ANNETTE R. WILSON, DIRECTOR OF CAREER SERVICES
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-SAN ANTONIO
GENERAL RESUME GUIDELINES
DO THESE:
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Use standard forts (Time New Romans, Arial) and font sizes (10 to 12 point)
Use white, light beige, ivory, cream colored paper; stay away from blue, green,
gray, marbled, or any sparkled background paper
Tailor your resume to what an employer is seeking and use the industry buzz
words
Do use three to five bullets only in your Summary of Qualifications and
Experience sections
Use relatively concise bulleted information, not paragraphs
Start each bullet with a verb (action word)
Match the verb tense to the job (past jobs = past tense verbs, usually "-ed"
endings)
Vary your verbs within a job and vary your responsibilities between jobs
Spell out your degree (Bachelor of Science, not BS, Associate of Applied
Science, not Associates)
Include your GPA if it is 3.0 or higher
Put your name only in the header on page two only if your resume is two pages
long
Be consistent with the size of your hyphens and the spacing around them
Have someone else (like a career services representative!) proofread your
resume
Be consistent on where you list locations and time periods
Be consistent with how you express time periods (month and year or just year)
Include numbers to quantify (supervised 10 employees; deposited over $10,000;
taught three and four children; coordinated six construction projects)
Write out numbers zero through nine, express numbers 10 and greater
numerically
Try for a balanced look in terms of margins (one inch is a good start) and
information on the page (do not have just a couple of lines on page two)
ANNETTE R. WILSON, DIRECTOR OF CAREER SERVICES
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY-SAN ANTONIO
GENERAL RESUME GUIDELINES
DON'T DO THESE:
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Lie. Ever. Big or small. Ever.
Use card stock or scented paper
Use italics (because they scan poorly) except for Latin honors (such as cum
laude) and publications but use Arial or Optima font for either the entire resume
or just the italicized portion but adjust the italicized font size to appear
proportional
Generally use abbreviations (including &, /, and etc.) except for the postal code
TX (both capital letters, no periods)
Exceed two pages, try to keep it to one page
Use personal pronouns such as I, my or me
List more than 10 to 15 years of experience
List references or put "References available upon request"
Include unnecessary information such as past salaries, employers' addresses
and phone numbers, reasons for leaving past jobs and social security number
(except for resumes for federal jobs)
Write "Responsible for..." or "Duties included...", just start with the verb of what
you did
Include standard computer software (Microsoft Word, Access, Excel) skills unless
an employer is specifically seeking them
Include photos or personal information such as age, race, religion, and marital
status
Include any negative information
Write the unnecessary words "Phone" or "Cell" or "Email" in front of a phone
number or an email address
List anything from high school