Building the Resume. Remember the four C s of resume writing: What is a Resume? Why is a resume so important? TYPES of RESUMES

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1 U N I V E R S I T Y C A R E E R S E R V I C E S Building the Resume What is a Resume? A highlight of your skills and experience A tool to help you market yourself to potential employers Something employers use to screen candidates in seconds A unique and tailored document that presents your professional self Why is a resume so important? To a potential employer, your resume is an indicator of the quality and caliber of work you ll produce if they hire you. Interview questions are often based on the resume. You can help guide your interviews toward your strengths and accomplishments. The process of building your resume helps you clarify your goals and identify areas for improvement. It also helps you acknowledge and articulate your strengths and accomplishments. Remember the four C s of resume writing: CLEAR Paint the picture for the employer using powerful action verbs, keywords, detailed descriptions, numbers and results CONCISE Use concise language. Eliminate all extraneous words such as the a I my me or our. Do not use a passive voice. Use strong action verbs that effectively describe your task. CONSISTENT Be sure to abbreviate, punctuate, and line-up your text consistently. For example, if you write Brooklyn, New York in the education section, be sure you don t write Brooklyn, NY in the work experience section. CORRECT Pay close attention to grammatical and spelling errors. There is no excuse for a single mistake on your resume. Be sure that all information including dates are correct. Make sure to have someone proofread your document. TYPES of RESUMES Reverse Chronological Best for students to create. It s the most used and easily recognized for employers. Lists all experiences in reverse chronological order so the most recent information appears at the top Functional Used most by seasoned professionals and career changers Organized to highlight skills and qualifications with little emphasis on time or place of education or employment Combination Combination of both chronological and functional formats putting equal emphasis on both Used to regroup experiences into skills categories in reverse chronological order

2 Setting up the Document The format is very important as it will help you categorize your information into appropriate section headings. Open up a blank, new document and set even margins between.5 and 1inch with left aligned text Your overall font should be between 10 and 12. The lone exception is your name, which should be the biggest thing on the page (i.e. size 16 font). Use a conservative font (such as Arial, Calibri, Tahoma, Times New Roman) The Heading Your name and contact information is what serves as the header of the resume. Your name can be no larger than 16pt size font and the rest of the information between 10pt and 12pt. The rest of the text of your resume will also be within this smaller range. WARREN GLICK 45 63rd Drive, Apt 2J Rego Park, NY Warren.Glick67@stjohns.edu The Section Headings Section headings are titles of categories of information. Every resume is different and depending on the experience you both have and want to emphasize, different section headings may be used and also appear in different ways. Below are examples of section headings and what is typically housed in each: OBJECTIVE This can help employers understand which or what kind of position you are seeking. The more focused it is, the better. If you choose to use an objective statement, make sure it is consistent with the rest of your resume. Target your objective to each employer or type of position you are seeking. To obtain an internship in the field of mass communications where creative skills can be utilized. SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS The purpose of this section is to direct the employer s attention immediately to the specific combination of skills and qualifications they require. You can pull items from throughout all of your experiences and present them neatly together at the top of your resume. Profiles are most often recommended for someone with a significant amount of experience. If you choose to use a summary/profile section, do not use an objective statement. Two years relevant experience in artistic and administrative areas Strong interest in working in collaborative art education environment Self-motivated, flexible, good sense of humor PC/Mac, Microsoft Outlook, desktop publishing software Intermediate Spanish

3 EDUCATION List degrees in reverse chronological order most recent first If you are still pursuing your degree, you may list it in the same way as shown below, with your expected date of graduation stated Other training you believe relevant to the position for which you are applying can also be shown here. For example: special seminars or relevant certifications, language, courses not available at your home institution, study abroad, or leadership training Speak with your career & internship advisor about adding your GPA Bachelor of Science in Biology, January 2011 St. John s University, Queens, NY RELATED COURSEWORK / PROJECTS This section allows you to highlight significant courses related to a career goal and/or which would not typically be associated with your major. Always spell out the full name of the course. Example A: Introduction to Mass Communications, Fundamentals of Biology 1 You can also highlight a project you worked on individually or with classmates. Example B: Introduction to Marketing: Worked with a team of classmates to create a marketing plan for the Girl Scouts of Nassau County to engage a wider audience to participate in program. HONORS/AWARDS This section houses scholarships, awards, honor society information, and other accomplishments to highlight. Dean s List (fall 2013), Order of Omega, St. John s University Merit Scholarship EXPERIENCE Here you will list your past, current, and relevant work experience under headings such as: Professional Experience Internship Experience Relevant Work Experience Extra-Curricular Experience Industry Specific Experience (ex: Teaching Experience) This section will have entries that contain the following information: Name and location of organization (city and state only) Your title while employed there The dates of employment (months, seasons and/or years) Specific dates are not necessary to list A list of duties and accomplishments in bulleted or in narrative form using strong action verbs which correlate with specific words used in the job posting ABC Widget Factory, Ltd. Smalltown, NY Intern Jan to Present Create widgets by hand utilizing special tools of the trade Organize widgets by size and shape according to company-made diagram Motivated co-workers to increase production by 25 percent in 2006 When writing your bullet points or paragraph form descriptions of your duties and responsibilities, always start with an action verb. Refer to the following list of action verbs to be sure you don t overuse the same word.

4 Action Verbs When describing your experience use the formula: Action Verb + Who/What does that action pertain to + How/Why did you perform the action? Utilize a variety of verbs to keep the reader interested. Describe accomplishments, not just job duties. Remember to use the appropriate tense for past and present experiences. Communication/People Skills Management/Leadership Skills Analytical/Organizational Skills Accounted Addressed Advertised Advised Arbitrated Arranged Articulated Assisted Authored Clarified Coached Collaborated Communicated Composed Condensed Conferred Consulted Contacted Conveyed Convinced Coordinated Corresponded Counseled Debated Defined Demonstrated Described Developed Directed Disciplined Discussed Drafted Edited Elicited Enlisted Entertained Explained Expressed Furnished Guided Hired Influenced Interacted Interpreted Interviewed Invented Involved Joined Judged Lectured Listened Marketed Mediated Moderated Negotiated Observed Outlined Participated Persuaded Presented Promoted Proposed Publicized Reconciled Recruited Referred Reinforced Reported Resolved Responded Solicited Specified Spoke Suggested Surveyed Summarized Synthesized Translated Transported Tutored Wrote Administered Analyzed Appointed Approved Assigned Attained Authorized Chaired Combined Condensed Considered Consolidated Contracted Controlled Converted Coordinated Created Customized Decided Delegated Designed Developed Directed Displayed Eliminated Emphasized Enforced Enhanced Established Executed Founded Generated Handled Headed Hired Hosted Improved Initiated Increased Initiated Inspected Instituted Integrated Introduced Led Managed Merged Modeled Modified Motivated Navigated Organized Originated Overhauled Oversaw Performed Planned Presided Prioritized Produced Recommended Reorganized Replaced Restored Reviewed Revised Revitalized Scheduled Secured Selected Shaped Solved Streamlined Strengthened Supervised Terminated Analyzed Approved Arranged Catalogued Categorized Charted Clarified Classified Coded Collected Compared Compiled Conducted Corrected Corresponded Critiqued Detected Determined Diagnosed Distributed Evaluated Examined Executed Experimented Explored Extracted Filed Gathered Generated Identified Implemented Inspected Interviewed Invented Investigated Located Logged Maintained Measured Monitored Obtained Operated Ordered Organized Prepared Processed Provided Purchased Recorded Registered Researched Reserved Responded Reviewed Routed Searched Scheduled Screened Set up Solved Submitted Summarized Supplied Surveyed Standardized Systematized Tested Updated Validated Verified

5 SKILLS Emphasizing additional skill sets is just as important as listing your past work experience. List computer skills, language skills and any other skills or strengths that are relevant to the job or internship you are seeking. For those that choose to have a Profile or Summary, this information may appear there and does not then need a separate section and/or be repeated Computer Skills: MS Word, Powerpoint, Adobe Photoshop, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter Language Skills: Fluent in French and Conversational Italian REFERENCES It is usually assumed by the employer that you will provide these items when asked. However, providing a portfolio offers another chance for you to give more information. For example, if you have writing samples on a website or artwork, you can put the URL on the bottom of your resume. You can also house your LinkedIn profile here as well. THINGS TO REMEMBER Make it Unique Tailor your resume for each position. Take a look at the job or internship posting, see what qualities and experience the company is looking for, and adapt your resume to highlight your skills and experience that best match the position. Avoid The Resume Wizard Resume templates found on most computer software do not offer the opportunity to truly manipulate your document and are also easily recognizable by employers. Additionally, if you are indicating that you are proficient in programs such as Microsoft Word, you should be able to create an aesthetically pleasing document manually. Focus on Aesthetics Utilize CAPITALIZING, italicizing, bolding, underline, and spacing to guide the reader and emphasize accomplishments. Choose one or two, not all. Do not over format any one piece of information (ex. Extremely Organized) You can line up your text properly by using the TAB key instead of the SPACE bar. You can determine whether or not your text is lined up by the points on the ruler at the top and side of your document. Keep it to One Page Your resume should be 1 full page with little to no white space. This will challenge you to be sure to include on the most relevant and important information. Save It and Send It Most resumes are sent via as an attachment. Best practice is to Save As in Microsoft Word (.doc) - PDF is a great choice for MAC users and if one does not have MS Word. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) typically read Word easier. Make sure to upload your resume into CareerLink as well. Continuously Update The resume is a working document and should be updated even after you secured an internship or job.