RESUMES 1
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
IRVING B. HARRIS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC
POLICY
Chicago Harris Career Development
Resume Guide
This guide provides basic information regarding resume writing. While it is designed to assist you in
beginning the resume process, all students are strongly encouraged to have their resume reviewed by a
counselor in the Career Development Office (CDO) before submitting it to an employer. Visit
https://harris-uchicago-csm.symplicity.com/ today to make an appointment with your CDO counselor!
I.
Introduction
A resume provides a brief snapshot of the experiences that qualify you for a specific role and/or
organization. A good resume presents an employer a concise and persuasive summary of your
accomplishments, knowledge, and skills. The goal of a resume is to induce the employer to invite you for
an interview. When preparing your resume, it is important to keep the following criteria in mind:
1. In general, you have less than 20 seconds to make a positive impression with your resume; thus,
it must be concise. One page is ideal (less than five years of full-time work experience) and more
experienced candidates’ resumes should not exceed two pages.
2. First impressions are very important. A well-written resume (in conjunction with targeted Cover
Letters) is your most important vehicle to convey your writing skills.
3. It can be very effective to tailor your resume to the job for which you’re applying. Know that this
can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. You may consider creating a separate resume “type”
for each industry (“consulting”) or type of position ( “analyst”) that you are seeking.
4. Demonstrate that you are committed to the job search. Present information in a thoughtful and
consistent manner.
5. Remember: Your resume is not a static document. It will evolve as you enhance your skills and
competencies. It is extremely important to continue revising your resume throughout your
graduate studies and professional experiences.
II.
Preparing Effective Resume Content
Step One: Skill & Interest Evaluation
In the initial steps of resume preparation, it is important to think broadly. Assess your most proficient
skills, interests, and industry-specific knowledge. If you have not already, complete and review the Skill
Identification results with a CDO counselor. You may have gained valuable and relevant experience in a
variety of settings – academic, personal, professional, and extracurricular.
Please notify Jandi Kelly (Jandi@uchicago.edu) with updated/additional information. Fall 2011
RESUMES 2
Step Two: Market Research
Once you have assessed your interests and skills, it is critical to conduct Industry Research. Building a
professional network requires a thorough understanding of the sought after knowledge and professional
backgrounds in your positions and industries of interest. It can be very helpful to review job postings to
become familiar with position titles, descriptions, and hiring trends.
Tips to Keep in Mind:
• When perusing positions, chart key and reoccurring skills that are of interest to you, in addition to
those you may need to develop and/or strengthen.
• Compare these to the results of your Skills & Interests Assessment in Step One.
• Once you understand the types of organizations, positions, and sectors of interest to you, it is
extremely important to start communicating with professionals in those fields. Reach out to alumni,
current professionals, professors, and/or students with experience in your areas of interest and request
an informational interview (see Interviews).
Step Three: Application
You are now ready to review your research and devise accomplishment and outcome statements. These
will be bulleted below each job title or position of relevant experience and convey that you have the
necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in a specific position and field. These bulleted points are key
to highlighting your career achievements and your fit to a particular job description (more to come in
Section III).
When devising these bullets, use steps to show the outcomes and impact of your achievements:
1. Choose a skill relevant to the job description
2. Brainstorm and record any relevant experiences in which you have used that skill
3. State and quantify positive results (e.g., increased quarterly sales 30%)
Example:
Led team of four event managers in designing and implementing Annual Policy Symposium,
resulting in 30% increase in attendance and $4000 in fundraising efforts.
III.
Resume Formatting
While there are multiple approaches to writing a resume, we recommend the following Resume
Templates:
1. Standard fonts (Times New Roman) and sizes (10.5 or 11 point).
2. Margins
• Top and Bottom: minimum of .6 inch, maximum 1.0 inch
• Left and Right: minimum of .6 inch, maximum of 1.0 inch
3. With the exception of the header, the text should be left justified.
4. Italics for book or thesis titles
5. Bold and CAPITALIZE section headings (EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE) to help employers
distinguish various elements of the document
Please notify Jandi Kelly (Jandi@uchicago.edu) with updated/additional information. Fall 2011
RESUMES 3
IV.
Resume Components
Personal Information
Center your name, home and email addresses, and telephone number at the top of the resume. If your
LinkedIn profile is updated and will positively market your experiences, you may include this information
as well. U.S. resumes do not include age, sex, ethnicity, nationality, or marital status. You might want to
make your name stand out by bolding it or slightly increasing the font.
Example:
Kelly Smith
241 E. Westpoint Avenue, Apt. 307
Chicago, IL 60657
Kelly@yahoo.com/ LinkedIn Profile: Kelly@LinkedIn.com
Key Words
You may highlight skills (and match key words recruiters/employers search in resumes) that are
particularly sought after in public policy positions. List these skills in equal columns.
Example:
policy analysis
statistics
STATA
finance/budgeting
quantitative analysis
project management
writing/editing
problem-solving
consumer behavior analysis
Education
Most Chicago Harris students list education first on their resume to demonstrate their current academic
commitment and direction. If a student has significant work experience (7+ years), he/she may opt to list
professional experiences first.
1. Include your most recent (or anticipated) degree first, followed by previous degrees.
2. Write the full name of your Chicago Harris degree.
Examples:
• Master of Public Policy
• Master of Arts in Public Policy and International Relations
• Master of Science in Environmental Science and Policy
Please notify Jandi Kelly (Jandi@uchicago.edu) with updated/additional information. Fall 2011
RESUMES 4
Education (continued)
3. Coursework: Below your degree title, list any additional training and/or coursework pertinent to
the job or field to which you are applying. For instance, the intensive quantitative core
coursework completed your first year at Chicago Harris is very appealing for a position requiring
analytical skills. If you completed a thesis, you may briefly describe it if relevant to the position
and/or organization. You may also include selected course titles or key words such as
“statistics.”
4. Honors: If you graduated with honors, magna or summa cum laude, you should report it next to
the type of degree earned. If you have an extensive list of honors, you might want to list them in a
separate “honors” section.
Example:
EDUCATION
The University of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Harris School of Public Policy
Master of Public Policy
Anticipated, June 2011
• Concentration: Poverty and Inequality
• Selected Coursework: Poverty and Economic Development, Cultural Economics
• GPA 3.85/4.0
Experience
As a general rule, list the organization first, then the division and city/state. On the next line, list your job
title and the dates of the assignment. In rare cases, the job title may be more impressive than the
employer, in which case you would reverse the order.
For example, in describing your position as a policy analyst at a small non-profit organization, it may be
more significant to emphasize your job title instead of the organization name, especially if you are
applying for a position related to policy analysis. If the organization is not well known, you may decide to
add a descriptive phrase. You will have to decide what works best for you as you apply to various
positions. Remember to remain consistent throughout your resume when ordering your entries to avoid
confusing the reader.
Under each position, you should use section headings to delineate relevant activities to the position for
which you are applying.
Additional Sample Section Headings
Project Management
Volunteer
International
Health Care
Research
Environment
Fundraising
Presentations
Grants
Leadership
Marketing
Management
Policy Analysis
Consulting
Financial
Please notify Jandi Kelly (Jandi@uchicago.edu) with updated/additional information. Fall 2011
RESUMES 5
If you have experience not directly related to the job, yet you wish to include, title that category
“Additional Professional Experience” or “Additional Experience.” It is imperative to highlight that you
acquired transferrable skills in these positions.
Key Phrases and Bullet Points
1. Under each of your section headings, bulleted descriptions of your experiences should focus on
the outcomes/impact of your work. Remember, this is not a job description.
2. Each bullet should begin with a strong and descriptive action phrase.
3. Two of the best sources for key phrases are within job descriptions or organizations’ websites.
Example:
If a key skill for a policy analyst is “Conduct(ed) independent research” this could serve
as your first action phrase.
4. Use appropriate verb tenses to describe previous and current accomplishments.
5. Once you have identified your action phrases, use the following prompts to build your bullets:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Who (management, peer collaborations)
What (project outlines, deliverables, steps)
Why (purpose of project)
Where (technology and systems used, global/local impact)
When (period of time, how often)
How (tools, organizing, skills used)
Impact (outcomes, results, savings, revenues)
6. Quantify when possible! Numbers and percentages catch employers’ eyes. They also
demonstrate your experience in achieving goals and remaining aware of personal/team impact
(dollars raised, length of projects, number of team members.) Numbers with $ or % signs and all
numbers 10 and above are written as figures.
Example:
Increased quarterly sales by 6%, led two project management teams consisting of 15
colleagues.
Additional Skills
This section may include computer, foreign language, and any additional skills specifically relevant to the
position. When listing foreign language skills, include your proficiency level (e.g., Advanced Spanish)the employer may incorporate a fluency test during an interview.
Publications/Presentations/Professional Affiliations
If applying for positions after graduate school, you may have publications, poster presentations, or
conference papers to report. Only include those publications that are directly relevant to your new field.
You may call this section “Selected Presentations” to indicate that you have a longer list available. Only
include professional affiliations if you can describe your contributions and involvement.
Please notify Jandi Kelly (Jandi@uchicago.edu) with updated/additional information. Fall 2011
RESUMES 6
References
1. Have three to five references listed on a separate document (using same font as resume).
2. Strive to use current and recent supervisors, professors, or university advisors familiar with your
work. If at all possible, avoid using a family member as a professional reference.
3. Include your name and contact information in the heading. List each reference name, title and
organization, email, and telephone number.
4. Only include references with your resume if requested by the employer.
5. Always notify references that they may be contacted. This is a good time to brief your references on
your interest in the position and the organization, in addition to confirming their current contact
information.
6. Send a thank you to all individuals that agree to serve as a reference to you, in addition to a copy of
your resume for their reference.
***Proofreading Your Resume: In addition to spell check and reading aloud, ask family and friends to
review your resume for grammatical errors. For individual advice, schedule an appointment with a CDO
advisor through HarrisLink***
V.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
University of Chicago Resources
• Harris School Career Development Office: http://harrisschool.uchicago.edu/resources/cdo/
• CAPS Services and Resources: https://caps.uchicago.edu/
• Alumni/Mentor Network: https://caps.uchicago.edu/undergrads/explore/
Online Resources
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook
• Quintessential Careers
• Additional Websites: www.GuideStar.org , www.Salary.com, www.Payscale.com, www.Vault.com,
www.monster.com, and www.Wetfeet.com
Please notify Jandi Kelly (Jandi@uchicago.edu) with updated/additional information. Fall 2011