Effective Resume Writing
Your resume should show a potential employer that you are qualified for a position by listing your relevant experiences, training, skills, and accomplishments. Since employers spend as little as 6 seconds on a resume, it is important that you make yours informative and memorable. Your resume should include the following:
Personal Information: Name, Phone, Email, Current address or permanent address if you might move before the employer can contact you.
Education: Degree & Concentration with month/year of graduation (or "expected graduation"), related coursework, research, class projects, or special courses.
Work Experience: Describe job duties in bullet points with skill/action words and metrics that highlight accomplishments. Volunteer positions or part-time jobs count as experience.
Thoughtfully craft description bullet points in this format: ACTION VERB + Situation + IMPACT
Activities: Professional Development, Community Service, Memberships, International Travel, etc. Highlight honors, leadership, school activities, volunteer, service, and relevant hobbies.
Skills: Emphasize skills, activities or interests that might appeal to your targeted employers. Include languages, platforms or programs you know (eg - Python, Excel, Slack, Tableau, MacOS, Microsoft, etc)
References: Prepare a separate document with reference information. Only provide reference if asked. Have the same header as your resume and cover letter. Always bring copies of your references (and resume, too!) to an interview just in case. Include at least 3: List name, job title, employer, address, phone number, and email. Always seek proposed reference permission first.
ATS - Applicant Tracking Systems: Many employers utilize ATS, which are software programs that employers often use during the recruitment and hiring process. This software collects, sorts and ranks the resumes the company receives for open roles. Make sure you have an ATS friendly resume, so you are not screened out!
Your resume should be consistent, easy to read, professional and legible, not distracting or decorative. Some of the best fonts for ATS-friendly resumes are Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Georgia, and Times New Roman. These fonts are widely recognized and compatible with most ATS systems.
The easiest format for an ATS to read is a one column, reverse-chronological style. This format emphasizes your work experience by putting it on top of the page. Then, it sorts your experience from most to least relevant. This format is also the most popular among recruiters.
List your skills in simple bullet points. Do not use tables or complex formatting.
Do not include information in a header or footer.
Work experience dates should be in a readable format.
No photos or graphics, or profile pictures (post a nice headshot on LinkedIn instead)!
CLICK ^ the resume image to Download
Six Seconds: Some employers spend as little as six second reviewing a resume.
So be concise, accurate, error free (spell check and proofread for typos, misplaced words, etc.), and make it easy for them to quickly get a sense of what you bring to the table.
One Page: Aim to keep your resume to one page in length.
If you have content for more pages, do the work and build a library of your experiences that you can pick and choose from when you are crafting a one page resume to submit for an internship or job. Tailor all of your bullet point descriptions to the job description of the position you are applying for!
