2. Learning Objectives
Recognize the importance of tailoring your resume content an employer/position
Construct detailed bullet points beginning with strong action verbs
Articulate transferable skills in bullet points
Understand how to analyze job descriptions and incorporate into resume
Create a visually appealing resume
Know how to submit your resume

3. What does your resume say about you?
Warm Up Activity
What does your resume say about you?
In groups of two, exchange resumes
Discuss with your partner:
What is your overall first impression?
What skills do you see?
What experiences stand out?
Have the audience pair up: Ask students to exchange their resumes.
After reading each other’s resume, tell their partner what he/she did well. Think about naming 2-3 of your partner’s strengths.

4. The Key is to…
Highlight Strengths. Everything on your resume should show off your skills and unique talents.
Target needs. Determine what competencies the employer is seeking and make connections with your experience.
Proof and Polish. Looks matter! Your resume needs to be professional and easy-to-read.
Throughout your resume you want to:
- Showcase your relevant experience, identifying the skills you have acquired as well as the unique strengths you brought to your role. Provide employers with a consistent message of your strengths through your resume.
- Be sure your resume targets what an employer is looing for by addressing the competencies and attributes they mention in a job description.
- Content is very important but so too is the look of your resume. It should be an easy-to-read, modern and professional format.
We will be doing some activities and reflecting on your experiences to help you do all of these things!

5. Sections of a Resume:
Contact information
Education
Work Experience
Activities
Leadership
Volunteer Work
Skills
Honors/Awards
Other (custom to you)
Contact information:
What is the first thing you saw when this popped up?
-Name should be the biggest thing on the page-you want employers to remember who you are.
-Make sure voic message/ address is appropriate for potential employers
Education:
-Spell out formal degree title as it would appear on your diploma, and make sure you know your exact degree title! No guessing…look it up on the online Undergraduate Catalog (
-Bachelor of Arts/Science, area of major, emphasis areas, minors
-List certifications or study abroad experience as well
-GPA: List if above a 3.0 and talk with your department about their recommendations if less than a 3.0. You might also choose to calculate and list your Major GPA. Employers have varying opinions so, bottom line: it is up to you!
Experience:
-Ask Audience: What info would an employer want to know about each of your experiences? (employer name, title, employment dates, location)
-You could also call this section Work Experience, Related Experience, or something more specific based on your background.
-Bold/Italics/Underline items you want to emphasize (such as job titles, companies, etc.)
-Utilize Action Verbs…bullet points should begin with high-impact action verbs. Avoid “Responsible for” and “Assisted.” Include descriptive words such as…Collaborated, Developed, Conceptualized, Processed, Innovated, Managed
-Transferable skills: focus on skills you have acquired and how they relate to a future job. Remember YOUR contributions and outcomes of your work.
-Numbers add impact and relevance to your experience and give greater “weight” to your resume.
Activities:
-Just because your experience is unpaid doesn’t mean you shouldn’t show it off like your paid experience. Sometimes your student org or volunteer work is more relevant than your paid experience.
-Add bullets to describe experience if you put a lot of time into an activity.

6. Why Do Looks Matter?
Employers initially spend 6 seconds reading your resume to determine if you are a good candidate
- Employers will initially spend about 6 seconds to determine if you should belong in the YES pile! After that, they will read further into your content and learn more about you.
- Remember that employers skim down the page (and do not read across) so make it a format that can be easily scanned.
- Unsure about how professional resumes look like? Go to HireMizzouTigers.com for samples

7. Resume Checklist
Contact Information
Name is nice and big
Degree and Education
List the exact name of your degree
Remove high school info
Work Experience
Use bullet points with strong content
Reverse chronological order
Leadership/Activities/Volunteer
Choose recent and impactful experience
Ask the class to check sections of their own resume according to the instructions. Take notes on resume.
More here!
Other (Custom to You)
Accomplishments, Skills, Honors
Summary of Qualifications
References (separate page)
List 3-5 people with complete contact info on a separate page

8. Effective Resumes Are Tailored to a Job
Target a specific position/industry
Find out what skills, knowledge and experience are needed
Create your resume to demonstrate your key competencies
On your resume, once you get the basics down, you should think about how to target your desired job or experience.
Draw parallels between the job description and your experience and involvement.
How to find out!

9. Tailored Resumes: Have the most relevant information first
Have industry specific keywords
Show your knowledge of the industry
Stand out in the stack
Help you get an interview
On the page and within your bullet points, lead with the most relevant and compelling information
Use key words in your industry that relate to skills, technology or

10. Activity: Bullet Enhancement
Compare the following bullet points
Responsible for publicity
Interacted successfully with public affairs representatives and local media
Compare the three bullet points, and tell us which one is the strongest, why?
Interacted successfully with public affairs representatives and local media increasing community awareness of agency by 25%

11. Activity: Bullet Enhancement
Now complete the Step One of your handout:
Made sales and ran cash register
Compare the three bullet points, and tell us which one is the strongest, why?

12. Activity: Bullet Enhancement
Select 2-3 bullets from your resume Identify tasks, skills and outcomes Rewrite your bullets
Action Verb
Task
Results
A well-crafted bullet should include the task you’ve taken, the skills you used to tackle the task and most importantly, a positive outcome. Use strong action verbs to kick off each bullet point and numbers to quantify your work experience. For example, include the dollar amount of sales you increased, the number of times you did something or the number of students you taught to show your productivity!
Developed…
…comprehensive marketing plan to positively impact target audience…
…which increased sales profit by 35%.

13. Great Bullet Points:
Provide vital details, not just vague descriptions
Show your strengths, skills, action, and context of your experiences
Help employers better understand what you can bring to the job

14. Edit Your Resume Proofread for spelling, grammar, and punctuation
Use bold, underline, and italics to highlight important text (i.e job titles, section headings, dates)
Balance white space and text
Line up headings, bullets, and text
Get feedback from career advisors, industry professionals, and others

15. Submit a Resume Email Online Application System In Person
Include a subject line with the name of the job
Attach your resume in requested format (usually PDF or DOC)
Your cover letter can be sent as the body of the or an attachment
Online Application System
Upload a document in required format, e.g. PDF
In Person
Print your resume on high quality paper
In person, print on high quality paper
Via ,
Uploading to a site

16. Make Sure You Always…
Show strengths/skills/action, not just responsibilities
Know your audience and connect their needs with your experience
Polish your content and make it look professional
Add value
Highlight strength

17. Next Steps Update your resume on www.HireMizzouTigers.com
Go to MU Career Center or your career office to get your resume reviewed
Maintain a “running resume” with all experiences that you can tailor to each position
Save multiple copies of your document based on the different jobs/industries

18. Lower Level, Student Success Center career@missouri.edu
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