Resumes & Cover Letters

• The goal of a resume is to get an interview! You do not have to list everything that you have ever done. Be selective. Draw attention to what you have accomplished or contributed instead of just your responsibilities. Focus on where you are going with your career, not just where you have been.
• Employers prefer a Chronological Resume (see attached samples) which lists your work experience (most recent first) and dates of employment.
• Resumes generally include some of the following sections depending on what you seek to highlight:
  • Contact Information
  • Skills Summary
  • Qualifications
  • Education
  • Relevant Coursework
  • Professional Organizations
  • Awards
  • Volunteer Experience
  • Professional Activities
• Contact information should include a professional email address and a phone number where a message can be left on a voice mail system.
• It is best if all relevant information fits onto one page; however, there is not a strict rule about length. The guideline is how much experience you have in the field – more than 10 years = more than one page. Remember, employers only spend 15 to 20 seconds looking at your resume!
• Do not include personal information such as hobbies, marital status, or a picture. Focus your resume on your professional qualifications.
• A resume must be truthful. Falsification is grounds for termination, even years later.
• Proofread your resume. Have several different people proofread it. A resume must be free of typos, errors, and gimmicks.
• Good resumes are visually pleasing and easy to read quickly. Bulleted lists help with readability.
• Great resumes focus on skills and results, use action verbs to get the reader’s attention.
• If using quality resume paper, black ink on white or ivory paper is the best choice.
• A resume should always be accompanied by a cover letter unless delivered in person.

In modern resumes, information about skills and experience can be listed using three distinct formats:

1. Reverse chronological
2. Functional
3. A combination of the two

1. Reverse chronological

Generally speaking, hiring managers prefer that employment data is provided with the most recent job listed first, followed by the next most recent, and so on. In that way, it’s easy to see career progression from an entry-level position to more senior status. It’s also easy to detect gaps in dates of employment. These gaps lead some candidates to use a functional format instead.

2. Functional

Functional formats stress what skills you have, rather than where and when you used them. These formats are best for students who have just graduated from college and have little “real-world” experience, those who have been out of the workforce for long periods because they were raising children, and job seekers who are transitioning from one career or industry to another. However, sometimes combining a functional format with a reverse chronological format makes the most sense. These are called combination resumes.

3. Combination

With this format, skills that are relevant to the current job search are placed in a special section by function, while the Professional History or Work Experience is presented in a standard, reverse-chronological format. This format offers the best of both worlds, and is highly popular with modern job seekers and hiring managers.

The two most effective resume formats for entry-level workers are functional and combination. Steer clear of strictly chronological resumes, which place emphasis on your work history.

Functional resumes emphasize your related skills while downplaying your work chronology. Rather than citing dates of employment, this format uses categories to highlight your aptitudes. For example, if you’re seeking a secretarial position but don’t have any related experience, you may create the following categories: “Computer Skills,” “Interpersonal Communications” and “Office Management Abilities.” The latter may refer to managing your own home office, for example.

A combination resume is a chronological resume that leads with a Qualifications Summary, in which you emphasize the credentials that most qualify you for the job you’re trying to land. Strategically order the sections in your resume to best suit your qualifications, placing more relevant categories, such as Education, Key Skills, Volunteer Work, etc., before your work history.