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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Résumé Workshop

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This résumé workshop provides detailed explanations, as well step-by-step processes, for creating an effective résumé. The Purdue OWL also maintains résumé quick tips resources and a résumé PowerPoint slide presentation. Please visit those resources for shorter discussions of the resume.

What is a résumé?

A résumé (also spelled resume) is a brief document that summarizes your education, employment history, and experiences that are relevant to your qualifications for a particular job for which you are applying. The purpose of a résumé (along with your cover letter) is to get an interview. Research has shown that it takes an average of ten (10) interviews to receive one (1) job offer, so your résumé needs to be persuasive and perfect. Given this, your résumé must be user-centered and persuasive .

The general purpose résumé usually contains four sections:

• Honors, activities, and outreach

Writing the contact section of your résumé

This section of your résumé is definitely the easiest to write, but you do have a few options for design and content.

What is a contact information section?

Unlike other sections of your résumé, this section does not have a special heading like "Contact Information." Instead it simply lists the information below at the top of the page:

• Your full name
• Your e-mail address
• Your permanent address
• Your local or campus address (if applicable)
• Your phone number(s)
• Your web address/URL
• Your fax number, etc.

Of course, as with the rest of your résumé, you'll want to double-check that all the information you include is current and accurate. Mistyping your phone number could easily cost you an interview! Also, if you list an e-mail address, be sure to check your e-mail regularly or you may miss an important message.

If you live on campus, you should provide your campus address. But you may also want to provide your home address.

Designing your contact information section

Employers will probably look first and last at your contact information section, so it's well worth your time to make this section easy-to-read and appealing to the eye. Whatever design choices you make, try to coordinate them with the rest of your résumé. Here are some specific design options:

• Use page design strategies to present information in a usable format. For example, to help readers find desired information, you might place your name in a larger font size, center it, boldface it, or anything to make it stand out. If you have a permanent and local address, you might want to play with columns.
• You may want to add a graphic element such as a horizontal line to help section off your contact information. Make sure the visual does not distract from your textual information.
• Coordinate with your cover letter. One way to make your application documents a professional package is to match your cover letter and your résumé. You might do this by creating stationery or a letterhead for both documents. For instance, if you use two columns for your addresses and a double line on your résumé header, you might adapt it for the top of your cover letter as well. Make sure to use the same fonts (size also) for both documents.

Questions to ask

• What are the different ways you may be contacted? How do you prefer to be reached?

About the company or organization

• What means of contacting you would be most convenient for the company or organization?
• Click the link at the top of the page for a sample résumé.

Job seekers at Purdue University may find value in the Purdue career Wiki here .

For more information about how to develop a résumé, visit these OWL resources:

• Résumé Design
• Scannable Résumé Presentation
• Job Search Documents for Working Class Positions

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• 15 Tips for Resume Writing

15 Resume Writing Tips: How to Craft a Resume That Gets Noticed

Preparing a solid resume is a critical step on your path to a rewarding job. While you may have years of experience, your resume can still go unnoticed if you don’t optimize it for applicant tracking systems (ATS) and ensure it stands out to human reviewers, too. As you create your new resume or modify your last one, keep the following 15 tips in mind.

1. Tailor Your Resume to Your Desired Position or Industry

As you create your resume, keep in mind the needs of your target employer and tailor your resume to show how you fit the needs of that employer. If you’re applying for a specific position, review the job requirements and description carefully and make sure that your resume reflects how you fit those requirements.

You should also research the employer and then review your resume to see if there is additional, relevant information you can add. For example, if you’re applying for a job in the medical field, make sure your resume includes any medical or health care-related experience you may have.

2. Use a Clean, Visually Appealing Format

While your qualifications are usually the greatest indicator of whether you’re a good candidate for a role, a resume that’s clean, easy to read, and visually appealing could play a part in a hiring manager reading it.

As you create your resume, focus on formatting your resume so that it’s easy to read. For example, your resume should include:

• 1-inch margins
• Section headers
• Bulleted lists
• The same font throughout the document
• Consistent line spacing

3. Use an Appropriate Font

Use a professional, clean, modern font. Times New Roman has been a historical go-to for resumes, and is still acceptable, but you may want to consider a different font, like Arial.

Additionally, ensure that your font is appropriately sized. A 10- to 12-point font is usually best.

4. Use a Professional Email Address

You might be surprised at how many people still include unprofessional email addresses in their resumes. Have a dedicated professional email address, if you don’t already. Your first initial and last name is a common and recommended format for your email address. You may want to avoid using a number in your email address because this could be assumed to be your birth year, which could lead to perceived ageism.

Imagine you were a hiring manager, and you saw the following two email addresses:

• [email protected]
• [email protected]

As much as we love sports, we’re willing to bet most hiring managers would rather continue reading the resume of the second candidate.

5. Include a Summary Statement

A summary statement at the beginning of your resume is important. It’s a brief statement that covers your experience and goals as they relate to the position you’re applying for.

Keep it concise at about 3 to 5 lines.

“Think about the words you are using and try to use quantifiable information,” says Jennifer Lasater, vice president, employer and career services at Purdue Global. “Instead of ‘hard worker,’ it's better to state that you ‘increased sales by 25%’.”

 Use this space to summarize your experience, strengths, and goals as they relate to the position you are applying to.

6. Ensure All Information Is Up to Date

Some job-seekers create many resumes for many different positions. When reworking your resume for the job you’re applying for, ensure that all the information is current and relevant to the given position. Check that you haven’t left anything behind from an older version of your resume or one that was written for a different role.

7. Use Reverse Chronological Order

Putting your work history in reverse chronological order (so your most recent role is listed first, under “Experience”) is the standard practice, and it’s what your reviewer will be expecting.

The same is true for your education section. Your most recent schooling is most likely most relevant to the role you’re applying for now, so list education in reverse chronological order as well.

8. Be Concise About Experience and Job Duties

Your experience and previous job duties are some of the most important words on your resume. It’s tempting to want to elaborate on your accomplishments and make sure they’re properly explained, but hiring managers want to get right to the meat of your experience to see how it aligns with their current needs.

Be concise about your previous duties and accomplishments. Use bullet points instead of full sentences or paragraphs. Instead of elaborating on your biggest accomplishments, clearly communicate them in 1 to 2 bulleted lines that begin with action verbs such as “managed” or “developed.”

9. Make It ATS-Friendly

An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a type of software that helps employers collect, organize, and rank candidates’ resumes. Three-quarters of recruiters and talent managers use some form of recruiting or applicant tracking software, Capterra reports .

An ATS helps hiring managers find the most relevant candidates by searching for certain keywords in resumes. To optimize your resume for an ATS, review the job description carefully for important keywords and include those that are relevant to your job or educational experience in your resume.

>> Read More: How to Optimize Your Resume for Applicant Tracking Systems

10. Decide: Education or Experience—Which Comes First?

The answer to this question is fairly simple. If you recently graduated from school with little to no relevant work experience, list your education first. This will be more relevant to employers than any unrelated jobs you held while earning your degree. If you had any internships that are relevant to the role you’re applying for, put the internships first, then education.

Moving forward in your career, your experience should be placed above the section about your education. Your professional experience will almost always be more relevant to hiring managers than your education, unless there are strict educational requirements in your field. But even in that case, experience should be listed first.

11. Include Only Relevant Educational Information

You want your resume to be concise, so if you’ve enrolled at a college or university, you can exclude education previous to that, including your high school. You should include any education that you’re currently working on, but don’t include educational programs from the past that you started but didn’t complete.

List any academic honors you’ve received, and only include your GPA if it’s above 3.0.

12. Exclude the Reference Statement

Historically, standard practice when writing resumes was to add a statement along the lines of “References available upon request.” This is unnecessary. Again, you want your resume to be as sleek and streamlined as possible, and excluding this statement saves room. Hiring managers know they’re able to request references from you if they’re interested.

13. Include Additional Section(s) if Relevant

The important thing here is “if relevant.” If you have other past experience that’s not necessarily related to the position itself but speaks to you as a candidate, you can include it. Some examples of additional sections include:

• Internships
• Volunteer experience
• Community service
• Languages spoken
• Professional memberships
• Associations/affiliations

14. Include a Cover Letter

You might think it’s unnecessary or unlikely to actually be read, but a cover letter gives you the opportunity to provide your potential employer with a well-spoken narrative about your qualifications and career objectives. It also serves as a way to get ahead of or explain certain aspects of your resume—for example, a gap in employment—if necessary.

Try to include some aspects that aren’t in your resume—you don’t want your cover letter to repeat your resume in story form. “We recommend that students identify three qualifications from the job description that they have and illustrate in the cover letter how they meet those requirements,” says Jennifer Katz, director of career services at Purdue Global.

Your cover letter should also be highly targeted and unique to each position you apply for.

>> Learn More: Tips on Writing a Stellar Cover Letter

15. Proofread (Then Proofread Again)

This tip can’t be emphasized enough. This is your chance to make a good first impression, and one spelling or grammatical error could compromise the credibility of your entire resume. That might sound harsh, and not all hiring managers are such sticklers on this, but some are.

Read it and reread it. Send it to family and friends who will read it and give you feedback. In addition to helping identify any spelling or grammatical errors, this will also help identify any issues with words that have multiple spellings (e.g., role vs. roll, their vs. there). The more people that can help you review your resume, the better. Other people may be more likely to pick up something you missed, even if you have reviewed it yourself several times.

If You Need Additional Education to Land Your Dream Job

If you’ve already put in the work to become qualified for the position you’re applying for, all you need to do now is clearly and effectively communicate that to your potential employers with a clean, concise resume. Good luck!

But if a college degree could help you reach your career goals, learn more about Purdue Global. We offer more than 175 online programs, from certificates to doctoral degrees. We’ve tailored higher education to meet the needs of working adults. Request more information today .

About the Author

Purdue Global

Earn a degree you're proud of and employers respect at Purdue Global, Purdue's online university for working adults. Accredited and online, Purdue Global gives you the flexibility and support you need to come back and move your career forward. Choose from 175+ programs, all backed by the power of Purdue.

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* Employment and Career Advancement: Purdue Global does not guarantee employment placement or career advancement. Actual outcomes vary by geographic area, previous work experience and opportunities for employment.

• Resumes & CVs

Writing the Resume

• Writing the CV

Below are the sections that will guide you on building a successful resume. The sections will take you over the overall ideas in crafting your resume and give specific examples to get you started. It is recommended to go over the sections from top to bottom.

Purpose and Types

An effective resume grabs the reader’s attention. It connects your skills and experiences with the organization’s and position’s needs. In thirty seconds or less, most employers or organization representatives decide whether to consider applicants for an interview, so your resume's content must be  CLEAR ,  CONCISE , and  COMPELLING .

Resume Types

Chronological and Functional Resumes are two typical resume formats. The most commonly used style is “Chronological.”

Chronological:

• Highlights information in reverse chronological order within sections from most recent to least recent
• Most commonly used format as it is easy for employers to understand your timeline
• Allows prioritizing of your sections, so you can highlight your most relevant experiences first!

Functional:

• Highlights information in categories based on commonly grouped skills
• Useful for those with a wide variety of work history, gaps in experience, or those seeking to change career fields
• Tends to be used by more seasoned candidates

PROFESSIONAL FORMAT

• Margins: Top-0.8”-1”; Sides and bottom-0.5”-1”
• Font Size & Style: 10-12 and simple, readable fonts (Calibri, Georgia, Arial, Cambria, Times New Roman)
• Printed Copy: Print copies for in-person interactions (job fairs, interviews) on “resume paper” that can be found at copy centers and office supply stores/sections
• Length: Undergraduate level-1 page; Graduate & PhD-2 pages or more; majors in Education, Nursing and Medicine can have more than 1 page
• Templates: Refrain from using them as they lack flexibility when you want to tailor your resume!
• Order: Heading, objective (if included) and education are first, in that order
• No Pronouns: Do not use first-person pronouns (I, me, my)
• Don't get Personal: Refrain from incorporating personal information such as your age, gender, religion, political affiliation, marital status, ethnicity, visa status or photographs

Your Resume Warehouse

To begin the resume writing process, consider creating a “Resume Warehouse” where you record EVERY  position or experience you have had (and will have!) using a Word document, an Excel spreadsheet, or whatever resource works best to capture your information. If you are a newer college student, this may include high school experience. Your “Resume Warehouse” will be useful as you target resumes to meet the needs of specific positions and organizations.

As you brainstorm, here are examples of items to include:

• Social and Professional Affiliations such as teams, clubs, associations
• Volunteer and Community/Campus Involvement
• Leadership Positions
• Class or Design Projects
• Research Experiences
• Practicum or Internship Experiences
• Teaching Experiences
• Study/Travel Abroad
• Honors, Awards, and Scholarships
• Certifications of Licensure
• Languages (indicate level)
• Computer/Technical Skills
• Laboratory Skills/Field Processes
• Presentations and Publications
• Special Interests or Hobbies
• Notable Achievements

KEEP IN MIND: Your “Resume Warehouse” helps you remember key skills and experiences that may be useful to tailor different versions of your resume.

Add the “CORE 4”

For each experience, record these additional “CORE 4” details:

The section on “Share Your Experiences” shows how to capture the skills and impactful details for your experiences.

Resume Sections

Resumes often include the following sections:

Honors and Awards

View the CCO Handbook for resume examples

Career Profiles 1

Career Profiles 2

Basic areas to include would be name of institution, location, year of graduation, degree, majors, minors. The GPA often is included but not all the time depending upon the individual’s preference.

Other areas to consider including are:

• Institution(s)
• Graduation Date
• Minor(s)/Concentration(s)
• GPA (be accurate!)
• Awards, Scholarships
• Course Highlights

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES

Identify transferable skills, attributes, and competencies.

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS are skills and traits that have been developed and used in one position that can be “transferred” (or taken) into another position. These skills are invaluable and provide a strong foundation for other positions. They demonstrate that you are capable of learning about and doing the job.

“Power Verbs” that help describe these skills can be found in the CCO Handbook .

Attributes Employers Seek in Candidates

ATTRIBUTES are skills, qualities, and traits. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) in its Job Outlook 2021Spring Update, employers sought the following attributes in their candidates:

COMPETENCIES: In its work on “career readiness,”* the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) shares that successfully developing certain competencies prepares college graduates for success beyond college. These competencies are:

NACE provides useful and detailed examples demonstrating sample behaviors for each of these competencies. Referring to these examples will help you develop bullet points for your resume and share how you have used these competencies. Simply click on NACE’s link to the “What is Career Readiness?” webpage , scroll down, and examine each competency.

* What is Career Readiness? (naceweb.org)

Relate to your tasks/responsibilities

Refer back to your “CORE 4” experiences , reflect upon, and record the  TRANSFERABLE SKILLS, ATTRIBUTES, and COMPETENCIES  you enriched, developed, and used in these experiences. Doing this will help you understand the value of your experience and how this will make you competitive for future opportunities. You will use this information on your resume as well as in the interview process as you explain your value to employers.

Take one of your experiences, list the TASKS you performed in that position and identify which TRANSFERABLE SKILLS, ATTRIBUTES, and COMPETENCIES might line up with those tasks. For example, if you were a barista, you might record something like this:

Now you have the ingredients to  MAKE STRONG BULLET POINTS on your resume! Strong bullet points help your reader “see you in action” and understand what value you may bring to the position.

Develop Strong Bullet Points

Now it’s time to incorporate those TASKS and TRANSFERABLE SKILLS, ATTRIBUTES, and COMPETENCIES you developed through your experiences into strong bullet points for your resume. Strong bullet points helps your reader “see” and “virtually experience” the value you bring to the position.

You can do this by implementing the following formula:

POWER VERB* + TASK/RESPONSIBILITIES + PURPOSE/METHOD/RESULT = STRONG BULLET POINTS

PURPOSE (why did you do the task?),

METHOD (how did you go about doing the task?), or

RESULT (what happened because you did it?)

HINT: You can include a combination of two of these add on items (for example: purpose and method) in a bullet point. You can even include all three (purpose, method and result)!

For a comprehensive list of power verbs check out the CCO Handbook

Formula Examples: POWER VERB + TASK + PURPOSE/METHOD/RESULT = STRONG BULLET POINTS

• Observed and analyzed students’ behavior to guide successful classroom instruction
• Performed gear mapping for transmissions to optimize shift patters, fuel economy and available power
• Collaborated with Purdue faculty to increase cultural self-education amongst minority students
• Ensured customer satisfaction by listening to orders and delivering product that fulfilled customer specifications
• Collected quantitative infrared imaging using a high- speed infrared camera
• Developed new ideas for Exelon’s eFin website which increased traffic flow by 20%
• Performed internal audits on 159 underwriting cases in 3 weeks improving efficiency according to the Audit Board
• Designed and implemented latches for condensation vents to reduce water leakage creating a safer work environment

Edit and Proofread

To help ensure that you present your best written resume to your audience, make sure you edit and proofread it. Below are suggested resources that can assist you:

RESUME REVIEW RESOURCES

• Read it backwards to catch spelling errors.
• Read it from top to bottom, left to right to catch awkward phrasing.
• Compare it to the position description, organization, and field to which you are applying. Have you neglected to include any pertinent information?
• Tell the person what you hope to achieve with the resume.
• Share the position description so that this person can assess how you “fit” the position.
• For a personalized review of your resume, please schedule an appointment through BoilerConnect.
• Examples : Check out the CCO Handbook for more tips and examples.
• UPKEY is an excellent tool for building your first resume. Upload your resume and receive tips on how to improve it.
• VMock is an excellent tool for continuing to refine your resume drafts. It will provide feedback on content and formatting.

Recognize that you own your resume. You know yourself and your experiences best so, while others may have suggestions, this document represents you and needs to sound like you.