Remember, your résumé is

A Marketing Tool
 to help you: 
  - Sell yourself through pertinent, unique details that stand out
  - Relate skills and achievements to position
  - Focus on organization itself
  - Nail down interview

 Therefore, You Need To:
  - Tailor a résumé to the company and the position it is offering
  - Gear résumé toward specific goal
  - Make résumé original, truthful, appealing, focused
  - Be willing to prepare more than one resume in more than one style
  - Design résumé to grab reader’s attention in the: 

-  top third of the document
    - first 15 seconds of reading. 

To get started in the process of résumé writing, simply:

-  Find a quiet place to sit with pencil and paper to think about yourself
-  Collect facts about yourself:
              -  Start with education:
              -  Consider major/s, minor/s, certificates, honors, professional affiliations.
-  List the jobs you have had:
              -  List only last three jobs or total of ten years past employment. 
-  Write names of supervisors, job descriptions, duties, work dates:
              - Consider what you liked, disliked about the job.
              - Reflect on skills developed and how they might transfer to another job.
              - List any contributions made to organization's structure or policy.
              - List any work procedure changes you implemented.
-  List your recreational activities:
              -  List community activities and any offices you have held.
              -  List hobbies you have and what they entail for possible use in cover letter.
 

1.  Functional
This style highlights job titles and is best for use with paid and unpaid experiences relating to targeted job.

2.  Skills
This style highlights job skills and is appropriate when your activities, jobs, or life experiences are more impressive than the jobs you have had or when you have not worked for awhile.

3.  Chronological
This style highlights employer's name and employment dates and should be used if you have worked with an important company but not necessarily in an important position or to show that you have worked steadily.  [This style was old standard and is still preferred by some conservative employers.]

4.  Imaginative
This style contains the same basic info as the others, but is used when seeking an artistic or creative position and data is structured in an individual style.

5.  Keyword
This style is used when a resume is scanned or when a specific skills base should be emphasized.  It highlights skills through the use of "buzz" words/nouns specific to a field [Adobe Photoshop, MS Word] rather than through the use of generic terms [word processing].  Keywords may be placed in a Summary section or scattered throughout a well-written document.

6.  Values-based
As with the Imaginative style, this resume follows guidelines rather than rules in displaying the writer's individual values being offered to a potential employer.
 
 

Guide Tips for all Styles

All of the above styles demand attention to page design and information placement.   Consistency in format is extremely important -- even when developing an original presentation.   Choose one style font that is easy to read.  Do not use more than three sizes of that font.  Bold, Italics, Underlining, Bullets, and Graphic Lines are all permissible, when used correctly, in paper versions of the resume. 

Remember:

- Heading:  A complete address, phone number, and email address is imperative and should follow a fully capitalized/typed name in a larger font.

- Objective:  A thoroughly focused, rather than generic, statement is mandatory or you should consider omitting this section or at least tagging it onto the end of a Skills section.  Focus on job type, targeted industry and geographic area desired: 'Research in biomed field.  Open to relocation.'  Always gear the Objective section to the needs of the employer--read the description of open position, if possible, and use terminologies found within that description to state intention.

- Summary of Qualifications or Skills:  Section should be considered, instead of or in addition to Objective, to highlight you as an individual using strong nouns and adjectives: 'Conscientious multi-tasker, self-motivated.'  Do not forget what may seem obvious, such as travel-abroad experiences or foreign language, computer, people/management skills.

- Education:  Section should be showcased early --top third of resume.  Although work experience may be substantial, you are currently selling hard-earned and recent academic degree!

- Honors, Organizations, Affiliations, Activities, Computer Skills, Etc.:  Section can follow Education or be placed at bottom of page.

- Internship/s:  Best placed between Education and Work Experience.   It is sometimes best to showcase information by double indenting it.

- Work Experience, Experience, Job Chronology, Employment Profile, Etc.:  Section must contain:
               - Correctly typed employer name with city and state
               - Job titles and dates of employment
               - Description of duties and responsibilities using: 
                  * ACTION VERBS to begin each line [except for Keyword style, which demands nouns]
                  * Informative phrases using buzz or keywords
                  * Brief statements of specific accomplishments

NEVER INCLUDE: Age, Ethnicity, Political affiliation, Marital status, Photo or physical description.
 
 
 

[Books on resume writing specific to liberal arts and science majors available for five-day loan in the A&S Careers Program library, Olin Hall 325 as are handouts.]

    Like the traditional paper resumes, electronic resumes are intended to secure a face-to-face interview which will eventually lead to employment.  However, these faster, more efficient methods of transmitting information allow a greater number of resumes to be screened by prospective employers in far less time, thus increasing the competition! 

     It is imperative that both electronic styles have a solid Keyword Section or Summary.  Keywords: Job titles from the  Occupational Outlook Handbook found in most libraries or the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (replaced by O*NET) found at http://online.onetcenter.org.

     For an online site which provides a good keyword summary, an overview of skill keywords, and personal trail keywords, visit Rebecca Smith's eRésumé & Resources.

     Do not be discouraged by the completed format.  It has a rather boring look.  However, the scanners like boring and the email style is error-free.
 

You Need To:
          - Secure audience's attention quickly, as with paper version
          - Ensure that response is positive through use of correct formatting
          - Create resumes with high degree of keyword density
          - Develop and maintain updated copies of both Scannable and Email 
 
 

     If you are not certain whether or not a company scans resumes, call them to ask.  If the company does scan, mail a scannable resume, posted with a note reading "scannable copy," with your cover letter and "human reader" formatted resume.

Formatting:

• Write résumé as plain text file 
• Use 12-point or larger, standard font (e.g., Courier/Helvetica)
• Do NOT use underline, bold, italics, boxes, borders, or bullets
• Type  *asterisks*  or   +plus signs+   instead of bullets
• Use --dashes-- to separate sections
• Type ALL CAPS for bold.
• Develop a "Key Words Section" of NOUNS for easy scanning and include  Job Titles, Skills/Responsibilities, Acronyms/Industry Terminology, Education/Certification.  You may want to read the want ads in newspapers or online to keep abreast of current terminology such as "branding" rather than marketing or "telesales" instead of telemarketing.  When incorporating acronyms, accompany them with full words such as "UAT testing" and user acceptance team testing.
• Mix nouns with action verbs in remainder of resume and in cover letter
• Always "cover" resume with letter and "human reader" [paper] style resume

 
 
 

EMAIL

    If you have the option of applying for employment by using either a scannable resume or an email formatted resume, the best choice is an email style.  Because email is already an electronic format, it will be read without errors. 

     PLEASE REMEMBER that when an employer asks for an emailed resume, he is not asking for an attached copy of your word processed resume.  He is asking for a specific resume formatted for email transmission.

     Also, PLEASE REMEMBER that you always "cover" an email resume with a letter just as you do a scannable and regular resume.  The difference is in the formatting, once again. 

Formatting:

• Set email preferences for Messages to 65-70 characters in length
• Type resume using plain text [ASCII or DOS] 
• Type advertised position title in Subject: line of email message
• Remember that Subject lines can be Objective lines when "prospecting"
• Address body of email as you would "human reader" letter
• State position sought; where, when, and from whom you heard about it 
• Use keywords throughout body of  letter
• Complete email letter as you would "human reader" letter
• Limit jargon and use professional language in writing
• Provide details--this rolling screen format is great for this!
• ASCII allows no “center line.” Type, space, and immediately Save
• After creating document, check for spelling/grammar errors
• Print copy of document
• Make copy of computer file, name it Résumé.txt and tell program to save to text
• Edit Résumé.txt file to look like printed résumé by using text editor like Notepad
• Check and alter spacing if necessary
• Use unique characters to emphasize skills
• Adjust margins
• Save as text
• Snail-mail paper copy to company following transmission of electronic résumé