Resumes...
Building the "perfect resume" is vital to your success in attaining interviews with employers. Typos, grammatical errors or poorly worded descriptions can cost you the interviews you want and need.
Getting Started...
- Basics
- Samples
- Action Words
- Resume Builder
- FAQ
Resume Basics...
- Resume Length: Unless you are applying for a top-level position your resume should fit on a single page. Keep in mind that your resume is not an autobiography but a summary of your experience, qualifications and skills.
- Fonts: The font-type used should be Times New Roman or Arial with the font-size between 10-12
- Margins: Margins should be between .5" and 1.5"
- Paper: The paper used should be 8 1/2" X 11", white or off-white, 24 pound paper
- Printing: Resumes should be printed out individually and not photocopied from an original to ensure quality and legibility
- Proofreading: Grammatical or spelling mistakes on resumes can be embarrassing and cost you interviews, particularly if the item misspelled is something critical so proofread your resume carefully. See a Career Counselor during walk-ins or by appointment to have your resume reviewed.
*Please see our events calendar for upcoming Resume Workshops
There are four basic resume types:
- Chronological Resume: Outlines education and work experience in reverse chronological order.
- Curriculum Vitae: Used primarily in the academic community, to comprehensively outline earned degrees,teaching and research experience, publications, presentations, and featuring related activities.
- Functional Resume: Defines professional skills and knowledge in a practical format providing greater insight into skills and abilities. Recommended for candidates who have had either a great deal of education or a significant number of different employment situations.
- Combined Chronological -Functional Resume: Provides a functional listing of skills and an abbreviated employment history.
Resume Samples
Action Words: should be utilized to better convey your skills, experience and responsibilities and to make recruiters take notice
Sample Phrases: are examples that you can use in your resume to describe your experience and responsibilities
Action Words by Skills Categories:
- Communication/People Skills
- Creative Skills
- Data/Financial Skills
- Helping Skills
- Management/Leadership Skills
- Organizational Skills
- Research Skills
- Teaching Skills
- Technical Skills
Communication/People Skills
- Addressed
- Advertised
- Arbitrated
- Arranged
- Articulated
- Authored
- Clarified
- Collaborated
- Communicated
- Composed
- Condensed
- Conferred
- Consulted
- Contacted
- Conveyed
- Convinced
- Corresponded
- Debated
- Defined
- Developed
- Directed
- Discussed
- Drafted
- Edited
- Elicited
- Enlisted
- Explained
- Expressed
- Formulated
- Furnished
- Incorporated
- Influenced
- Interacted
- Interpreted
- Interpreted
- Interviewed
- Involved
- Joined
- Judged
- Lectured
- Listened
- Marketed
- Mediated
- Moderated
- Negotiated
- Observed
- Outlined
- Participated
- Persuaded
- Presented
- Promoted
- Proposed
- Publicized
- Reconciled
- Recruited
- Referred
- Reinforced
- Reported
- Resolved
- Responded
- Solicited
- Specified
- Spoke
- Suggested
- Summarized
- Synthesized
- Translated
- Wrote
Creative Skills
- Acted
- Adapted
- Began
- Combined
- Composed
- Conceptualized
- Condensed
- Created
- Customized
- Designed
- Developed
- Directed
- Displayed
- Drew
- Entertained
- Established
- Fashioned
- Formulated
- Founded
- Illustrated
- Initiated
- Instituted
- Integrated
- Introduced
- Invented
- Modeled
- Modified
- Originated
- Performed
- Photographed
- Planned
- Revised
- Revitalized
- Shaped
- Solved
Data/Financial Skills
- Administered
- Adjusted
- Allocated
- Analyzed
- Appraised
- Assessed
- Audited
- Balanced
- Budgeted
- Calculated
- Computed
- Conserved
- Corrected
- Determined
- Developed
- Estimated
- Forecasted
- Managed
- Marketed
- Measured
- Netted
- Planned
- Prepared
- Programmed
- Projected
- Qualified
- Reconciled
- Reduced
- Researched
- Retrieved
Helping Skills
- Adapted
- Advocated
- Aided
- Answered
- Arranged
- Assessed
- Assisted
- Clarified
- Coached
- Collaborated
- Contributed
- Cooperated
- Counseled
- Demonstrated
- Diagnosed
- Educated
- Encouraged
- Ensured
- Expedited
- Facilitated
- Familiarized
- Furthered
- Guided
- Helped
- Insured
- Intervened
- Motivated
- Prevented
- Provided
- Referred
- Rehabilitated
- Represented
- Resolved
- Simplified
- Supplied
- Supported
- Volunteered
Management/Leadership Skills
- Administered
- Analyzed
- Appointed
- Approved
- Assigned
- Attained
- Authorized
- Chaired
- Considered
- Consolidated
- Contracted
- Controlled
- Converted
- Coordinated
- Decided
- Delegated
- Developed
- Directed
- Eliminated
- Emphasized
- Enforced
- Enhanced
- Established
- Executed
- Generated
- Handled
- Headed
- Hired
- Hosted
- Improved
- Incorporated
- Increased
- Initiated
- Inspected
- Instituted
- Led
- Managed
- Merged
- Motivated
- Navigated
- Organized
- Originated
- Overhauled
- Oversaw
- Planned
- Presided
- Prioritized
- Produced
- Recommended
- Reorganized
- Replaced
- Restored
- Reviewed
- Scheduled
- Secured
- Selected
- Streamlined
- Strengthened
- Supervised
- Terminated
Organizational Skills
- Approved
- Arranged
- Catalogued
- Categorized
- Charted
- Classified
- Coded
- Collected
- Compiled
- Corrected
- Corresponded
- Distributed
- Executed
- Filed
- Generated
- Incorporated
- Inspected
- Logged
- Maintained
- Monitored
- Obtained
- Operated
- Ordered
- Organized
- Prepared
- Processed
- Provided
- Purchased
- Recorded
- Registered
- Reserved
- Responded
- Reviewed
- Routed
- Scheduled
- Screened
- Submitted
- Supplied
- Standardized
- Systematized
- Updated
- Validated
- Verified
Research Skills
- Analyzed
- Clarified
- Collected
- Compared
- Conducted
- Critiqued
- Detected
- Determined
- Diagnosed
- Evaluated
- Examined
- Experimented
- Explored
- Extracted
- Formulated
- Gathered
- Inspected
- Interviewed
- Invented
- Investigated
- Located
- Measured
- Organized
- Researched
- Reviewed
- Searched
- Solved
- Summarized
- Surveyed
- Systematized
- Tested
Teaching Skills
- Adapted
- Advised
- Clarified
- Coached
- Communicated
- Conducted
- Coordinated
- Critiqued
- Developed
- Enabled
- Encouraged
- Evaluated
- Explained
- Facilitated
- Focused
- Guided
- Individualized
- Informed
- Instilled
- Instructed
- Motivated
- Persuaded
- Simulated
- Stimulated
- Taught
- Tested
- Trained
- Transmitted
- Tutored
Technical Skills
- Adapted
- Applied
- Assembled
- Built
- Calculated
- Computed
- Conserved
- Constructed
- Converted
- Debugged
- Designed
- Determined
- Developed
- Engineered
- Fabricated
- Fortified
- Installed
- Maintained
- Operated
- Overhauled
- Printed
- Programmed
- Rectified
- Regulated
- Remodeled
- Repaired
- Replaced
- Restored
- Solved
- Specialized
- Standardized
- Studied
- Upgraded
- Utilized
Sample Phrases:
- Credited with having accomplished...
- Commended for...
- Served as a ___ for ___ years before being promoted to...
- Acquired knowledge of...
- Organized and implemented new ___ system which increased efficiency in...
- Trained and supervised...
- Work required accuracy under pressure...
- In charge of...
- Effective/successful in...(preventing or minimizing employee theft)
- Developed ability to (handle many tasks simultaneously)
- Coordinate creative marketing displays...
- Assist (manager in...) etc.
- Assigned overtime hours due to reputation for being a hard worker
- Train new employees and organize work schedules...
- Gained basic knowledge of (office) (restaurant) operations...
- Recognized as...(top salesperson)
- Organized and maintained...(record system)
- Deal with...(booking agents, club owners, high level executives etc...)
- Assist customers, sell ___ equipment, operate cash register
- Motivate and supervise employees in...
- Recognized for effective customer service...
- Implemented various ___ procedures...
- Helping manage...
- Volunteered at yearly (blood drive)...
- Prepared spreadsheets for...
- Analyzed and balanced...
- Reconciled vender accounts with discrepancies...
- Served as troubleshooter for...
- Counseled school age children...
Resume Builder : is an online tool embedded within RaiderNet and available to all registered users.
Frequently asked Questions
- Q1: Does my resume really have to be just one page?
- Q2: Does it really have to be 100% perfect before I can send it to employers?
- Q3: Is it okay to use personal pronouns ( I, me, my) within my resume?
- Q4: Do I really have to list my GPA on my resume?
- Q5: Can I use my major GPA instead of my cumulative GPA?
- Q6: Can I use color paper?
- Q7: Can I print my resume out in the Career Center career lab (Hill Hall 112)? Can I print my resume out at the Computing Services Labs?
- Q8: What is the difference between a resume and a CV?
- Q9: My friend/parent/professor told me that I don't need to place an OBJECTIVE on my resume. Is that true?
- Q10: I read in a resume book that I don’t need to put References Available Upon Request at the bottom of my resume. Is that right?
- A1: Does my resume really have to be just one page?
- A2: Does it really have to be 100% perfect before I can send it to employers?
- A3: Is it okay to use personal pronouns ( I, me, my) within my resume?
- A4: Do I really have to list my GPA on my resume?
- A5: Can I use my major GPA instead of my cumulative GPA?
- A6: Can I use color paper?
- A7: Can I print my resume out in the Career Center career lab (Hill Hall 112)? Can I print my resume out at the Computing Services Labs?
- A8: What is the difference between a resume and a CV?
- A9: My professor told me that I don't need to place an OBJECTIVE on my resume. Is that true?
- A10: My employers told me that I don’t need to put "References Upon Request" on the bottom of my resume. Is that right?
Yes. The vast majority of employers that the Career Center speaks to day-in and day-out tell us that a resume should NOT exceed one page. They explain that they see a good part of the challenge as providing a "concise" overview of one's experience and achievements within a one page format. It is a demonstrative way of accessing the candidates writing and organizing skills.
Yes. There is absolutely NO excuse for any type of error in your resume document. Employers feel that you have had plenty of time to work on your resume and, as a result, it should be absolutely perfect. They also see your resume as a "sample" of your work and a resume submitted with errors sends them a red flag about hiring you.
No. There should be no personal pronouns in a professionally prepared resume.
If you are applying to large and/or well known employers, then YES, you should include either your major or your cumulative GPA. Preferably your cumulative. If you include only your major GPA, that may suffice, but be prepared to answer questions that may be asked about your cumulative. If you do not include either GPA, you should definitely be prepared for questions about your academic performance.
Yes, you may use your major GPA (see above).
NO! Use only white, off-white, or egg-shell colors when preparing your resume.
Yes, you can use the Career Center's printers to print out your resume. You may also bring good resume paper (24lb weight) and insert it in our printers.
The resume is "the" document used by the majority of employers to screen candidates for interviewing. A Curriculum Vitae (CV) is "the" document preferred by employers within Higher Education (academia) for consideration of candidates for teaching and/or research related opportunities.
A significant number of employers have expressed to the Career Center that they prefer to see an OBJECTIVE so that they have an idea of what that candidate sees as his or her first (or next) employment goal.
While some employers do not require the "references upon request" section at the end of the resume, the consensus is that it is wise to include it and avoid possible misunderstandings with employers who do expect to see it.
