Writing a Resume
Working to support our military veterans in cooperation with Accenture
Published May 19, 2014
Resume overview
A resume is your introduction to a potential employer. Use this tool correctly and you’ll market
your work, education and skills in a succinct and impactful way. This information will guide you
through the following components of a well-structured resume that will stand out from the
crowd.
Your resume has one purpose:
•
It markets you to a prospective employer:
‒ Your resume provides the first impression to a
potential employer.
‒ It’s the vehicle used to get your foot in the door.
Your resume should:
•
Be general enough that you can send it anywhere:
‒ Slant it toward specific positions, as needed.
‒ Add additional information relevant to specific roles.
•
•
Highlight your accomplishments; it should not be a list of job duties.
Provide a one-to-two page representation of you and your professional skills.
Note: Your resume is not your autobiography or a confessional, so don’t feel you need to tell
all. Be honest, but only include information that is marketable and relevant.
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Writing your resume
What to include in a resume:
•
•
•
•
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Header and contact information
- Full, legal name
- Mailing address and telephone number
- Email address
Objective statement
- Use concise, reasonable statements.
- Tie objective statement to job
- Change objective statement on each
resume
Education and skills
- Include education background
- Specify key skills that fit
Work/professional experience
- List most recent work experience first
- Company/organization name and
location
- Position held
- Dates of employment (including month
and years)
- Major responsibilities or
accomplishments held at each position
Any relevant extra curricular activities
Guidelines:
•
Use a neat format — be organized,
descriptive and brief.
•
Print your resume on white paper with black
ink — this is the easiest to read.
•
Run spellcheck and proofread several times.
Have someone else proofread it too.
•
Have your resume reviewed by a mentor.
•
Do not use personal pronouns (I, We) or
your name in the work/professional
experience section of the resume.
•
Use past tense to describe your relevant
experiences, unless you are still in the role.
•
Be honest in employment history and dates.
If applicable, show gaps in employment.
•
Do not use graphics or include very personal
data.
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Formatting your resume
Your resume should be formatted in a clear and uniform way. Here are some tips to
think about when formatting your resume:
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Bold and enlarge your name at the top.
•
Use Arial or Times New Roman font.
•
Use font size no smaller than 11pt or larger
than 12pt except for your name and heading.
•
Don’t use italics, underlining, shadow or any
other fancy treatments
•
Keep your resume to one-to-two pages.
•
For a two-page resume, be sure to:
- Fill the second page at least halfway.
- Place Continued at the bottom of page 1
and your name and Page 2 at the top of
page 2.
Note: There are multiple resources available to help you input your information and build your
resume, such as Hire Our Heroes at http://www.hiringourheroes.org/.
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Components of a resume
Your resume should contain:
Objective —
specifies your
employment
goals
Education —
highlights
where you
received your
education, the
time attended
and applicable
coursework
Header —
includes your
name, address
and contact
information
Experience —
showcases your
work history
from most
recent to least
recent
Skills —
lists your
capabilities that
are applicable
to the job or
unique
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Components of a resume: Header
The header of your resume contains your name, contact information and current
address. Although this information might seem simple to complete, we will review
the following tips that will help you present this information in a clear and concise
manner:
•
Name: Your name should appear at the top of the
page and be emphasized by a larger, bold font.
•
Address: This should be your current address and
should reflect from where you will be commuting to
work.
•
Phone Number: If you have more than one phone
number— for example, work, cell and home — you
should indicate which type corresponds with which
phone number. Also ensure your voicemail contains
your name and sounds professional.
•
Email: This should be the email you check most
frequently, and it should sound professional in nature.
A combination of your first name.last
name@email.com is a safe bet. Avoid email
addresses such as GoofyGuy182@email.
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Components of a resume: Objective
Your objective statement informs a prospective employer of your goal in your career
search. To make this section short yet impactful, you should:
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Emphasize your goals and qualifications:
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Relate your goals to the company’s goals:
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Express how you can help the company.
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Explain how your goals will help the company
meet its goals.
Be as specific as possible:
-
•
Think about what makes you unique or
appealing to a potential employer.
Include the company’s name, the position and
why you’re qualified.
Be concise:
-
Limit the objective statement to one or two
sentences.
-
Keep this section should as more of a tag line
than a paragraph.
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Components of a resume: Experience
The majority of your resume will be populated by your experience. In this section,
you will showcase to employers why you are qualified for the role and how you can
benefit the company. The following information should be included here:
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Professional/military experience:
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Name and location of the company or organization
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Your title, role and responsibilities within the
organization — including a description of daily tasks
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The date when you began and ended each role at
each level
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All major accomplishments within each role — this can
include medals awarded and personal or team
recognition
Volunteer experience: Provide the same
information for a volunteer role as you would any
professional experience.
Note: You should begin the description of each responsibility with an action verb. For more
information on action verbs, refer to the Resume Writing Quick Reference Card (QRC).
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Components of a resume: Education
In addition to your experiences, a resume should also inform a potential employer
about any higher education or applicable training you have received. Information to
provide here includes:
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Any course work completed at a university or
college:
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Include the full name, location and dates attended for
each university or college.
-
Indicate when you graduated and what degree you hold,
if applicable.
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Specify any course work related to the job.
Any applicable training or certifications:
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Only include training that is applicable to the job. For
example, if you attended military dive school, it may not
be applicable when applying for an IT position.
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Describe the type of work the certification or training
allows you to do.
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Specify when you received your certification or training
and when it expires.
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Components of a resume: Skills
The skills section of your resume allows you to showcase abilities you possess that
are not apparent in your experience or education sections. Your skills should appear
as a bulleted list and include:
•
Technical abilities:
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•
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Be sure to list any computer skills, including
experience in Microsoft Office.
Language capabilities:
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Make sure to indicate your level of
comprehension for each language.
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Indicate the last date you used each language.
Functional knowledge:
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This would include any industry-specific
knowledge or talents.
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Also list skills such as motivational speaking and
presentation, if applicable.
Note: You should quantify your comprehension of your provided skills. Typically, descriptions
like basic, intermediate, advanced and professional are used to quantify skill level.
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Final tips
Your resume introduces you to hiring managers and recruiters. It is important to
remember these points when creating your resume:
• The purpose of a resume is to create a strong first impression by presenting your
applicable skills.
• Be consistent in the formatting of your resume. Use an easy-to-read font, such as Arial,
Calibri or New Times Roman. Your font size should be between 11pt and 12pt
throughout the body, with a larger font or bolding used to call out your header.
• It is important to update your resume for each role and company you apply. Target each
individual role’s needs when highlighting your skills and experiences.
• Highlight your strengths and skills. You should quantify your expertise in any technical
or language skills by identifying if your understanding is basic, intermediate, advanced
or professional.
• Do not use graphics or include very personal information in your resume. Present your
experiences, education and skills in a concise and professional manner.
• Utilize spell check and have your resume checked by a friend or mentor before
submitting to a business.
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