Résumé Workshop
This resume workshop provides detailed explanations, as well step-by-step processes, for creating an effective resume. The Purdue OWL also maintains resume quick tips resources and a resume PowerPoint slide presentation. Please visit those resources for shorter discussions of the resume.
What is a résumé?
A resume (also spelled résumé) is a brief document that summarizes your education, employment history, and experiences that are relevant to your qualifications for a particular job for which you are applying. The purpose of a resume (along with your cover letter) is to get an interview. Research has shown that it takes an average of ten (10) interviews to receive one (1) job offer, so your resume needs to be persuasive and perfect. Given this, your resume must be user-centered and persuasive.
The general purpose resume usually contains four sections:
- Contact
- Education
- Experience
- Honors, activities, and outreach
Writing the contact section of your résumé
This section of your resume is definitely the easiest to write, but you do have a few options for design and content.
What is a contact information section?
Unlike other sections of your resume, this section does not have a special heading like "Contact Information." Instead it simply lists the information below at the top of the page:
- your full name
- your e-mail address
- your permanent address
- your local or campus address (if applicable)
- your phone number(s)
- your web address/URL
- your fax number, etc.
Of course, as with the rest of your resume, you'll want to double-check that all the information you include is current and accurate. Mistyping your phone number could easily cost you an interview! Also, if you list an e-mail address, be sure to check your e-mail regularly or you may miss an important message.
If you live on campus, you should provide your campus address. But you may also want to provide your home address.
Designing your contact information section
Employers will probably look first and last at your contact information section, so it's well worth your time to make this section easy-to-read and appealing to the eye. Whatever design choices you make, try to coordinate them with the rest of your resume. Here are some specific design options:
- Use page design strategies to present information in a usable format. For example, to help readers find desired information, you might place your name in a larger font size, center it, boldface it, or anything to make it stand out. If you have a permanent and local address, you might want to play with columns.
- You may want to add a graphic element such as a horizontal line to help section off your contact information. Make sure the visual does not distract from your textual information.
- Coordinate with your cover letter. One way to make your application documents a professional package is to match your cover letter and your resume. You might do this by creating stationery or a letterhead for both documents. For instance, if you use two columns for your addresses and a double line on your resume header, you might adapt it for the top of your cover letter as well. Make sure to use the same fonts (size also) for both documents.
Questions to ask
About you
- What are the different ways you may be contacted? How do you prefer to be reached?
About the company or organization
- What means of contacting you would be most convenient for the company or organization?
- Click the link at the top of the page for a sample resume.
Job seekers at Purdue University may find value in the Purdue career Wiki here.
For more information about how to develop a résumé, visit these OWL resources:
Education Section
Education sections vary tremendously on resumes - sometimes they are only a couple lines while other times they span half a page. What's the best way for you to approach yours? Read below for some options.
What is an education section?
An education section highlights your relevant schooling and academic training. If you have substantial work experience, this section may be very brief, simply listing the information below. If you are a currently enrolled college student or a recent graduate, however, you may want to build this section substantially.
The education section usually includes information about:
- schools you have attended such as universities and 4-year colleges, junior and community colleges, as well as professional and technical schools (rarely high schools, unless somehow relevant)
- location of schools
- date of graduation, actual or anticipated
- degree(s) earned
- grade point average (GPA) if over 3.0.
Why write an education section?
- to persuade employers your educational background will help you do your job more effectively
- to provide evidence of your qualifications
- to foreground your areas of expertise
Where should you place this section?
Education sections, like experience sections, are usually placed in the middle of a resume, somewhere between the objective statement and the honors and activities section.
If your educational background is your strongest qualification or may help your resume "stand out," then you'll probably want to put it near the top. Especially if you are a recent graduate, this section may be a major focus for recruiters. On the other hand, if your experience sections are stronger, then you'll probably want to move your education section below them.
How to build your education section
If you have the space on your resume and/or if your educational background is particularly relevant, you may want to expand this section by including some of the content listed below as it applies to your experiences and career goals.
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. Candidate for B.A. in English, GPA 3.2. Focus: Professional Writing; Pre-Law. Expected to graduate in May 2008
NOTE: If you have enough information, you may wish to turn some of your content into subsections or even into separate sections. For example, if you know several relevant computer technologies, you might want to list them under the heading "Computer Proficiency" rather than tuck them under your Education section.
Generally, you want to include your overall GPA, and even your in-major GPA and minor GPA. But if your GPA is below 3.0, you may not want to include it.
Samples
Major/minor grade point average (GPA)
- Major GPA: 2.9/4.0
- Minor GPA: 3.1/4.0
Major and minor areas of study, concentrations, emphases or specializations
- Minor: Management Information Systems
- Concentration: Professional Writing
- Emphasis in Individual and Family Development
Special projects
- Special Course Project, Business Writing: determined feasibility of upgrading communication technologies in local business
- Thesis: "Diversity Training in the Workplace"
Relevant coursework
- Structured Programming Client/Server Computing
- Object Oriented Programming
- Local Area Networks
Familiar computer applications
- Internet
- E-mail, tele- and video-conferencing
- Windows: Microsoft Office, XP, Vista
- Macintosh OS X
- Pagemaker
- Photoshop
- Quark
- Dreamweaver
- Robohelp
Continuing education courses, programs, training units, etc.
- Diversity or Management Training
- Crisis Management
Academic honors or graduated with distinction
- Summa Cum Laude - "with highest honor"
- Magna Cum Laude - "with great honor"
- Cum Laude - "with honor"
Check with your university or college to see what the requirements are for these distinctions.
Funding
- B.S. in Aviation Technology (provided 100% of funding)
- Master's Thesis research 100% funded by university
Certifications
- First Aid Certification
- Teacher Certification
Questions to ask
About you
- What institutions, programs, schools, etc. have you attended?
- What educational training beyond traditional schooling and coursework have you had, if any?
About the company or organization
- What can you expect the company to know about your degree program, coursework, training background, etc.? What might you need to describe or elaborate?
- What non-traditional educational experiences would the company want to know about?
Tailoring for your audience
To improve the effectiveness of your education section, you will want to know what content will be most valued by the company hiring. You can get a good sense for which of educational qualifications are most relevant by analyzing job ads and company literature as part of your job search.
You may tailor your education section in three main ways:
1. Select and include only your most relevant educational content: Based on your career goals and the qualifications called for in job ads, you may choose to include or omit certain kinds of information. For example, if you earned a degree in a very specialized field (one employers may need to know more about) or have taken specific courses directly relevant to the position, then you'll want to include a listing of coursework. However, if your degree is self-explanatory and employers likely will know your more specific credentials, then you may omit this section.
2. Emphasize content through placement and design: Since the eye is drawn to section headings and the uppermost portion of sections, you may choose to put your most impressive and relevant educational experiences in either (1) their own sections/subsections, or (2) near the top of a section. For instance, if you have substantial computer skills or have undertaken a special project, you may choose to put this information in its own section rather than simply list it beneath "Education."
3. List most relevant schooling first: While you may wish to use reverse chronological order (most recent schooling first), you also have the option of placing your most relevant educational experiences first.
Click on the link at the top of this resource for a sample resume.
For more information, please see the Interactive Résumé.
Experience Section
Many job ads call for individuals with relevant experience, and all employers prefer experienced people to inexperienced ones. Your experience section can be the "heart" of your resume. How can you put your experiences in the best light? Read below for some strategies.
What is an experience section?
An experience section emphasizes your past and present employment and/or your participation in relevant activities. Sometimes this section goes under other names such as the following:
- Work Experience
- Professional Experience
- Work History
- Field Work
- Volunteer Work
- Relevant Experience
Feel free to customize your headings for this section, especially if you are writing a tailored resume. For example, if the job ad calls for someone with editorial experience, you may want to create a section with the heading "Editorial Experience." Even the busiest reader will notice. Usually, resume experience sections move from most recent to oldest experience. But with a tailored resume, you may want to note important and applicable experience first, thus not following a chronological order.
Also, you may discover you need more than one section to organize your experiences. For instance, you may want a section for volunteer work and another for your work history or one for technical experience and another for supervisory experience.
The usual content for an experience section includes:
- company or organization, location
- position title
- dates of employment or involvement
- descriptions of responsibilities and duties
Sample:
Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc., Lafayette, Indiana Security Officer, January 1997 to present
However, you need not put all this information in this order. For example, if you wish to emphasize the jobs you held rather than the place of employment, you may want to list position titles first. Also, it is often much easier to read if the dates are aligned all the way on the right side margins. This way, it is easier to navigate through which experiences have been the most recent.
Why write an experience section?
- to convince employers your experiences match their mission and goals will help you fulfill the job requirements effectively
- to provide evidence of your qualifications
- to list and describe your experiences in the most relevant way possible
- to make yourself stand out and show what makes you unique
Where should you place the experience section?
Most people put their experience somewhere in the middle of the page, between their education section and their activities. If you have significant experiences, you may wish to emphasize them by placing your experience section closer to the top of your page. If your experiences are not obviously relevant, however, you may want to put your experiences beneath, for example, your activities/leadership section.
Questions to ask
About you
- What past and present experiences do you have - including not only jobs you've held but also positions as a volunteer, intern, student, leadership role, etc.?
- What types of experiences are generally desirable in your field or area of interest?
- Which of your experiences are most related to your career goals? How can you "sell" some of your seemingly irrelevant experiences?
About the company or organization
- Which experiences are most desired by the company (as listed in job ads and position descriptions)? Which experiences would the company likely see as assets?
- Which experiences would contribute the most to the position in which you are applying?
Lastly, some college students may not have a lot of experience that pertains directly to the job/intern position/graduate school to which they are applying. Don't panic! In these cases, setting up experience sections with two subcategories (responsibilities and skills learned) can help communicate skills learned that are applicable to future positions:
Experience
Sales Associate, Hot Topic, Lafayette, IN 12/1/07-Present
Responsibilities
- Conduct sales transactions
- Interact with customers
- Track inventory and stock shelves
Skills Learned
- Interpersonal communication
- Marketing and sales
- Money transactions
- Follow directions
- Work in a professional retail environment
While you may not think that the retail work you perform carries much value, the skills you're learning transfer and apply to a number of positions in a wide variety of organizations. For example, the interpersonal skills you learn dealing with irate customers during the Christmas rush can help you in stressful professional settings.
In addition, the process of working with customers to help them find what they need can help you if you want to work in sales and marketing. Moreover, the retail environment itself affords you the opportunity to participate in the distribution and sales of retail goods, which is applicable to business and even industrial engineering disciplines.
Click on the link at the top of this resource for a sample resume.
For more information, please see the Interactive Résumé.
Honors and Activities Section
What's the best way for you to approach your honors and activities section? Read below for some options.
What is an honors and activities section?
This section of the resume highlights the relevant activities you have been involved with and the honors you have received that you could discuss with your prospective employer. You also want to communicate how these activities and honors might make you an asset to the organization.
An honors and activities section might include the following:
- academic awards and scholarships
- membership in campus, national, or international organizations
- leadership positions held in campus, national, or international organizations
- university and community service positions
- work-related awards or honors
- date of award or dates of involvement in an activity
Samples:
- Firstar Outstanding Student Scholarship 2007
- Copy Editor, Purdue University's student newspaper August 2005-December 2006
- Coach, local middle school soccer team August 2004-December 2005
- Vice President, Golden Key National Honor Society August 2003-May 2004
Why write an honors and activities section?
- to customize your resume for specific positions
- to provide evidence of your qualifications
- to demonstrate that your work has been recognized as of a high quality by others
- to provide evidence that you are a well-rounded person
- to stand out and show how unique of an individual you are
- to reflect your values and commitment
Where should you place this section?
The honors and activities section is generally placed after the education and experience sections of the resume. Since this section is usually the last one on the resume, you can include as many or as few honors and activities as space permits.
How to build your honors and activities section
It is best to brainstorm a list of all your honors and activities before you write the honors section of the resume. Then you can choose the most relevant and recent honors and activities from your list. Remember that this section is supposed to help you stand out from the crowd and demonstrate your qualifications for a position; consequently, you may not need or want to include all of the honors and activities from you list on the resume.
Content to consider
Samples:
Scholarships
- Robert C. Byrd Four-year Academic Scholarship 2004-2008
- Alfred H. Nolle Scholarship by the Alpha Chi National Honor Society 2004-2006
Academic Honors
- Dean's List 2004-present
- Who's Who Among College and University Students 2006
- Leadership Positions
- Phi Kappa Delta (International Speech Honor Society) Vice-President 2004-2006
- Secretary of Correspondence of Purdue University's Chapter of the Golden Key Honor Society 2005-2007
Membership in Professional Organizations
- Eta Kappa Nu (Electrical Engineering Honor Society) 2004-present
- University Service Positions
- Freshmen Engineering Academic Counseling 2004-2006
- Residence Hall Freshmen Council 2006-2008
Community Service Positions
- Boy Scouts of America Assistant Scoutmaster 2005-present
- Tippecanoe County Adult Reading Program Tutor 2006-present
Questions to ask
About you
- What activities have you been involved with in the past and in the present?
- What kinds of activities and honors are valued most highly in your field?
- Which of your activities and honors are most closely associated with your career goals?
- Which of your activities and honors will the company to which you are applying consider most valuable?
- What does your involvement in activities, related and unrelated to your career goals, reveal about you and your values? How can you "sell" these activities to an employer?
About the company or organization
- What are the values considered most important by the company you are applying to or by the field in general?
Tailoring for your audience
The activities and honors section of the resume is a great place to tailor the resume for specific positions, companies, and organizations. This section can become customized for specific positions since you will probably not include all of your activities and honors but only those that make your resume stronger. To tailor this section for your audience, you should apply the same principles that you used in tailoring the experience section of your resume.
You should:
- Select and include only your most relevant experiences: Based upon your career goals and the qualifications desired by the company, you will likely find that certain activities and honors are less relevant for specific positions. For example, if you are applying for a mechanical engineering position, your role as a youth leader in a local group may not interest your audience. If you are applying for a teaching position, however, this same activity might be very relevant.
- Place your most relevant experiences first: Since readers are most likely to read information closer to the top of the page, place your most impressive experiences first.
- Appeal to your company's values: If the company values problem solving, for example, or taking the initiative or being a team player, then be sure to include activities and honors from your list that demonstrate that you possess those skills.
Click on the link at the top of this resource for a sample resume.
For more information, please see the Interactive Résumé.
Skills Section
While not all résumés contain a skills section, a skills section may be helpful when you want to emphasize the skills you have acquired from your various jobs or activities, rather than the duties, or the job title. If you do not have enough previous experience for a specific job you are seeking for, it is important to emphasize your skills pertaining to that job.
Skills can be just as important as work experience to employers. To prepare your skills section, you should:
- List jobs, activities, projects and special offices.
- Think of skills you have gained through those experiences.
- Group these skills into 3 - 5 job related skills categories and use these as headings.
- List your skills with significant details under the headings.
- Arrange headings in order of importance as they relate to your career objective.
- Arrange skills under headings in order of importance according to your goal.
Here is an example of what your skills section on your résumé may look like:
- Conducted monthly club and board meetings for Lafayette Junior Woman's Club.
- Headed club's $8,000 philanthropic project sponsored by Tippecanoe County Historical Association.
- Coordinated responsibilities of committees to sell and serve food to 1500 people at fund raiser.
- Completed a formal report for Business Writing course.
- Wrote annual state and district reports of all club's community service projects, volunteered hours and monetary donations.
- Compiled, type, mimeographed and distributed club books to each member.
- Supervised the collection and dispersion of $4,000 in funds to various agencies and projects.
- Wrote and analyzed periodic business statements regarding funds to specific projects/agencies.
For more information, please see the Interactive Résumé.
Résumé Workshop Presentation
This résumé workshop PowerPoint presentation provides extensive information on how to conduct research for and compose a résumé. The presentation also includes activities for instructors/workshop leaders to use with students/workshop participants.
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