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Contents What is a resume? Why write a resume? What kind of resume should you write? Tailoring for your audience Developing your content Organizing your sections Designing your page

Your Resume: General Concerns Organizing your sections Now you can begin to cluster your experiences, skills, and goals into separate sections and begin to think about how to arrange your sections on your page. If you were simply to list all your various qualifications, nothing would stand out and readers would have a difficult time finding specific information. To make your resume readers' job a little easier, you should consider developing a two-level text, using headings to help skimmers find what they are looking for, and details to convince skeptical readers you really have the qualifications you say you do. Sample: One of your first steps involves finding the right headings for your resume, those which will enable you to organize the content you've generated. A common approach to organizing sections is to use the following scheme:  Objective Statement (or Career Goal, Professional Objective, etc.)  Education Work Experience (or Work History, Professional History, Experience, etc.) Honors and Activities (or Activities, Hobbies, etc.) However, what if you want to emphasize your extracurricular leadership activities, your language proficiency, volunteer work, publications, or technical skills? The above scheme doesn't leave a space for you to emphasize such qualifications. What should you do? Simply create your own headings to match the content of your resume and the job ad. You can do this by modifying, for example, Experience or Activities with descriptive adjectives that describe your skills more accurately (like Supervisory Experience, Leadership Activities, etc.). Or you may use altogether different headings. Here are some others to consider: Alternative Headings honors and awards publications language proficiency presentations in-house seminars achievements internships military experience qualifications career profile community service relevant coursework continuing education advanced career training specialization special projects career-related skills familiar computer applications technical training licenses and certification accomplishments skills summary volunteer work memberships Your next step is to determine the right order for your sections. Generally speaking, for tailored resumes, the most important or impressive sections go closer to the top of the page. For example, if you have a great deal of relevant work experience, you might place work experience right below your objective statement; or, if your language proficiency will help your resume stand out from the crowd, place it closer to the top. back to top

Written and Designed by Bryan M. Kopp and the Business Writing Consulting/Tutoring Staff with the Assistance of Liz Thelen.

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