Resume Writing Guide

Before You Start

Before you write, take time to do a self-assessment. Write everything down. Outline your skills and abilities as well as your work experience and extracurricular activities. This will make it easier to prepare an effective resume. Also, choose a target job. An actual job title works best. This helps you focus on your resume content.

Essential Resume Content

• Name, address, telephone, e-mail address
• All your contact information should go at the top of your resume
• Use a permanent address
• Use a permanent telephone number and include the area code
• If you have an answering machine, make sure the message is appropriate for all callers
• Add your e-mail address (Make sure you choose an e-mail address that sounds professional. Not something like hotlips_2003@hotmail.com)

Highlight Your Qualifications

List at least 4 of your strongest skills or abilities or knowledge that make you a good candidate for the target job. For each key skill, think of several accomplishments from your past work history that illustrate that skill. If you have a limited employment history, you may use some of your soft skills as qualifications (ie. Communication Skills, Organizational Skills, Reliable, Dependable, etc.) Tailor your Highlights of Qualifications section to each employer you target.

Education

Recent graduates without a lot of work experience should list their educational information first. High School students could mention names of courses if they would be beneficial to the job they are applying for. (ie. A Home Economics course could be mentioned for a restaurant position, Accounting/Computers would be good for an office position, etc.) If you are a university student, include the name, location and specialization of your degree. Always mention if you received honors.

Employment History

Without going into too much detail, give the employer an overview of work that has provided you with skills. Use action words to describe your job duties (Words that end with –ed). Include your work experience in reverse chronological order, that is, put your most recent job first and work backward to your first, relevant job.

Include in your Employment History section:

• Title of position
• Name of organization
• Location of work (city, province)
• Dates of employment
• Describe your work responsibilities with emphasis on specific skills and achievements

Again, if you have limited employment history you may use babysitting jobs or odd jobs; such as mowing lawns, yard work, painting, etc. Remember, every thing that felt like work probably was, especially if you were paid for it.

References

Always ask people if they are willing to be your reference before you give their names to a potential employer. Do not include your reference information on your resume. You may note at the bottom of your resume: References available upon request.

Check for Errors

• Run a spell check on your computer before anyone sees your resume
• Get a family member or friend to do a grammar review
• Ask another friend to proofread. This is a good way to rid the document of grammar and spelling mistakes that your word processor wouldn't pick up.
• Errors are cause for immediate resume dismissal, BE THOUROUGH!

Lay Out Tips

VERY IMPORTANT: Do not fold, crinkle, or keep your resume in your pocket, always use a folder or envelope to carry it. No fancy paper, use only white or off-white paper, thick paper is fine.

• Use 8-1/2- x 11-inch paper
• Print only on one side of the paper
• Use a font size of 10 to 12 pt. No smaller or bigger
• If you must mail your resume, put it in a large envelope

Our Resume Kit walks you through this process of putting together and organizing the necessary information. Simply download the kit, print it off, and fill it out.

The download requires Adobe Acrobat. If you do not already have Acrobat, click on the logo below to download a free copy.