Writing a résumé – tips and hints to make yourself look good on paper

When going to the EOC, BOC, or TOC, it is important to have a strong résumé to make you stand out from all the other candidates — in a good way, of course. Here are some short, informal guidelines for those who have never written a résumé before.

Header

In the heading, the name comes first, and you want that to be the most prominent part. Make it noticeable, under 40 point font, and either left-align or center-align it. A nice, bold name in a formal serif (Garamond, Jenson, Trajan) will suffice. The address at which the writer receives most of his or her mail, as well as a phone number and email address, should also be in the heading. If you have a personal website, list it there as well.

Education

The education section is where to put intended majors or minors (if relevant), expected graduation date, and the name and location of one’s school. Once in college, the writer should try to avoid placing his or her high school on their résumé. You can include your GPA if it is high given your current major — especially if you are a Dean’s List honoree. If your GPA is poor, leave it off — if they really want to know, they will ask.

Experience

Here is the trickiest and most important part of your résumé. When listing your experiences, you should choose the ones that connect your skills to the qualifications that the job asks for. However, don’t copy full-length sentences word-for-word from the job advertisement.

What you should do is try to articulate your skills in a way that sounds similar to the skills the employer is looking for in a candidate. Eliminate use of first-person (“I did ...”) if possible, and don’t forget to use active verbs when listing the tasks your job entailed. For example, “Flipped burgers” (Don’t put that on your résumé) is the correct form of verb to use. You should also try to use bulleted lists to make it easier to scan the information. And stay concise — no one wants to read eight paragraphs about your retail experience.

Activities

In some cases, your activities might even be more relevant than your actual work experience, and should thus be as boldly and centrally placed. You should try your best to list your most relevant activities. For example, if you are applying for a web design internship, list related activities: copy writing, search engine optimization, or visual design experience.

In terms of activities which are not related to the position, it is important to highlight activities you can actually speak about, not clubs where you attended a single meeting. As always, either cut out the irrelevant information, or find a way to tie it into the way you sell yourself.

Skills

This is where you advertise any skills that haven’t been addressed in the other sections. Be sure you are actually advertising real skills, not generic qualities that anyone can claim. List languages you speak and languages you code. List a hobby or two that may be something an interviewer can connect with and better understand you as a person.

Take your résumé seriously, and have someone like an adviser look over it for you because their advice will be tremendously valuable. If you don’t, you could make really silly mistakes, and your résumé will be a joke. It will provide the employer with a good laugh. They might even frame it in their office so when they’re having a bad day, they can look at it and chuckle; but that is probably not what you are aiming for. Try to be professional, or at least try not to do something foolish.