Resume Writing

Resume writing is the act of composing a resume. A resume (also spelled résumé) is a persuasive document that provides an overview of a person's education, work experience, skills, and accomplishments. A resume provides a job applicant with an opportunity to market oneself to a prospective employer by highlighting qualities that make the applicant the perfect fit for a job. An effective resume is capable of piquing an employer's interest in one applicant over another and securing a request for a job interview.

In many cases, a resume and cover letter (a formal letter submitted with a resume when a person applies for a job) are a person's first communication with a prospective employer. Therefore, understanding how to craft an effective resume is of critical importance. A resume should leave a good first impression. A poorly organized resume or a resume littered with typos or grammatical errors will lead employers to conclude that a job applicant is sloppy or careless, and they may toss it right in the trash. A well-organized, error-free resume, however, is likely to earn a second look.

Although their organizational structures may vary, all resumes generally contain similar information. The most common sections featured on most resumes are personal data; employment objective; education and training; work experience and relevant skills; awards or honors, special interests, and other activities (e.g., volunteer work); and references. How a job applicant chooses to arrange these sections when writing a resume depends on a number of factors.

Resume writing may seem like a fairly straightforward process, but it actually takes a great amount of time and thought. Job applicants must consider both major factors, such as which format emphasizes their best qualities, and minor factors, such as which font presents the information in an eye-catching yet easy-to-read manner. Moreover, resume-writing trends are subject to change over time. A novel approach from a decade ago may seem tired and overused to employers looking for employees in the modern job market.

Core Skills & Competencies

At first glance, every resume may seem different, varying in length, format, and organization. However, all resumes generally include the same six types of information.

Personal Data

Personal data typically appears at the top of a resume. Personal data includes name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and any other contact information the applicant wishes to provide (e.g., cell phone number, personal webpage). Often people choose a larger font or a different font for their name to make it stand out from other text in this section. College students applying for their first jobs should consider including both their current address (i.e., campus address) and their permanent address (i.e., home address) in a two-column format so employers have no trouble reaching them.

Employment Objective

An employment objective is a statement that identifies a goal or purpose an applicant hopes to achieve. It usually appears near the beginning of a resume, just after the personal data section. Adding an employment objective to a resume is optional. Applicants who choose to add one should avoid making general statements such as "To obtain a position in a fast-paced environment." Rather, an employment objective should be tailored to a specific goal or job title—for example, "To use my marketing background to increase sales and stimulate the growth of XYZ Corporation as regional sales manager."

Education and Training

The education section details an applicant's schooling and training. Here, applicants should list colleges, universities, and professional or technical schools they have attended. For each school, applicants should identify location, graduation date (actual or anticipated), and degree or certificate earned. Placement of this section generally depends on experience. Mid-career job applicants with plenty of work experience may choose to place a brief education section after a lengthier work history. College students with limited experience in their field, however, may choose to include a lengthier education section before their work experience. To enhance this section, students may include details such as grade point average, relevant coursework, continuing education credits, and academic honors.

Experience and Skills

The work experience section details an applicant's work history and relevant skills. Depending on experience level, applicants may place this section before or after the education section. For each job, applicants should include the employer's name and location, specific job title, dates of employment, and skills learned or accomplishments achieved while in that position. Many people choose to use bullet points to list each accomplishment, responsibility, or skill. When crafting these lists, "action words" such as managed, created, organized, or developed are key. A quick online search will lead applicants to helpful websites containing lists of action words to incorporate into their resume. Also, applicants may read the description of the job for which they are applying and then match their action words to the skills specified for that position.

Awards and Honors, Special Interests, and Other Activities

Sections of a resume devoted to awards and honors, special interests, and other activities generally are placed after education and work experience. Information in this section may include scholarships or academic honors, workplace achievements (e.g., top sales earner for the fiscal year), membership in professional organizations, and volunteer work. The length of this section may vary greatly. However, applicants should try to trim it to include only information relevant to the job for which they are applying. For example, an applicant's volunteer work for an organization that assists troubled youth may be relevant if the individual applies for a teaching position but not if the applicant wants a job as a marine biologist.

References

References are people who vouch for an applicant's skills and abilities. Adding references to a resume is optional. References are helpful for recent graduates with limited work experience, but people with many years of experience in the working world may not want potential employers to contact their references without prior approval. In such cases, applicants may simply include the line "References available upon request" at the end of their resume. Applicants who choose to include references should make sure that all contact information for their references is up to date. It is also good practice to seek approval from references before listing them on a resume.

Research & Theory

An important aspect of resume writing is organization. Following are three of the most common organizational strategies for resumes:

Chronological—A chronological resume organizes an applicant's work history in order, beginning with the most recent position and working backward. Beneath each entry, the applicant generally lists an overview of the accomplishments, skills, or responsibilities related to that position.

Functional—A functional resume is organized by skill. With this format, applicants generally create a number of skill headings relevant to the position for which they are applying. The applicant then lists accomplishments from all of their experiences (past employment, volunteer work, activities, etc.) that relate to that particular skill. A few examples of common skill headings are Leadership, Communication, Teamwork, Research, Customer Service, Critical Thinking, and Writing.

Hybrid (Combination)—A hybrid, or combination, resume combines elements of both the chronological and functional resume. It lists an applicant's work history in order, beginning with the most recent position and working backward. Beneath each job, however, are skill headings under which the applicants list accomplishments from their experiences in that particular position.

Trends in resume writing tend to change over time. For a long time, people believed that a resume should be no longer than a page. Often applicants expanded margins and chose tiny fonts so they could squeeze as much as possible into a limited amount of space. However, experts suggest that it is more important to make a resume readable, even if that means extending the information to a second or even a third page.

Because crafting a perfect resume takes much time and consideration, some may be tempted to send the same resume to all employers. Experts recommend avoiding this temptation. Although applicants may use the "perfect" version of their resume as a jumping-off point, they should craft unique resumes for each opportunity by adjusting the employment objective, work experience, skills, or special interests to best fit the job. They should consider reorganizing skills to emphasize certain characteristics or adding or deleting special interests that may or may not be relevant to the position for which they are applying.

In addition, Harvard Business Review's Amy Gallo notes that some experts suggest applicants include a brief summary of their expertise at the beginning of their resume where it stands a better chance of grabbing a busy hiring manager's attention.

Bibliography

Adams, Susan. "How to Write a Resume When You're Just Out of College." Forbes. Forbes.com, LLC. 10 May 2012. Web. 6 Jan. 2015. http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/05/10/how-to-write-a-resume-when-youre-just-out-of-college/

Gallo, Amy. "How to Write a Resume That Stands Out." Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business School Publishing, 19 Dec. 2014. Web. 6 Jan. 2015. https://hbr.org/2014/12/how-to-write-a-resume-that-stands-out

Hegar, Kathryn W. "Career Advisor: Writing an Effective Resume." Modern Human Relations at Work. 11th ed. Mason, OH: South-Western, 2012, 114–121. Print.

Parker, Yana, and Beth Brown. The Damn Good Resume Guide: A Crash Course in Resume Writing. 5th ed. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2012. Print.

"Résumé Workshop." Purdue Online Writing Lab, owl.purdue.edu/owl/job‗search‗writing/resumes‗and‗vitas/resume‗workshop/index.html. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.