Career Services
HOW TO WRITE A RESUME
FORMATTING AND APPEARANCE:
- Clear, concise, inviting to read and easy to access information
- Margins: 1-inch on all sides
- Standard fonts: Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial
- Type Size: 10 – 12 point
- Paper: White, beige, or light gray quality bond paper
- Length: a new grad’s resume should be one side of a single page, but can be up to two pages if your experiences and skills are relevant to the job
- Your document should look balanced, pleasing to the eye, and easy to read. Your formatting (bold, italics, etc.) must be consistent throughout the document.
- Use bullet points instead of paragraphs. It is easier to find the main points. It also helps your resume get filtered through the ATS (Applicant Tracking System).
CONTENT:
- Contact information (Name, address, phone, email, LinkedIn profile)
- Highlight relevant information; eliminate unrelated information.
- Use strong action words to describe work experience.
- Include numbers to quantify experience when possible.
- Eliminate personal pronouns.
COMPONENTS:
These are the parts of a resume listed in the order suggested for new or recent college graduates. Resumes do not have to include all these components.
- Heading
- Name, city and state, phone number, and email address
- Objective or Summary
- A statement of what job title or position you are targeting.
- This should be tailored for each position.
- Education
- List all colleges in reverse chronological order.
- Location (City, State)
- Include dates that you attended (Month/Year-Month/Year or Year/Year – be consistent).
- Include your degree, certification and major.
- You can also list honors such as Dean’s List here.
- Only include GPA if it is 3.0 or higher.
- Experience
- Include related employment (full-time or part-time), internships, volunteering, service learning, capstone projects.
- List employers in reverse chronological order
- Include dates that you were employed (Month/Year – Month/Year)
- You can choose to highlight accomplishments and duties that are relevant to the position. This is best done by using bullet points. Pick 3-5 for each experience. Start each accomplishment or duty with a power verb. Do not use “I”.
- Additional Components
- Skills
- Activities
- Student Organizations
- Leadership activities
- Professional memberships
- Honors
- You can choose to place honors, awards, scholarships, recognition here or in the Education section.
- Publications/Research
- Make sure any additional components are relevant.
Sample Resume
Resume Writing Worksheet
Resume Power Verbs - Power verbs for your resume - University of Northern Iowa. University of Northern Iowa Career Services. (n.d.).
How to Format a Resume for Success in 5 Easy Steps | Indeed Career Tips