RÉSUMÉ WRITING

What is a Résumé ?• A way to positively promote yourself

• Can be used to

– Apply for jobs

– Apply for scholarships– Provide detailed information to teachers or

counselors who are writing letters of recommendation for you

The Winning Résumé :• Is 100% honest

• Is one page in length

• Presents your most important data first

• Emphasizes your assets and avoids your

shortcomings

• Is free of grammatical and spelling errors

• Is brief, concise, and easy to read• Avoids the use of personal pronouns (I, we, you,

she/he, they)

• Uses appropriate action words

Layout:• Your résumé should be brief, well

organized, typed and neatly printed on 8 1/2” X 11” résumé paper

• Should be 10 to 12 point font, with a “textbook” style font such as Times New Roman or Garamond

• Should be single spaced and have a good balance between characters and white space

Sections• The main sections that every résumé needs are:– Heading

• Name• Contact Information

– Education– Experience

• Other sections that you can include are:– Summary of Experience– Relevant Skills– Volunteer Experience– Extracurricular Activities– Honors/Awards

Heading• Needs to include– Legal Name– Address– Phone Number– Email Address

• No other personal information should be included on a résumé – Do not include birthdate, social security number,

ethnicity, relationship status, etc.

• Make sure the information you list is appropriate

Which one should you use and why?

Jane Doe123 Somewhere DrMinot, ND 58703businesswoman2b@hotmail.com

Jane Doe123 Somewhere DrMinot, ND 58703toosexyforyou@hotmail.com

The first is better:Make sure your email address is professional and it is one that you are going to check often

EducationEmployers are interested in your education in general terms and as it relates to the type of work you are seeking. If your education has prepared you for work in a specific company, a specific type of business and/or specific industry it will be important to highlight your education and the experience that you have gained in school on your résumé.

If you lack work experience your education and volunteer experiences will be very important parts of your résumé.

List your highest level of education first. Source: http://www.valleyworks.cc/documents/FY10YouthResumeWorksheet.pdf

Education

• You can include the following:– Relevant classes (career related, honors, AP)– Special training/certifications and internships

• GPA – Research the GPA required for the job and

list your GPA if it meets the criteria– Otherwise, a good rule is to only list your

GPA if it is above a 3.5

ExperienceEmployers are interested in the type of school experiences you have, or the work you are doing, or have done, as well as the name of the organization or company where you volunteered or worked, when you did the work, and the type of experience you gained. List your most recent volunteer, school, or job experience first.

Be sure to list school activities and volunteer experience as well as paid work experience. If you lack paid work experience, list school activities and volunteer experience that you may have.For example, if you volunteer on Saturday at the animal shelter, you can add that experience to your résumé. You do not have to be paid to count it as experience.

Source: http://www.valleyworks.cc/documents/FY10YouthResumeWorksheet.pdf

Experience

• Include a job title, the company name, city, state and dates of employment

• Provide detailed information about your experiences

• Use strong, descriptive action verbs to describe your responsibilities and accomplishments

• Provide quantitative information when applicable (ex: provided school tours to 100 new freshmen)

• Use bullet statements to make it easier for the potential employer to read

• List your experience with the most recent activity listed first

Using Action Statements – Example #1

Statement:• Duties included teaching art

lessons

Better:• Prepared and displayed creative

art activities

Best:• Prepared creative art activities• Increased students’ interest in art and

artistic abilities

Using Action Statements – Example #2

Statement:Worked with customer services

Better:Provided customer service for bank services

Best:Provided customer service through resolution of problems, explanation of bank services and policies and knowledge of financial planning, resulting in greater customer satisfaction

Using Action Statements - Example #3

Statement:• Responsible for clerical duties

Better:• Assisted supervisor with clerical/office

procedures to save time

Best:• Successfully developed and implemented

systems to streamline office procedures increasing productivity

Which one is better and why?

The second is better:• Bulleted statements are easier to read• He used action words in the second example• The second bullet includes specific numbers to quantify his performance

Here is a list of popular résumé action verbs

Tailor Your Résumé to Each Job

• Submitting the same résumé to multiple employers can hurt your chances of getting an interview

• For each résumé you turn in you should tailor it to that employer

• Find the job description for each job by• Looking online to see if the

position description is posted• Asking the company’s human

resources department for a copy

Tailoring Your Résumé • Address specific criteria that the job

description states

• For example:– If the job description says they want

someone who knows how to use Microsoft Word and Excel you would want to make sure you list those skills on your résumé if you are proficient with those programs

Résumé #1

Notice that Jane lists her language proficiency and

translation experience first on this résumé for a

Translator Position

Notice that Jane lists her teaching experience first on this résumé for a teaching position.

Résumé #2:

Most Importantly

Make sure your résumé is error free – no typographical, spelling or grammatical errors

Many employers will stop reading a résumé if it includes spelling errors

Creating Your Own Resume• Use your time in high school to help build

your resume• You can do this by taking career related

classes. Options include• LCHS Electives• CEC (Career Enrichment Center) Classes• UNM/CNM Dual Credit Classes• AP courses

• Counselors will be visiting with you during your English classes to talk to you about all of your class options for next year. Remember to keep your resume in mind when you are selecting your classes for next year

Creating Your Own Resume• You can also build your resume by

gaining work experience– Paid or unpaid – it all counts

– Volunteer with an organization that is related to what you want to do after high school

– One great skill to have is Leadership• Join a club/organization on or off campus

and get involved in their activities

• Offer to coordinate a program or project or find a way to lead others in an activity

Create Your Own

• Spend the rest of the period filling out the Résumé Worksheet

• When completed, the Résumé Worksheet should be placed in your Advisory Folder