HOW TO WRITE A RESUME - YWCA

HOWTOWRITEARESUME

Ar?sum?isoneofthemostimportanttoolstoassistyouingettinganinterviewforajob.Itbringstogether youreducation,workexperience,interests,andskillsintoonecomprehensivebutbriefoutlineforthe employertoread.Ar?sum?shouldbeagoodreflectionofwhoyouare,sinceitisthefirstimpressiona potentialemployerhasofyou,sotakeyourtimewhenpreparingyourr?sum?. Writingar?sum?canbeaconfusingandlongprocess,butwiththerightguidelinesyoucancreatear?sum? thatdoeswhatitismadetodo:catchanemployer'seye.Itisimportanttothinkofyourr?sum?asyourown personalsalespitch.Askyourself,,Whyshouldhe/shehireme?Whenyouwriteyourr?sum?keepinmindall ofyourexperiences,education,andqualifications.Hereareafewguidelineswehopewillassistyouinthat process:

BasicElementsofaResume

Choosetheheadingsthatbestreflectyourexperience.Yourheadingsdonothavetocomedirectlyfromthis

list,asitisnotcomprehensive.

? HEADING

? HONORSANDAWARDS

? OBJECTIVE(optional)

? SKILLS/HIGHLIGHTS

? EDUCATION

? REFERENCES(onaseparatepage)

? EXPERIENCE

HEADING:Thissectionofar?sum?isoneofthemostimportant.Itshouldincludeyourname,address,email addressandphonenumber.MakesuretoletyournameSTANDOUTbyusingboldandenlargingthefontsizeof yourname.Useaprofessionalemailaddress(i.e.donotusecrzychick@,starwarsfan@,etc.) OBJECTIVE:Theobjectiveisaone-sentencedeclarationofthetypeofjobthatyouareseeking.Itappearsbeneath theheadingandisasspecificaspossible,notingthecompanyyouareapplyingto,thejobtitleyouareseekingand skillsyouwouldliketouseinthatjob.Thisshouldonlybeincludedifyoucanbespecificaboutthepositionyou areseeking.Otherwise,omitit. EDUCATION:Thissectionofar?sum?listsallthecollegesyouhavegraduatedfrom,alongwiththeiraddresses andanydegreesyouhaveearnedwiththedateyouattainedthem.Ifyouareintheprocessofattainingadegree, listtheexpecteddatethatyouwillreceiveit.Donotlistyourhighschoolunlessitisofimportancetotheemployer thatyouareapplyingto(i.e.applyingtobeateacheratthesamehighschoolyougraduatedfrom). EXPERIENCE:Anexperiencesectiononar?sum?canrefertopaidorunpaidjobsandshouldincludeyourjobtitle, thenameofyouremployer,cityandstate,followedbydatesofemployment.Next,summarizeyourcontributionto theposition,achievements,and/orresponsibilityassumed.Givenumberswhenapplicable.Makesuretouseaction verbstobeginyourstatements(seetheactionverblistinthisbooklet).Useapresentverbtenseonlywhen describingacurrentposition.Thisshouldnotbeajobdescription,butinsteadshouldillustrateyour accomplishmentsandresults. HONORS&AWARDS:Thisisanoptionalsectionofyourr?sum?andshouldincludescholarshipsandotherrelated honors.Thesecanbeschoolornon-schoolrelated.Makesuretoincludethedateyoureceivedthehonororaward. Forclarificationitmaybenecessarytogiveshortdescriptionsofthenatureorpurposeofsomeofthe organizations,awards,honorsocietiesorserviceorganizations.Onlyincludescholarshipsthatarebasedonmerit,not financialneed. SKILLS/HIGHLIGHTS:Inthissectionyoushouldinformthereaderofanyunique,relevantornecessaryskillsthat youhavebutarenotreflectedintheothersectionsofyourr?sum?.Forexample:foreignlanguages (conversational,fluent,andbilingual),computerapplications,certifications,etc.

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 REFERENCES:Thissectionshouldbeonaseparatesheetofpaperthatmatchesthefont/formatofyourresume andcoverletter.Theheadingonthispageshouldalsomatchyourresume.Youshouldalwayssecurethe permissionofanyoneyouchoosetouseasareferencebeforegivinghis/hername. Goodreferencesmightincludeprofessors,advisorsoremployers.Neveruserelativesforreferences.Giveacopyof yourresumetothesereferencessotheycanspeakhighlyofyourwhenyourpotentialemployersspeakwiththem. Employersmightaskyourreferencesquestionssuchas:"Howreliablewasthisindividual?""whatwasitliketo workwiththisindividual?",and"Whatkindofcontributionsdidthisindividualmakeinhis/herjob?"Besuretolist yourreferencesinorderofhowwelltheyknowyourqualificationsandincludetheirname,title,company,city, state,zip,phone,andemailaddressifappropriate.

TYPESOFRESUMES

CHRONOLOGICALRESUME:Thechronologicalresumelistsyourworkexperiencefromthemostrecent backwards.Thisisthesimplestofresumes,anditisausefulformatifusedproperly.Thisresumeformatis preferredbymostemployersandworksbestswhenyou'vehadalong,steadyworkhistoryandpromotionsthat youwanttoshowcase. FUNCTIONALRESUME:Thefunctionalresumeisarrangedaroundyourskillsandabilities.Forexample,ifyouare strongincommunicationskills,underthatmajorheadingyouwouldlistvarietyofsupportiveexperiencesfrom differentjobs,schoolorvolunteersituations.Thisformatissometimesusedbythosewithlittleornowork experience,orthosewhoarecareerchangers. COMBINATIONRESUME:Thecombinationresumecombineselementsofchronologicalandfunctionalresumeto improvetheclarityorpresentationofaresume.Forexample,ifyouhaveagoodworkhistorythatsupportsyour currentjobobjective,youcouldstartwithaskillssectionthatsupportstheskillsneededinthejobyouwant,then includeashorterworkexperience.

RESUMELANGUAGE,FORMATTING,ANDTIPS

Resumelanguageisdistinctinthatitutilizesactionverbsandisverydirect.Remember,youaretryingto communicateallyourbestsellingattributesinasmallsspace.Usepowerfulwordstotryandaccuratelyreflectthe assetsthatyouwouldbringtoajob.Whenformatting,rememberthereisnooneabsoluteformat.Createaformat thatbestrepresentyou.Afewformattingrulesapply:

? Marginscanbeassmallas.5inches ? Fontcanbe10ptifnecessary ? Yourshouldalwaysincludeacoverletterwithyourresume ? Donotusetheword"I" ? Usefewabbreviations ? Douscapitalizationtohighlightjobtitles ? Dousebulletpointstoemphasizejobdescriptions ? Alwaysuseactionverbsinjobdescription

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11SIGNSOFAGREATRESUME

1.TARGETED:Employerswanttoknowexactlywhatyoucandoforthem.Wheneverpossible,targeteachresumeto

eachjob.Vagueandgeneralresumesthatcovermanypossiblejoboptionswillnotgetnoticed.Whileyoumayqualify forseveraldifferentpositions,itisbettertocreateadifferentresumeforeachjobandincorporateonlytheinformation pertinenttothatjobdescription.Thiswillalleviatethetendencytocrowdyourresumewithtoomuchnon-related

information. 2.CONSISTENT:Thisisimportantwhensendingapaperversionofyourresumetoemployers.Thelookofyour

resumeshouldbeeyecatching,notdistracting.Beconsistentwithspacingandmargins,allowforlotsofwhitespaceand borders,andemphasizeyourimportantpointswithfontandtextstylessuchas:italics,capitals,underlining,boldface,

indention,andbullets.

3.WELLWRITTEN:Descriptiveactionverbs-suchasestablished,implemented,created,andstreamlined-addpower

toyoursentences.Itiscrucialtostarteachsentencewithanactionverb(refertothelistofclusterworks.)

4.CONCISE:Employersscanresumesanddecideinlessthan30secondsiftheywanttolookmorecloselyatwhatyou

offer.Editwithcareanddeleteinformationthatisn'trelevant.Ifyouaresubmittingapaperversion,one-pageresumes workbest.

5.SUMMARIZEDQUALIFICATIONS:Thisisoneofthemostimportantpartsofyourresume.The"JobObjective"

or"SummaryofQualifications"sectionpowerfullyillustratesyourtopsellingpoints.Thisisanidealwaytogetnoticed-

fast.

6.SELFPROMOTING:Makesuretoshowyouraccomplishments,skills,andabilities.Employerswanttoseeproof

thatyoucandothejob.Besuretodemonstratetheresultofyourexperienceandhowothersbenefitedfromthese results.Youcaneffectivelyachievethisbyincludingevidenceofyourproductivitybynotinganycostortimesavings,

andmentioninginnovations,changes,oractionsthatshowyouproducedresults.

7.ACCURATE:Listyourskills,qualifications,andexperiencesinaspositiveamanneraspossible-butdonot

exaggerateormisstatethetruth.Besureyourjobresponsibilitiesareadequatelydescribedbyyourjobtitle,and indicatethetruelevelofyourabilities.Exaggeratingyourskillswillnotdoyouanygood!

8..ABBREVIATIONFREE:Avoidabbreviatedwordsonyourresume.Itlookssloppyandmanyabbreviationsarenot universallyaccepted.

9.NOPERSONALINFORMATION:Includinganypersonaldatasuchasageorheight,isseenasunprofessional. Employersmustbecarefulnottoviolateanydiscriminationlays,andmostorganizationspreferthatyoudon'tincludeit.

10.GRAMATICALLYCORRECT:Reviewyourresumeandhavesomeoneelsereadyourresumeaswell.Thisisthe

singlemostimportantthingyoucandoonceyouhavewrittenyourresume.Mistakesofanykindareextremely annoyingtoemployersandalsothefastestwaytogetyourresumeintotherejectionpile.Spellingmistakesandtypos

suggestthepoorqualityofworktheycanexpectfromyou.

11.GOODPAPER:Ifyouaresubmittingapaperversionofyourresume,useacomputerandprintitwithalaser

printertogiveitasharp,professionallook.Conservativewhite,lighttan,orlightgrayaregenerallyacceptablecolors. Darkorcreativecolorsareacceptableonlyforartisticresumes(i.e.graphicdesignareas).Also,neversendoutaresume

thatisobviouslyacopy

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CHRONOLOGICALRESUMESAMPLE

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FUNCTIONALRESUMESAMPLE

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COVERLETTERSAMPLE

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REFERENCESHEETSAMPLE

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SAMPLESOFACTIONVERBSTHATDESCRIBEYOURFUNCTIONALSKILLS

Abstracted Achieved Acquired Acted Adapted Addressed Advertised Advised Advocated Aided Answered Anticipated Applied Approved Arranged Ascertained Assembled Assessed Assisted Attained Audited Augmented Authored Bolstered Briefed Brought Budgeted Built Calculated Cared Charged Chartered Checked Clarified Classified Coached Collaborated Collected Comforted Communicated Compared Completed

Complied Composed Computed Conceived Conducted Conserved Consulted Contributed Contracted Converted Coordinated Copied Correlated Counseled Created Critiqued Cultivated Dealt Debated Defined Delivered Designed Detected Determined Developed Devised Diagnosed Directed Discovered Discriminated Dispatched Displayed Dissected Documented Drafted Drove Edited Eliminated Empathized Enabled Enforced Enlightened

Enlisted Ensured Established Estimated Evaluated Examined Exceeded Excelled Expanded Expedited Experimented Explained Explored Expressed Extracted Facilitated Fashioned Financed Fixed Followed Formulated Fostered Founded Gained Gathered Gave Generated Governed Guided Handled Headed Helped Identified Illustrated Imagined Implemented Improved Improvised Inaugurated Increased Indexed Indicated

Influenced Initiated Inspected Instituted Integrated Interpreted Interviewed Introduced Invented Inventoried Investigated Judged Kept Launched Learned Lectured Led Lifted Listened Located Logged Made Maintained Managed Mapped Maximized Mediated Memorized Mentored Met Minimized Modeled Modified Monitored Narrated Observed Obtained Offered Operated Ordered Organized Originated

Overcame Oversaw Participated Perceived Perfected Performed Persuaded Planned Practiced Prepared Presented Prioritized Produced Programmed Projected Promoted Proposed Protected Proved Provided Publicized Published Queried Questioned Raised Ran Ranked Rationalized Read Reasoned Recorded Received Reduced Referred Related Relied Reported Researched Responded Resorted Revamped Reviewed

Scanned Scheduled Schemed Screened SetGoals Shaped Skilled Solicited Solved Specialized Spoke Stimulated Strategized Streamlined Strengthened Stressed Studied Substantiated Succeeded Summarized Synthesized Supervised Supported Surveyed Sustained Symbolized Tabulated Talked Taught Theorized Trained Translated Upgraded Utilized Validated Verified Visualized Won Wrote

EXAMPLESOFADAPTIVESKILLWORDSTHATDESCRIBEYOURPERSONALTRAITS

Active Adaptable Adept Aggressive Analytical Assertive Broad-Minded Committed Competent Conscientious Cooperative

Creative Dedicated Dependable Determined Diligent Diplomatic Disciplined Discreet Effective Efficient Energetic

Enterprising Enthusiastic Exceptional Experienced Fair Familiar Firm Forceful Honest Independent Innovative

Instrumental Keen Logical Loyal Mature Methodical Objective OpenMinded Outgoing Personable Pleasant

Poised Positive Practical Productive Receptive Reliable Resilient Resourceful Self-Confident Self-Motivated Self-Reliant

Sensitive Sharp Sincere Strong Successful Tactful Tenacious Well-Organized

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