The Resume

A resume is a brief description of your previous education, work experience, and relevant information.

The purpose of a resume is:

  • To introduce you to an employer
  • To serve as an example of how you think and express yourself
  • To catalog skills, experience, training and achievements

Remember your main objective is to include:

  • Name, address, city, state, zip, phone number with area code, e-mail address, fax number
  • Honors, awards, fellowships and scholarships
  • Licenses and certificates
  • Memberships and activities, including leadership positions
  • Special skills, such as computer knowledge and foreign languages
  • Job history listed with most recent job first
  • Previous job experience to include: title of position, name and address of employer, beginning and ending dates, job description and responsibilities
  • Education with most recent or current school first, including degree, name of high school or college, address, major and graduation date

Presenting the information

  • Create a scannable resume using white paper, standard fonts, and dark type
  • Put most important information at the top of the page
  • Be creative and professional
  • Use active verbs like initiated, designed, supervised and developed
  • Use past tense to describe former jobs and present tense to describe current jobs
  • Spell everything out. Do not use abbreviations or acronyms.
  • Present candidates credentials in a positive manner
  • Tailor the resume to the kind of job you are looking for
  • Have someone proofread your resume

Qualities of a good resume

  • Easy to read, concise
  • Professional. Use a typewriter or computer to print your resume, making sure copies are neat and clean. Mail your resume in good condition preferably in a large envelope.
  • Emphasize key points or expressions by using bold type or underline

Mistakes to avoid

  • Too short, too long (preferred length is one page)
  • Misspellings, typographical errors, poor grammar
  • Irrelevant information-height, weight, gender, marital status
  • Disorganization, too wordy and vague; important qualifications should stand out
  • Italics, underline, shadow or reverse type, vertical and horizontal lines, graphics or boxes

Create your resume using Naviance’s Resume Builder! On Naviance, click “About Me” then click “Resume”.