• what categories belong in effective resumes
• that different resume formats serve different purposes
• the differences between good and bad resumes
• how to write an effective resume

You will need a well-written resume (pronounced "resuMAY") to be successful in your job search. A resume is a one or two page document that advertises YOU as a potential employee and that helps attract the interest of an employer. Your resume should accentuate your skills, experiences, education, and talents, promoting you as a special and noteworthy job candidate. Your resume can be attached to an application form, or it can be sent or dropped off with a cover letter.

Note: A resume is sometimes called a C.V. (for Curriculum Vitae, meaning "Course of Life")

The hardest part of writing a resume can be getting started. One method is to set a clear goal or career objective or job objective in the short term if you are a student, and make sure your resume reflects that objective. You don't necessarily have to state your objective on your resume, but write a summary statement to show how the particular job matches your career goals.

When writing your resume, remember to:

• Be truthful. State your abilities accurately.
• Target your audience. Highlight skills and activities relevant to the job.
• Keep it brief. Limit your resume to one or two pages, and use fewer words for scannability.
• Write and rewrite. Plan to write several versions of your resume before it feels right.
• Be professional. Print your resume on high-grade paper using a quality printer.
• Be accurate. Proofread your resume (and have a friend do the same) for any errors.
• Follow up. Call or send a letter to the employer to restate your interest in the position.

The first thing to do before you start writing your resume is to gather the information.

Consider following categories for gathering information:

 

1. Work Experience

Review all your work experience, from baby-sitting for the neighbors to planning the marketing budget for a Fortune 500 company. Remember, everything counts, whether it was part-time or full-time employment.

Responsibilities
Work on a brief description of your responsibilities, but don’t go into too much details – just consider your major functions and duties for each position. For example, if you’re a sales manager applying with a new company, your prospective employer will be interested in knowing:

• How many people your supervised.
• If you managed a budget and, if so, its size.
• How much revenue you were responsible for.
• The size of your sales territory.

All of this information gives employers and idea of the responsibilities you can handle.

Accomplishments
State your accomplishments in specific terms. What did you do on that job, and what were the results? Did you increase profits? Did you solve the problem? Did you exceed a goal? Did you improve product performance? Did you improve productivity or efficiency?

If you are having trouble identifying specific individual accomplishments, consider department or company-wide projects. Did your group supply the financial statistics that helped the research department determine whether the project would be a GO? Did you serve on the team that evaluated your company’s current compute system? Perhaps you found upgrading the systems would provide needed services and the company wouldn’t have to buy a whole new system. Did your evaluation save the company money?

Also consider any work-related award that might reflect your accomplishments. Did you win an employee achievement award and similar others.

 

2. Volunteer Experience

You don’t have to be paid for your work for it to provide valuable experience. For example, were you the president of the Parent/Teacher Organization or band boosters last year? Did you plan and lead meetings? Did you organize and supervise the annual carnival fundraiser? Did you coordinate 20-some volunteers? Did you secure sponsors to help defray costs? Did your fundraiser see a profit? Sounds like some pretty good resume material.

If you have little or no paid work experience, or if you’ve been out of the job market and are preparing to reenter, your volunteer service translates well into work experience and should be included on your resume, along with any of your accomplishments with those organizations. Be sure to write down the name of the organization, your volunteer service dates and your specific duties.

For example, did your campaign drive for the women’s symphony unit increase membership? How much? Did you serve on the committee that designed a community program on developing good parenting skills?
Then your entry might read:

• Recommended and organized new women’s symphony unit membership drive, which increase membership by 30%.
• Designed, coordinated and presented Developing Parenting Skills program to fill a community need. Program has evolved into 200 volunteers and nearly 700 participants and earned state and country welfare awards.

Don’t discount any contribution you may have made, even if you weren’t in a leadership role. Employers want to hire productive people. Your volunteer service will show that you are an active person and enhance your chances of landing in the interview.

 

3. Education Details

For the most part, the educational listing is fairly brief. You’ll want to include the name and location of the school, date of graduation and your degree or major area of study. Id you didn’t graduate, note the years you attended the school and the type of courses you completed. If you are a recent highs school, trade school or college graduate, you may want to list a few of the courses you completed, especially if you have little or not paid or volunteer experience.

Also, if you are short on work experience, play up your school activities and educational accomplishments. You may also want to note special circumstances, such as achieving a high GPA while working or playing a sport. This proves you are a hard worker and take your education seriously, and shows employers you’d be a productive employee.

GPA, Graduating with Honors
If you have been employed for several years, your high school and college grades really are insignificant to a prospective employer. After 10 or 20 years in the work force, your experience and accomplishments should speak for themselves and prove you’re productive and intelligent.

However, if you’re recently out of school/college and your grades are good, feel free to include them in the educational section. Be sure to include to scale on the GPA was registered. If you graduated with honors, mention it in your degree listing.

Internship and Co-op Work
Definitely include any internship, whether for pay, class credit or volunteer experience. Many students complete co-op work experience while still in college, include them here or in experience section.

4. Certification, Licensing and Special Skills/Training

Its important to list any certifications and licenses to show the employer you’re trained for the job, especially if you are in a skilled trade, such as airline mechanic or a dental assistant.

You also might want to mention any on-the-job or special job-related training you have received, such as completing a computer course. However, there is no need to mention professional or personal development seminars, such as those that explain effect team-building techniques or how to enhance your self-esteem.

 

5. Military Experience

Don’t forget to profile your military experience, if you have any. Your special training and accomplishments are valuable, especially if they relate directly to your chosen civilian career. Bu sure to list the following information for each tour of duty:

• Branch
• Rank
• Dates of service
• Duties
• Special skills learned
• Accomplishments (like awards, citations and medals)

 

6. Memberships and Activities

Here is your chance to list any memberships and activities you have already covered under work experience section of your resume. In addition, if you have several professional and/or social memberships, don’t try to include all of them. Just focus on the ones you think would show a benefit to an employer and those that are related to your career. Your activities will show that you are a well-rounded person with interests outside of work. In addition listing a few of your activities reflects your ability to manage a busy schedule.

Your listings in this section should be current and brief. Just include the name of the organization and any leadership positions you hold. Examples:

• Treasurer, Lion’s Club
• President, Board of Directors, ABC Theater

 

7. Awards and Honours

For the most part, you have probably detailed any work-related awards or volunteer honours as accomplishments in the work experience section of you resume. However, if you have received an award that you think the employer will view as a benefit, list it here. Though remember that employers only take about 30 seconds to review your resume, and may never even get to this section. If the honor is really important, you probably should move it to either work experience or volunteer experience section of your resume where it is more likely to get noticed.

Chronological Resumes Chronological resumes present information in a timeline approach. Typically, the most recent work or educational experience is listed first, followed by the next most recent.

 

This is the most common type of resume. It illustrates how you have made progress towards your career objective through your employment history. This type of resume is best if you have demonstrated experience within your desired career field. It highlights the positions you have held and the companies for which you have worked.

 

Advantages: Many employers and recruiters expect and prefer this format Employers can easily scan chronological resumes Provides a straightforward history of your work experiences

Disadvantages: Can demonstrate a lack of work experience Will show any gaps in employment history Employers can guess your age if you include older experiences

 

Combination Resumes Combination resumes merge the chronological and functional styles. They present the knowledge, skills and abilities gained from work in a reverse-chronological order.

 

This resume type highlights your skills and experiences. The combination type of resume is best if you: Wish to include volunteer or internship experience Have a varied employment history Are changing careers

 

Advantages: Provides employers with the expected chronological format Highlights your skills

Disadvantages: Can be repetitious if similar functions or skills are utilized in different positions May be longer than the chronological and functional formats

SAMPLES

**American or Canadian, please note that the style of the resume is the same. Don't forget references. You include references on your resume so that the potential employer doesn't have to call you for your references.

 

Leila Charuth-Bell
15 Carlosa Ave., Ottawa
Ontario, Canada, K5G 0Y9
(613) 825-5876 -- leila@internet.com

 

 

BORN:
September 21, 1986, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.

 

EDUCATION:
Public School: Briargreen P.S., Ottawa, 1990 to 1998.

Middle School: Greenbank M.S., Ottawa, 1999 to 2000 (French immersion).

Secondary School: Sir Robert Borden S.S., Ottawa, 2000 to 2004 (French immersion).

 

EXPERIENCE:
Child Care: Have been babysitting children of all ages on a regular basis since 1999 in both the Ottawa and Montreal areas.

Travel: Have traveled internationally on a regular basis since I was an infant. Since 1998 I have journeyed unescorted each summer to and from India to visit relatives. Regularly travel unescorted by bus on weekends to/from Montreal to visit my Father.

Study Trip: In February 2003, participated with two teachers and 15 classmates in an eight-day "eco-excursion" to the tropical island, Belize.

Business: Since 1999 I have assisted my Father with various aspects of his business in Montreal, including marketing, bookkeeping, and financial management activities.

Retail: In 2000 and 2001, I worked as a sales representative for Tommy & Lefebvre Ltd., a local sporting goods and equipment store.

Volunteering: Two years as Camp Counselor for three weeks at Pinecrest Sports Day Camp (Ottawa) working with children from 4-years to 12-years old.

 

ACHIEVEMENTS:
Public Speaking Award: Briargreen P.S., 1999.

Graduating Class Valedictorian: Briargreen P.S., 1999.

Piano: Grade Four Royal Conservatory, 2000, 2003.

Track and Field: Competed successfully in preliminary meets and qualified for the Eastern Ontario finals.

Academic Honor Roll: Sir Robert Borden S.S., 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03.

 

INTERESTS:
Long-distance running, playing piano, roller-blading, travelling, creative writing, reading, viewing films.

 

LANGUAGES:
English is my first language. Am functional in speaking, reading, and writing French.

 

 

 

FirstName LastName
6 Pine Street, Arlington, VA 12333
home: 555.555.5555
cell: 566.486.2222
email: phjones@vacapp.com

Education

Arlington High School, Arlington, Virginia
2002 – 2006

Experience

Sales Associate, The Retail Store
June 2005 – Present
• Maintain and restock inventory.
• Provide customer service.
• Operate computerized cash register system.

Child Care
2002 - Present
• Provide child care for several families after school, weekends and during school vacations.

Achievements

 

• National Honor Society: 2004, 2005, 2006

• Academic Honor Roll: 2002 - 2006  

Volunteer Experience

• Big Brother / Big Sisters
• Arlington Literacy Program
• Run for Life

Interests / Activities

• Member of Arlington High School Tennis Team
• Girl Scout
• Piano

Computer Skills

• Proficient with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and Internet

PLEASE NOTE:

There are great templates for writing resumes in Google Drive.  If you click on start a new DOCUMENT, you can then click in the blue DOCS HOME.  From there, you can click on TEMPLATE GALLERY.