1. Resume Building
Senior Seminar

2. Purpose A resume is: A marketing tool
An advertisement of education, experience, skills and potential
Should make the reader want to interview you

3. Chronological Resume Emphasizes work experience
Education and work experience are listed with most recent first
75% of employers immediately remove an applicant for a typo and/or a grammatical error on a resume
On average, an employer will spend less than two minutes looking at your resume
No more than 1 page

4. Recommended Essentials
Contact Information
Objective
Educational Background
Work Experience
Skills
Memberships
Honors and Activities
References Available

5. Proper Heading
Ian Thomas
5039 Deland Road
Flushing, MI
(810)
Ian Thomas
5039 Deland Road ∙ Flushing, MI ∙ (810) ∙
Use an easy to read font such as Times New Roman or Arial (no script font)
Use a 12 point font throughout your entire resume, but enlarge your name to at least an 18 point font

6. Objective States your purpose of the resume.
Objective To obtain a secondary teaching position with Flushing
Schools that will allow me to utilize my educational
background along with my professional work experience.
Objective To acquire an entry-level position with a company that
will be rewarding and challenging.
States your purpose of the resume.
Choose an objective that strengthens your resume but does not limit your opportunities
With the exception of your objective, never use complete sentences in your resume. Your resume should be an outline.

7. Education
Education Central Michigan University Mt. Pleasant, Michigan Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education December 2002
Majors: Earth Science/Physical Education
G.P.A /4.0
Education Flushing High School Flushing, Michigan
G.P.A / Present
List education and work experience in reverse chronological order
Be consistent in formatting
List your GPA only if it is above a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

8. Work Experience
Experience McIntosh Orchards Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
Orchard Worker June 2001-August 2001
Performed seasonal maintenance of orchard
Maintained landscaping of orchard
Responded to customers questions and inquiries
Worked independently with minimal supervision
Always use an “action verb” as the first word in a description of work experience.
Never use personal pronouns such as, “I” or “me” in your resume.

9. Work Experience Use parallel phrasing– include dates of employment
Experience McIntosh Orchards Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
Orchard Worker June 2001-August 2001
Performed seasonal maintenance of orchard
Maintained landscaping of orchard
Responded to customers questions and inquiries
Worked independently with minimal supervision
Use parallel phrasing– include dates of employment
Use past tense for previous jobs and present tense for current jobs.
Example: “Performed seasonal maintenance”
“Perform seasonal maintenance”

10. Skills/Honors/Activities
Computer Skills Windows Vista, Microsoft Word 2007, Microsoft PowerPoint 2007
Leadership Skills ∙Team and Goal Oriented ∙ Self-disciplined
∙ Time Management ∙ Communication Skills
Honors/Activities ∙ Central Michigan University Football Team
∙ Dean’s List
List the skills, activities, organization memberships , and leadership roles that would impress a future employer.

11. References Available Upon Request
Avoid using family members
References Available Upon Request

12. Finished Product
Mr. Brieger’s Resume

13. Top Resume Mistakes Too long (1-2 pages)
Disorganized making it hard to read
Poorly typed. Proofread for mistakes that Word did not catch!
Misspellings, typographical errors, poor grammar
Overwritten with paragraphs and sentences

14. Sum It Up Never use complete sentences except for your objective.
Begin job descriptions with an action verb (pg. 313 in your book).
Use past tense and present tense depending on past and current jobs.
Proofread, Proofread, Proofread!!
A resume is a living document!