Writing a Resume

A resume is your chance to summarize your education, experience, skills and accomplishments that are relevant to the job or internship. It must be well-written, error free, honest and descriptive.

A few tips to get you started:

Length – Typically for new graduates, the resume should be no longer than one page. Depending on the job and field you can go to two pages if necessary.

Content – Traditional-age students need only go back four years. Nontraditional-age students can go back ten years but should only include significant and pertinent information.

Sections – The main categories for the resume generally include Education, Experience, and Activities. Other categories might include Skills, Internships, Volunteer and Professional Organizations. For each section, list the content from most recent to least recent.

Descriptions – Use short, concise sentences starting with an action verb. Describe your accomplishments, how you completed the tasks and what you did well.

Format – Distribute the information evenly over the page. Use some formatting to guide the reader through the document including bullets, bold and italics.

Note – remember that these are general guidelines to follow. Each situation may require adjustment according to the position and application requirements as well as based on your background and experiences.