit all your high points and clearly convey all your accomplishments. Have someone review your job search objective, your resume, and listings of positions that interest you. Encourage them to ask questions. Their questions can help you to discover items you inadvertently left off your Revise your resume to include these items. Their questions can also point to items on your resume that are confusing to the reader. Clarify your resume based on this input. 15. Submit your resume to potential employers. Have the courage to submit your Think of it as a game where your odds of winning increase with every resume you submit. You really do increase your odds with every resume you submit. On the next page we have a sample You can even use this as a template to build your own
Zachary H. Leopard PO Box 98953 Zillah, WA 98953-9682 zack@leopardmail.com (509) 829-5595 Objective: My educational objective is to graduate with a four year college degree in business management. My career objectives would be an entry level business management position. Education: Diploma from Zillah High School, Zillah, WA, June 2012 Earned college credits through YVCC Running Start and Tech-Prep programs, Central Washington University College in the High School program, Graduated with academic honors as a member of National Honor Society Work Experience: 2010-present Yakima Bears Baseball Club I have worked every summer for the Yakima Bears Baseball Club and performed the following duties: program sales, gift shop, barbeque pit manager, ticket sales, on field promotions, stadium announcing, scorekeeper, reporting to media In addition I have worked to help pay expenses from 2004- present General Farm Work at Salvatore Vinti s, Zillah, WA. Yakima Valley Umpires Association. Volunteer Work: Served as a teacher and teacher assistant in grades K-6 in Elementary Physical Education and Health instruction Youth Sports-coaching elementary level AAU basketball, umpiring Little League Church youth group community service projects ZHS School Newspaper-2 years Honors & Awards: References: Honor Roll-9, 10, 11, 12 Renaissance Academic Achievement Awards-9, 10, 11, 12 Student of the Month Award-9, 10,11 Academic Letter Award-9, 10, 11 College in the High School Program-11 & 12 Scholar Athlete Award-9, 10, 11 Student of the Semester Class Awards 9-10 Athletic Letter Awards-multiple sports Coaches Award-multiple sports ASB Student Council 9, 11 Member of the Apple Bowl Academic Knowledge Team Available upon request.