A
resume is...
What
is the purpose of a resume?
Because no one knows you as well as you know yourself — your goals, your accomplishments,
your strengths — no one can write an effective resume for you, but you. You
must be comfortable with every word in your resume and be able to speak easily
about whatever you write. If you are willing to spend time creating this "personal
ad" and take advantage of the services provided by Career Development, you will
create an effective resume.
(All
information that follows is taken from our Guide to
Career Development and Job Hunting, available in the College Store
and in the Center in Morehead Hall. )
I.
A resume is...
A.
A one page summary of your skills, accomplishments, experience,
and education designed to capture a prospective employer’s interest and result
in an interview. B.
A document that pinpoints qualifications relevant to a particular career.
No single resume will suit all occupational areas you are considering. Several
resumes highlighting different aspects of your background may be needed if you
plan to apply for positions requiring different skills.
C.
A representation of you which must look professional to create the
best impression. All copies should look like originals. Reproduce your resume
using a laser printer, or have a printer do the copying. Use good quality paper
with a watermark and a high rag content.
II.
Resume Language The
average resume gets between 5 and 10 seconds of the reader’s time. The "reader"
is a prospective employer who needs to know quickly what you can do for his/her
organization. Every word on a resume must be there for a reason. Thus,
A.
Avoid narration. Use short, concrete, skill-oriented, results-oriented phrases,
such as "Initiated membership drive which increased pledge class by 75%"rather
than "One of my responsibilities was to recruit new members. I devised a new system
of recruitment which brought a lot of new pledges to our fraternity." B.
Do not use the words "responsibilities" or "duties" before each description of
a particular job or experience.
C.
Use action verbs such as these to clearly identify your skills:
| adapt | administer | analyze |
| approve | arrange | compile |
| coordinate | conceive | conduct |
| control | create | develop |
| demonstrate | design | determine |
| direct | earn | edit |
| establish | expand | expedite |
| generate | increase | initiate |
| increase | innovate | improve |
| instruct | maintain | motivate |
| negotiate | originate | promote |
| produce | recognize | reduce |
| revamp | research | revise |
| simplify | solve | support |
(Past
tense forms of the above verbs are to be used for actions that you have already
completed).
D.
Employers are likely to reduce the thousands of resumes they must read each year
by eliminating resumes with over-crowded margins, incorrect spelling, grammar
or punctuation. Be sure to have your resume critiqued by Career Development
before reproducing it.
IV.
Resume Styles (See the Guide for further information):
- Reverse
Chronological: Lists experience from present to past.
- Functional:
Skill categories related to the objective are created and experiences are listed
under those skills.
- Combined
forms: Focuses on skills but also lists employment in reverse chronological order.
V.
Resume Samples (Page numbers on each resume indicate the page numbers in the
Guide.)
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