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Work Experience Section:
- Include job title, company name, employment dates (month & year started – month & year ended), and a description of your most essential job duties.
- List positions in chronological order with your most recent job position first.
- Use bullets to describe skills, accomplishments, and results
- Start every bullet with a strong action verb (Ex: Coordinated, Administered, Planned, Organized, Developed, Reviewed, Supervised, Implemented, Prepared, Processed, Facilitated, Collaborated, Edited, Promoted, Formulated, Assessed, Assisted, Founded, Customized, Created, Initiated, Integrated, Analyzed, Researched, Maintained, Operated, Trained, Hosted, Designed)
- Include skills you have developed in your job descriptions (Ex: Customer Service, Communication, Time Management, Research, Data Entry, Administrative, Management, Team Work, Technical, Marketing, Multi-Tasking)
Education & Organizations Sections
- Most recent educational institute would suffice, but if you are in college or have already completed your undergrad, you can list both High School and University if you’d like.
- Include your major and minor/concentration/certificate under the heading
- Include GPA only if your GPA was a 3.0 or above. Also, only include your average overall GPA rounded to one or two decimal point(s).
- Include graduation month/year, or “present” if you are still attending
- You can include relevant coursework if you’d like, but it’s best to only list the most recent/important ones relevant to your concentration. This can help if applying to jobs that requires specific experience for the position (Ex: If the job you are applying for is in the Technical Industry, listing the Computer Science course you took would be a good idea).
- You can either create a separate section for the student organizations you were involved in, or a separate section for Organizations if you were involved in multiple organizations, especially if you held any leadership/officer positions.
- Include Leadership Title (if any), any major projects you accomplished, and key highlights about your activities.
Volunteer and Skills Sections
- List any paid or unpaid volunteer experiences and programs you participated in with dates/terms
- Under Skills section, list any software, hardware, or languages you are proficient in
- List any other certificates, honors & awards, recognitions
- Include concrete examples of your abilities, and any other work you’ve done that isn’t mentioned in the previous sections (Ex: Any tutoring/mentoring, publications, professional presentations, conference attendance, and research/lab skills)
Do’s and Dont’s
- Create a tailored resume for each position, with a summary describing how you would be the best fit for the job in the objective section (which should be your first heading title)
- Be clear and concise (resumes are typically 1-2 pages, and 3 pages max; CV’s on the other hand, are normally longer)
- Get feedback on your resume from a career counselor or other professionals
- Use consistent formatting (same font/size for each heading, and each description, and so on)
- Be authentic in your representation of your skills, experiences, and accomplishments
- Don’t include personal identifying information (such as race, marital status, age, birthday, etc)
- Use general phrases, instead of full sentences (except in the objective section) in your descriptions.
- Make it visually appealing, with a nice-looking template but don’t get too fancy with it because it will detract from the professionalism. Your resume is not a place to showcase your creative talents!
- Make headings bold or caps, and slightly larger font so that each section is clearly distinguishable
- Make sure to vary your use of action verbs, instead of using the same ones over and over for each section description. If the above action verbs don’t suite your needs, there are plenty of others to choose from if you do a simple google search.
- Including skills developed is actually one of the most important elements on your resume, so don’t leave it out!
Here is a list of some common questions I have answered:
Read Pouyan Yazdian‘s answer to Is referencing relevant coursework on a resume good or bad? on Quora
Is referencing relevant coursework on a resume good or bad?
It really depends on the content of your overall resume. For example, if you are still in college and haven’t graduated yet, you can include some of the upper division coursework of your major, but if you have a lot of work experience, volunteering, participation in organizations, etc. then leaving it out of the resume would be better. It also depends on the job you are applying for. For example, if the job position has a preference for research experience, you can reference your “Research Methods” course as proof that you have the necessary skills for the job.
Read Pouyan Yazdian‘s answer to Do resume bullet points need periods? on Quora
Do resume bullet points need periods?
No, for bullet points on a resume: it’s best not to write complete sentences that would even require periods. It’s also best to start each bullet point with a strong action verb. For example:
- Developed…
- Planned…
- Organized…
Read Pouyan Yazdian‘s answer to How do you put social media links on your resume? on Quora
How do you put social media links on your resume?
It’s best not to include social media links on your resume, except for your LinkedIn Profile and/or your own website if it is professional and related to the job you are applying for.
Read Pouyan Yazdian‘s answer to How do you describe clerical on a resume? on Quora
How do you describe clerical on a resume?
A more professional term for it would be administrative work. You can list some of the job duties such as: Filing and maintaining confidential paperwork, Answering and directing phone calls, Printing and faxing, Handling mail and deliveries, and any other duties specific to that company’s clerical job position.
Read Pouyan Yazdian‘s answer to Would you put mentorship on your resume? on Quora
Would you put mentorship on your resume?
Yes, definitely. It highlights your leadership skills. Make sure to specify what field you were mentoring in, because it will give employers the impression that you are an expert in this area. Also, remember to mention through which school, organization, or program you were mentoring in.
Read Pouyan Yazdian‘s answer to Should one list projects in a résumé by latest first or oldest first? on Quora
Should one list projects in a resume by latest first or oldest first?
Best practice for resumes is to always list your most recent activities/projects first, and keep them in chronological order (by date) with the oldest as your last one on the list. This goes for other sections on the resume as well.
