Your resume is your first impression on a prospective employer. Though you may be articulate, intelligent, and charming in person, a poor resume may prevent you from ever having the opportunity to demonstrate your interpersonal skills, because a poor resume may prevent you from ever being called for an interview. While few people have ever been hired solely on the basis of their resume, a well-written, well-organized resume can go a long way toward helping you land an interview. Your resume’s main purpose is to get you that interview. The rest is up to you and the employer. If you both feel that you are right for the job and the job is right for you, chances are you will be hired. A resume must catch the reader’s attention yet still be easy to read and to the point. Resume styles have changed over the years. Today, brief and focused resumes are preferred. No longer do employers have the patience, or the time, to review several pages of solid type. A resume should be only one page long, if possible. Time is a precious commodity in today’s business world, and the resume that is concise and straightforward will usually be the one that gets noticed.

 

Let’s not make the mistake, though, of assuming that writing a brief resume means that you can take less care in preparing it. A successful resume takes time and thought, and if you are willing to make the effort, the rewards are well worth it. Think of your resume as a sales tool with the product being you. You want to sell yourself to a prospective employer.

 

A winning resume is made of the elements that employers are most interested in seeing when reviewing a job applicant. These basic elements are the essential ingredients of a successful resume and become the actual sections of your resume. The following is a list of elements that may be used in a resume. Some are essential, some are optional. We will be discussing these in this chapter to give you a better understanding of each element’s role in the makeup of your resume:

 

1. Heading

2. Objective

3. Work Experience

4. Education

5. Honors

6. Activities

7. Special Skills

8. Personal Information

9. References

 

The first step in preparing your resume is to gather information about yourself and your past accomplishments. Later you will refine this information, rewrite it in the most effective language, and organize it into the most attractive layout. First, let’s take a look at each of these important elements individually.

 

Heading

 

The heading may seem to be a simple enough element in your resume, but be careful not to take it lightly. The heading should be placed at the top of your resume and should include your name, home address, and telephone numbers. If you can take calls at your current place of business, include your business number, since most employers will attempt to contact you during the business day. Always include your phone number on your resume. It is crucial that when prospective employers need to have immediate contact with you, they can.

 

Objective

 

When seeking a particular career path, it is important to list a job objective on your resume. This statement helps employers know the direction that you see yourself heading, so that they can determine whether your goals are in line with the position available. The objective is normally one sentence long and describes your employment goals clearly and concisely. The job objective will vary depending on the type of person you are, the field you are in, and the type of goals you have. It can be either specific or general, but it should always be to the point. In some cases, this element is not necessary, but usually it is a good idea to include your objective. It gives your possible future employer an idea of where you are coming from and where you want to go. The objective statement is better left out, however, if you are uncertain of the exact title of the job you seek. In such a case, the inclusion of an overly specific objective statement could result in your not being considered for a variety of acceptable positions; be sure to incorporate this information in your cover letter instead.

 

Work Experience

 

This element is arguably the most important of them all. It will provide the central focus of your resume, so it is necessary that this section be as complete as possible. Only by examining your work experience in depth can you get to the heart of your accomplishments and present them in a way that demonstrates the strength of your qualifications. Of course, someone just out of school will have less work experience than someone who has been working for a number of years, but the amount of information isn’t the most important thing—rather, how it is presented, and how it highlights you as a person and as a worker will be what counts. As you work on this section of your resume, be aware of the need for accuracy. You’ll want to include all necessary information about each of your jobs, including job title, dates, employer, city, state, responsibilities, special projects, and accomplishments. Be sure to only list company accomplishments for which you were directly responsible. If you haven’t participated in any special projects, that’s all right—this area may not be relevant to certain jobs.The most common way to list your work experience is in reverse chronological order. In other words, start with your most recent job and work your way backward. This way your prospective employer sees your current (and often most important) job before seeing your past jobs. Your most recent position, if the most important, should also be the one that includes the most information, as compared to your previous positions. If you are just out of school, show your summer employment and parttime work, though in this case your education will most likely be more important than your work experience. The following worksheets will help you gather information about your past jobs.

 

WORK EXPERIENCE

Job One:

 Job Title _____________________________________________________________________

 Dates _______________________________________________________________________

 Employer _____________________________________________________________________

 City, State ____________________________________________________________________

 Major Duties ___________________________________________________________________

 _____________________________________________________________________________

Special Projects ________________________________________________________________

 _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

 Accomplishments _______________________________________________________________

 _____________________________________________________________________________

 

Education

 

Education is the second most important element of a resume. Your educational background is often a deciding factor in an employer’s decision to hire you. Be sure to stress your accomplishments in school with the same finesse that you stressed your accomplishments at work. If you are looking for your first job, your education will be your greatest asset, since your work experience will most likely be minimal. In this case, the education section becomes the most important. You will want to be sure to include any degrees or certificates you received, your major area of concentration, any honors, and any relevant activities. Again, be sure to list your most recent schooling first. If you have completed graduate-level work, begin with that and work in reverse chronological order through your undergraduate education. If you have completed an undergraduate degree, you may choose whether to list your high school experience or not. This should be done only if your high school grade point average was well above average. The following worksheets will help you gather information for this section of your resume. Also included are supplemental worksheets for honors and for activities. Sometimes honors and activities are listed in a section separate from education, most often near the end of the resume.

 

EDUCATION

 

School One__________________________________________________________________________

Major or Area of Concentration __________________________________________________________

 Degree ____________________________________________________________________________

Dates_______________________________________________________________________________

Honors

 

Here you should list any awards, honors, or memberships in honorary societies that you have received. Usually these are of an academic nature, but they can also be for special achievement in sports, clubs, or other school activities. Always be sure to include the name of the organization honoring you and the date(s) received. Use the worksheet below to help gather your honors information.

 

HONORS

 

Honor One ______________________________________________________________________

 Awarding Organization ____________________________________________________________

 Date(s) __________________________________________________________________________

 

Activities

 

You may have been active in different organizations or clubs during your years at school; often an employer will look at such involvement as evidence of initiative and dedication. Your ability to take an active role, and even a leadership role, in a group should be included on your resume. Use the worksheet provided to list your activities and accomplishments in this area. In general, you should exclude any organization whose name indicates the race, creed, sex, age, marital status, color, or nation of origin of its members.

 

ACTIVITIES

 

Organization/Activity ____________________________________________________________

 Accomplishments _______________________________________________________________

 ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

 

As your work experience increases through the years, your school activities and honors will play less of a role in your resume, and eventually you will most likely only list your degree and any major honors you received. This is due to the fact that, as time goes by, your job performance becomes the most important element in your resume. Through time, your resume should change to reflect this.

 

Special Skills

 

This section of your resume is for mentioning any special abilities you have that could relate to the job you are seeking. This is the part of your resume where you have the opportunity to demonstrate certain talents and experiences that are not necessarily a part of your educational or work experience. Common examples include fluency in a foreign language or knowledge of a particular computer application. Special skills can encompass a wide range of your talents—remember that whatever skills you list should relate to the type of work you are looking for.

 

Personal Information

 

Some people include “Personal” information on their resumes. This is not generally recommended, but you might wish to include it if you think that something in your personal life, such as a hobby or talent, has some bearing on the position you are seeking. This type of information is often referred to at the beginning of an interview, when it is used as an “ice breaker.” Of course, personal information regarding age, marital status, race, religion, or sexual preference should never appear on any resume.

 

References

 

References are not usually listed on the resume, but a prospective employer needs to know that you have references who may be contacted if necessary. All that is necessary to include in your resume regarding references is a sentence at the bottom stating, “References are available upon request.” If a prospective employer requests a list of references, be sure to have one ready. Also, check with whomever you list to see if it is all right for you to use them as a reference. Forewarn them that they may receive a call regarding a reference for you. This way they can be prepared to give you the best reference possible.