RESUME
TECHNIQUES
Sacramento City College
Career Center
Rodda North Rm. 147
M-F 8:30AM-5:00PM
(916) 558-2384
Resumes
What is a Resume?
A resume is a brief document that markets your unique skills, education, work
experience, and achievements. This is your introduction to the employer and may be the
“door – opener” to an interview. There is no “one way” to write a resume, so do not be
confused by the variety of versions offered. Employers prefer to review resumes that are
“reader friendly”, brief, organized and TYPED. It is strongly suggested that you follow
the “the basics” and the “writing tips” below when preparing your resume.
The Basics
Write it yourself (It’s OK to get assistance, but you know yourself best).
Keep it reader friendly.
Be brief, specific, and relevant.
100% Honesty is a must.
Be UNIQUE….there is NO one precise way to write a resume!
Gather your employment, education and training history information (dates,
Company names, school names, duties, etc.) before you sit down to write your
resume. This will save you time and frustration in putting your resume together.
6. Make it error – free….proofread, proofread, proofread!
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Writing Tips
1 - Inch margin all around
Length – 1 to 2 pages (Be detailed, but brief)
Font size - 10, 11, or 12 (Recommended use – not more than 2 font sizes throughout
resume)
Font style – Times New Roman/Arial
Font color – always use black
Paper color – white, grey, ivory
Paper – 24lb resume paper (a heavier weight than standard bond paper)
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Essential components of reader friendly resume include:
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Attractiveness – It should be neat, concise, organized and free of too much white
paper space. Market yourself with a professional appearance.
Clearly defined objective – An objective should be a concise statement that
summarizes what position you are applying for, with whom, at what level and
where. A clearly defined objective also conveys the type of work you are seeking
and demonstrates to the employer that you are focused.
PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD, AND PROOFREAD! Your resume should be
grammatically correct and free from misspelled words.
Relates to the job – Does your work experience, skills, education, and
accomplishments directly relate to the job you are applying for? List skills
relating to the job on order of importance.
Highlights your background – Make sure you have demonstrated your skills,
work strengths, and highlighted your academic, work, and community
achievements. Use adjectives, action verbs, numbers and percentages to highlight
your background.
It’s also important to know what doesn’t work. Here are some things to avoid when
writing you resume:
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Information that is not relevant to the job, i.e. age, martial status, religion.
Excessive wordiness, unclear statements, and rambling. Relevant skills should not
be hard to find.
Layout is difficult to read; jumps around too much, and font is too small to read.
Lacks performance results; achievements.
Dishonesty! All information must be accurate and honest.
Negative statements regarding work history, experience, supervisors, co –
workers, or being fired. These statements do not need to be mentioned.
4 Types of Resumes
Choose the format that best fits your experiences, skills and abilities.
1. Chronological – Most frequently used, lists work history by date, and good for
highlighting work stability (no gaps in time) and promotions; good if you are staying
in the same field.
2. Functional – Emphasizes skills, knowledge, and achievements. Best utilized for
minimizing gaps in time and making career changes.
3. Combination – Presents your knowledge, skills and abilities gained from work, in
a reverse – chronological order. Highlights your skills and experiences. Best utilized
for resumes including volunteer or internship experience; have a varied employment
history; and are changing careers.
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4. Curricula Vitae (CV’s) – Least commonly used and only utilized in certain
positions and industries such as higher education,
science and medicine. CV’s provide a detailed
statement of your qualifications.
*Commonly used in international employment.
All resumes may include the following information:
Personal Information
The only required information is your name, address, telephone number and an email
address is helpful if you have one. Make sure your contact information is always updated
so that the employer will be able to contact you if needed. If you add your email address,
keep it professional. Remember, this may be your first impression to an employer and an
inappropriate or “non – professional” email may close the door.
Example:
Non – Professional (NOT recommended)
Professional (Recommended)
sexymama@yahoo.com
smith34@hotmail.com
smartypants@hotmail.com
saccitycollege@msn.com
weird2themax@msn.com
careers21@yahoo.com
Objectives
Brief statement indicating what you would like to be doing. State your job target. An
actual job title works best.
Summary/Profile
An overview of your qualifications that emphasize your experience, skills, personality
traits and accomplishments. It should support your objective and highlight your strengths.
Education/Training
List your educational background as related to your desired position. This may include
degrees, majors, minors, and areas of concentration. Also included scholarships, honors,
awards, special training, relevant coursework, internships, and extra curricular activities,
especially anything that adds to your skills and experience. Begin with the highest degree
first and include the institution’s name, city, state and dates of graduation.
Work History/Employment History
Beginning with your most recent work experience, describe your jobs, including job title,
company name, location (city and state), and dates of employment. Provide brief but
concise information regarding your current and previous jobs, especially those pertinent
to your job goal. You may include paid and non – paid work experience.
Additional Activities and Information
Optional categories may include: licenses, certificates, additional languages, computer
skills, awards, and achievements. Also include any organizations, memberships, clubs,
community or other activity involvement that may be related to your career objective.
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Sample Chronological Resume
Your Name
1234 Street Name
Somewhere, CA 95959
(916) 222-3333
Email: name@yahoo.com
Objective: Position in customer service.
Summary or Profile
Microsoft Office 2000 (Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
General office experience (Multi – phone lines, mail sorter)
Strong communication skills (Internet and email)
Work well with diverse populations
Professional Experience
Sales Associate, Verizon Wireless, Sacramento, CA
4/06 – 7/07
Handled customer inquiries about product; responsible for sales and cash registry.
Increased sales by 17% in 1st quarter and received Employee of the Month in August 2006.
Student Assistant, Department of Justice, Sacramento, CA
8/03 – 2/06
Prepared letters and documents for mailing; copied and filed legal documents in client charts.
Answered multi – line phones; monitored faxes and distributed mail.
Education or Training
Business Major, Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA
2004 – Present
List specific coursework if related to position applying for.
(Heading) Volunteer Work or Activities
(Volunteer work, committees, organizations you belong to, certifications, etc.)
Red Cross Volunteer, Sacramento Sierra Chapter, Sacramento, CA
List projects and activities you are involved with in this organization.
Student Government, Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA
List projects and activities you are involved with in this organization.
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Sample Functional Resume
Your Name
1234 Street Name
Somewhere, CA 95959
(916) 222-3333
Email: name@yahoo.com
Objective: Entry – level accounting position with ABC Accounting Company.
Highlights of Qualifications
 Strong analytical and problem solving abilities.
 Excellent academic record in Accounting (reference G.P.A. only if 3.0 or higher).
 Speak, read and write fluently in Spanish.
 Working knowledge of (list specific accounting, bookkeeping software you may be
familiar with).
Education & Training
Associate of Arts, Accounting (Business emphasis), May 2006
Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA
Related Experience
Accounting
 Calculated employee wages from plant records for over 60 workers
 Reconciled bank statements involving over $500,000 a month
 Prepared tax forms, bank deposits, accounts receivables and log records
Computers
 Knowledgeable in various computer systems, including MS Word, Excel
 Developed computer system for posting and reconciling cash receivables and sales
 Customized computer program to provide statistics on company vs. industry
Organizational Management
 Developed a computer system to improve efficiency and record control
 Organized office records for previous 10 years
 Coordinated special reports of sales and plant departments
Employment History
Bookkeeper, Johnson’s Furniture Company, Folsom, CA, 8/2004 – Present
Office Assistant, ABC Insurance Company, Sacramento, CA, 6/2002 – 7/2004
Activities
List any special activities, community involvement, volunteer work, special projects you
have completed or are involved in (in this section).
Example:
Treasurer, Sacramento City College Accounting Club, Sacramento, CA
Fund Raiser, Habitat for Humanity, Dallas, TX
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Sample Combination Resume
Your Name
2222 Main Street
Sacramento, CA 98877
(916) 222 – 3344 (Your contact phone number)
Your email address
OBJECTIVE
A statement that summarizes what position you are applying for, with whom, and at what level
and where.
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HIGHLIGHTS OF QUALIFICATIONS
List strongest skills, qualities, and abilities in regard to the position
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EDUCATION
List degree and/or certificate you are currently working on, or have completed. Name the college
you attended and the date your degree/certificate was completed.
RELATED COURSEWORK
List all related coursework relevant to the position. Be sure to list classes systematically—in
sequence of semesters, or by subject areas. Include general education classes that apply (i.e.
Speech and Multi-Cultural)
Skill area # 1
SUMMARY OF SKILLS
Skill area #2
Skill area #3
List some of the skills you have acquired over the course of your life, from past jobs to
educational environments to skills gained through other activities. Be sure to list them in a
systematic fashion.
RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE
Briefly list your work history, including most recent job title, company, city, state, and dates of
employment. Work should relate to your objective.
Job Title
Place of Employment
Date of Employment
COMMUNITY SERVICE/ACHIEVEMENTS/AFFILIATIONS
List any information that relates to the position for which you are applying
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Sample Internship Resume
Your Name
600 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95877
(916) 333 – 4899 Home
name@yahoo.com
Objective: Accounting Internship
Education
Accounting major, Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA
2002 to Present
Maintain a 3.8 GPA.
Coursework:
 Fundamentals of Accounting
 Cost Accounting
 Intermediate Accounting
Knowledge of the following networking procedures, software and operating systems:
 QuickBooks
 Word 2000
 Excel 2000
 Windows NT
 Access 2000
Employment History
Hardware Consultant, ABC Computer Company, Sacramento, CA
8/2002 to 9/2003
Served as a consultant, assisting clientele in recognizing which types of systems they needed;
discovered computer problems and installed hardware and software.
Waiter, Lai Wah Restaurant, Sacramento, CA
3/2000 to 6/2002
Provided customer service, took food orders on phone and in restaurant, served meals, and
prepared food.
Skills
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Possess excellent written and oral communication.
Speak, read and write Chinese and English.
Successfully interact with clientele and co – workers representing various ages, ethnicity
and socioeconomic backgrounds.
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SCANNABLE RESUMES
A technological method used by large and small organizations to do an initial review of
resumes is called electronic applicant tracking. Using the latest in document imaging
technology, it allows your resume to be scanned into a computer system. The computer
can search for just about anything in your resume.
How does it work? Your resume is “scanned” into the computer as an image. Then OCR
(optical character recognition) software looks at the image to distinguish every letter and
number (character) and creates a text file (ASCII). Then artificial intelligence “reads” the
text and extracts important information about you such as your skills, work experience,
work history, etc.
When you prepare a resume for the computer to read, it is important that it is
“Scannable.” This means the resume is clean so that the scanner can get a clean image,
has standard fonts and crisp, dark type such as a laser printer so the OCR can recognize
every letter. Also, a scannable resume has plenty of facts for the artificial intelligence to
extract—the more skills and facts you provide, the more opportunities you’ll have for
your skills to match available positions. The goal is to still have a document that is very
specific and concise.
To produce a quality scannable resume, you should do the following:
1. Read, research, and clearly understand the job description.
2. Match the skills required from your work history with the job description.
3. Extract the skills from your work history that match the job description, and
incorporate them in your scannable resume.
In the world of resumes, this technology is asking us to pay MORE attention to our
capabilities because the process of selling ourselves on paper is getting more
sophisticated, not less. This also requires us to consistently track all of the skills we are
rapidly acquiring either on a computer disc or through other means. This will ensure that
you are prepared, in case you need to apply for a job right away.
Some suggestions for scannable resumes:
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Use white or light-colored 8 ½ by 11 paper, printed on one side only.
Provide a laser-printed original and left-justify your entire resume.
Do not fold, staple, or paperclip your resume. Mail flat in a large envelope.
Use standard typefaces such as Arial, Courier, Helvetica, and Times.
Use a font size of 10 to 14 points. (Avoid Times 10 point).
Avoid italics, underline, shadows, reverse, bullets, borders, boxes, and
vertical/horizontal lines.
Use occupation or industry key words to define your skills, experience, education.
Send a traditional copy of your resume along with the scanner version.
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SCANNABLE FORMAT EXAMPLE
Maria P. Torres
Current Address:
2222 Distant Lane
Anywhere, USA 99999
Email Address:
Torres@ed.us
Objective:
Summer internship; available May 200_ to August 200_
Interest:
Challenging position in Network Administration
Education:
Sacramento City College, Sacramento CA
Expected graduation: Dec 200_ GPA: 3.5
Courses:
Network Administration, Network Engineering, Network Technologies, Microsoft Access,
Microsoft Excel, Unix, Visual Basic, Windows, Telecommunications, Networking Concepts
Skills:
NT 4.0 Server, NT Workstation, managing LANS, installation and administration of Novell
NetWare 4.11, logon and file system security
Experience:
ABC Corporation, Sacramento, CA January 200_ - August 200_
Set up and configured a computer lab for educational setting. Installed operating systems and
application program.
KIDS AND COMPANY, Auburn, CA May 200_ - August200_
Stationary Engineer/Networking
Coordinated a project of installing, configuring and maintaining a Novell 4.11 Server/Windows
95 network. Network administration and help desk for Apple/PC network.
Honors/Activities:
Dean’s highest honors fall 200_; Dean’s List, spring 200_.
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Positive Power Words
A key factor in writing a winning resume is to use strong action verbs to make positive
statements describing your accomplishments, level of responsibility, and effectiveness.
You want the employer to be able to visualize the contribution you will make in the
position you are seeking.
Listed below are skills that can be used in preparing your resume as well as for practicing
and using in an interview. If you want, make a copy and circle, highlight or check the
words that you feel best describe you. Then incorporate them in your cover letter and
resume.
Management
Administered
Analyzed
Assigned
Attained
Chaired
Contracted
Consolidated
Coordinated
Delegated
Developed
Directed
Evaluated
Executed
Hired
Improved
Increased
Organized
Oversaw
Planned
Prioritized
Produced
Recommended
Reviewed
Scheduled
Strengthened
Supervised
Communication Skills
Addressed
Arbitrated
Arranged
Authored
Corresponded
Developed
Directed
Drafted
Edited
Enlisted
Formulated
Influenced
Interpreted
Interviewed
Lectured
Mediated
Moderated
Negotiated
Persuaded
Promoted
Publicized
Reconciled
Recruited
Spoke
Translated
Wrote
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Detail Skills
Approved
Arranged
Catalogued
Classified
Collected
Compiled
Dispatched
Executed
Generated
Implemented
Inspected
Monitored
Operated
Organized
Prepared
Processed
Purchased
Recorded
Retrieved
Screened
Specified
Systemized
Tabulated
Validated
Creative Skills
Teaching Skills
Technical Skills__
Acted
Conceptualized
Created
Designed
Developed
Directed
Established
Fashioned
Founded
Illustrated
Instituted
Integrated
Introduced
Invented
Originated
Performed
Planned
Shaped
Adapted
Advised
Clarified
Collaborated
Communicated
Coordinated
Developed
Enabled
Encouraged
Evaluated
Explained
Facilitated
Guided
Informed
Initiated
Instructed
Persuaded
Scheduled
Assembled
Built
Calculated
Completed
Designed
Devised
Engineered
Fabricated
Maintained
Operated
Overhauled
Programmed
Remodeled
Repaired
Solved
Trained
Troubleshoot
Upgraded
Helping Skills
Financial Skills
Research Skills
Assessed
Assisted
Coached
Counseled
Demonstrated
Diagnosed
Educated
Expedited
Facilitated
Rehabilitated
Represented
Administered
Allocated
Appraised
Audited
Balanced
Budgeted
Calculated
Computed
Developed
Forecast
Managed
Marketed
Planned
Projected
Researched
Clarified
Collected
Diagnosed
Evaluated
Examined
Extracted
Identified
Inspected
Interviewed
Investigated
Organized
Reviewed
Summarized
Surveyed
Systemized
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