Resume 101

The Basics A student resume gives a potential employer an easy-to-understand timeline. It includes: 1. Header 2. Objective (optional) 3. Education 4. Skills 5. Work Experiences Extras - depending on experience 1. Leadership & Volunteerism 2. Honors & Activities

First Impressions Matter When examining resumes, employers say they look for key evidence of: O Problem Solving Skills O Experience O Work ethic O Leadership Skills O Written communication O Analytical, Technical & Computer Skills

Format Matters Most career related professionals agree – Format is probably ONE OF THE MOST (if not THE MOST) important parts of your resume It must USUALLY be: 1. Formatted so items are easy to find 2. Look nice enough to SCAN quickly If not, it will probably never get reviewed by the person who is doing the hiring.

How to Format Make everything easy to find. Offer a clean, well-organized, easy-to-read resume. 1. Help employers find critical information quickly! A student resume is usually in reverse chronological order 2. Leave off irrelevant details that do not directly relate to a job. If you don’t have one – find one. 3. Include the necessary items first. Then look for space to add extras.

Multiple sample formats are available at The Citadel Career Center’s Website:

Header Name : Use full name to avoid confusion with nicknames Address: Use full address with local/school address; include City, State, Zip) Phone Number: Use a professional voic greeting Address: Use a professional address that you will check often Include a web link for a portfolio (if relevant): This can be a website or Social Media site to showcase work and accomplishments)

Header Samples

Objective Statement THE JURY IS OUT ON THIS SECTION! Ask someone who understands or works in a hiring role if you should include it depending on your personal situation. If you do include one: 1. Tailor it to the specific position or organization 2. Keep it short

Objective Samples FOR A SPECIFIC JOB: Seeking a position at The City of Charleston’s Treasure Office as a Program Manager. Applying for a Position as a History Teacher and Women’s Soccer Coach at Wando High School for Fall FOR JOB FAIRS & ONLINE RESUME DATABASES: Business Administration candidate fluent in Spanish seeks a Sales and Marketing Internship position Engineering Major with coursework in Computer Design and Management seeks Internship position with an RF Engineering Firm

Education Section Education typically appears at the top of the resume for new graduates. Once you have job experience, it can move down. Include: 1. Full Degree/Major (not abbreviated) and Minor or Concentration if relevant 2. Full Name of Institution/Location, 3. Graduation Month ad Year (you do not need “Anticipated”) 4. Study Abroad can be added here as well GPA EXTRA! Adding a GPA can be tricky! Some employers use GPA as a screening tool. If your GPA is 3.0 or higher (usually) you can include it, but discuss options with someone who knows before you add it.

Education Samples

Skills Section Provide a brief summary of skills RELATED TO A SPECIFIC POSITION O This section is easy to include when applying to multiple jobs through online systems because it can be easily and quickly changed. O It is typically provided as a series of bullets or in a column/table format. O It can include relevant coursework or exposure to industry specific skills if you lack job expereince.

Skills Samples

Experience Section This is a very important section. It may make me want to hire you if it is well done! Job Title, Organization Name, Location, Dates O Skills 1. Internships, summer jobs, volunteer work can all go here. 2. Action verbs start the bullet and describe specifically and concisely what skills you gained. 3. Include keywords that match a job description. 4. Quantify your accomplishments as much as possible.

Experience Sample

More Experience Samples

Extra Sections: Leadership Volunteer Honors & Activities O Interpersonal skills O Organizational skills O Flexibility O Adaptability O Teamwork O Problem-solving skills These give employers evidence of:

Leadership & Volunteer Section ITEMS TO CONSIDER: O Excelling in a course or earning an achievement O Holding an office or leadership position O Study abroad or a cultural involvement O Volunteering in the community O Participating in student organizations or club O Playing on a team O Organizing an event or developing an idea for a project

Leadership and Volunteer Samples

Honors and Activities This section is optional, but it may be very important to you. Employers will look at this section to see if the candidate is well rounded. Include those that are: 1. relevant to the job, 2. demonstrate achievement, or 3. provide evident of your skills. Do not just list activities that you showed up for because is was required, but add ones in which you were truly engaged!

Honors and Activities Sample

Resume Dos 1. Confirm that your contact information is correct! “Yay! I can get in touch!” 2. Use consistent formatting and fonts. “They took some time on this!” 3. Use proper grammar, correct verb tense, and triple check for spelling errors and/or typos. – “This resume looks like it is coming from a professional.” 4. Highlight what makes you stand out by including information specifically requested within a job posting. “They know what I want and have done research!” 5. Save as a PDF to preserve formatting – “They took time to make sure it came across correctly.” 6. When sending, include your NAME in the subject line. – “Now, where is that person’s I wanted to hire, Page Something?”

Resume Do Not's 1. Use personal pronouns (I, Me, My) – How did this person not know this? 2. Make it so generic it in no way relates to a job – Do you know what you want? 3. Write resume in paragraph format – No one has time to read this! 4. Include photos/personal bios like age, gender, marital status) - TMI 5. Leave gaps in your work history- What has she been doing all this time? 6. List high school diploma if you are a Senior (exception - unless you seek employment in the district to which you are applying) – What have they done lately? 7. Include references on resume. – I’ll let her know when I need her references. 8. Repeat the same action verbs over and over again – How many times can you “Manage something?”

Develop Your Own Resume The Citadel Career Center can offer support and critique services to help you identify what is and isn’t working on your resume. A resume helps you define and showcase what you have to offer. Don’t turn the responsibility over to someone else. A 3 rd party cannot know what you did or how well you did it, nor will they be with you in an interview to explain what you bring to the table!