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Writing Résumés

Although you will present your credentials on LinkedIn and other sites, you will also need to create a résumé, which you will upload to a job board or a company’s website, email to the company, or paste into a web-based form.

Many students wonder whether to write their résumés themselves or use a résumé-preparation agency. It is best to write your own résumé, for three reasons:

Because most companies use résumé-application software to scan résumés into databases and search for keywords, a good résumé includes the right keywords. Only after a résumé has made it through that initial electronic pass will it be read by a person. Résumé consultant Ramsey Penegar puts it this way: “If your résumé doesn’t have the keywords that match their job requirements, your résumé may hit the ‘no’ pile early in the process” (Auerbach, 2012).

The best way to be sure you have the appropriate keywords in your résumé is to study the job description in the actual job posting you want to respond to. Then find ten other ads for similar positions and identify the terms that come up frequently. Think in terms of job titles, names of products, companies, technologies, and professional organizations. For instance, if the job is to develop web pages, you will likely see many references to “web page,” “Internet,” “XHTML,” “HTML5,” “Java,” “W3C,” and “CSS.” Also include keywords that refer to your communication skills, such as “public speaking,” “oral communication,” and “communication skills.”

But don’t just list the keywords. Instead, integrate them into sentences about your skills and accomplishments. For instance, a computer-science student might write, “Wrote applications for migrating data between systems/databases using C#, XML, and Excel Macros.” A chemical engineer might write, “Worked with polymers, mixing and de-gassing polydimethylsiloxane.”

How long should a résumé be? It should be long enough to include all pertinent information but not so long that it bores or irritates the reader. Although some hiring consultants have guidelines (such as that a student’s résumé should be no longer than one page, or that applicants who are vice presidents at companies can write two-page résumés), the consensus is that length is unimportant. If an applicant has more experience, the résumé will be longer; if an applicant has less experience, it will be shorter. If all the information in the résumé helps make the case that the applicant is an excellent fit for the position, it’s the right length.

The information that goes into a résumé is commonly ordered either chronologically or by skills. In a chronological résumé, you use time as the organizing pattern for each section, including education and experience, and discuss your responsibilities for each job you have held. In a skills résumé (sometimes called a functional résumé), you merely list your previous jobs but include a skills section in which you describe your talents, skills, and achievements.

A chronological résumé focuses on the record of employment, giving an applicant the opportunity to describe the duties and accomplishments related to each job. The skills résumé highlights the skills (such as supervising others, managing a large department, reducing production costs) that the candidate demonstrated at several different companies. The skills résumé is a popular choice for applicants who have a gap in their employment history, who are re-entering the workforce, or who have changed jobs frequently.

In both types of résumé, you use reverse chronology; that is, you present the most recent jobs and degrees first, to emphasize them.

Most chronological résumés have five basic elements: identifying information, summary of qualifications, education, employment history, and interests and activities. Sometimes writers include a sixth section: references. In filling in these basic sections, remember that you want to include the keywords that will attract employers.

Identifying Information If you are submitting your résumé directly to a company, include your full name, address, phone number, and email address. Use your complete address, including the zip code. If your address during the academic year differs from your home address, list both and identify them clearly. An employer might call during an academic holiday to arrange an interview.

However, if you are posting your résumé to an Internet job board, where it can be seen by anyone, you will be more vulnerable to scammers, spammers, and identity thieves. Don’t include a mailing address or phone number, and use an email address that does not identify you.

Summary Statement After the identifying information, add a summary statement, a brief paragraph that highlights three or four important skills or accomplishments. For example:

Summary

Six years’ experience creating testing documentation to qualify production programs that run on Automated Test and Handling Equipment. Four years’ experience running QA tests on software, hardware, and semiconductor products. Bilingual English and Italian. Secret security clearance.

Education If you are a student or a recent graduate, place the education section next. If you have substantial professional experience, place the employment-history section before the education section.

Include at least the following information in the education section:

The education section is the easiest part of the résumé to adapt in applying for different positions. For example, a student majoring in electrical engineering who is applying for a position requiring strong communication skills can emphasize communication courses in one version of the résumé and advanced electrical engineering courses in another version. As you compose the education section, emphasize those aspects of your background that meet the requirements for the particular job.

Employment History Present at least the basic information about each job you have held: the dates of employment, the organization’s name and location, and your position or title. Then add carefully selected details. Readers want to know what you did and accomplished. Provide at least a two- to three-line description for each position. For particularly important or relevant jobs, write more, focusing on one or more of the following factors:

Whenever possible, emphasize accomplishments. If you reorganized the shifts of the weekend employees you supervised, state the results:

Reorganized the weekend shift, resulting in a cost savings of more than $3,000 per year.

Wrote and produced (with Adobe InDesign) a 56-page parts catalog that is still used by the company and that increased our phone inquiries by more than 25 percent.

When you describe positions, functions, or responsibilities, use the active voice (“supervised three workers”) rather than the passive voice (“three workers were supervised by me”). The active voice highlights action. Note that writers often omit the I at the start of sentences: “Prepared bids,” rather than “I prepared bids.” Whichever style you use, be consistent. Figure 15.3 lists some strong verbs to use in describing your experience.

Figure 15.3 Strong Action Verbs Used in Résumés

Here is a sample listing of employment history:

June–September 2014: Student Dietitian

Millersville General Hospital, Millersville, TX

Gathered dietary histories and assisted in preparing menus for a 300-bed hospital.

Received “excellent” on all seven items in evaluation by head dietitian.

In just a few lines, you can show that you sought and accepted responsibility and that you acted professionally. Do not write, “I accepted responsibility”; instead, present facts that lead the reader to that conclusion.

Naturally, not all jobs entail professional skills and responsibilities. Many students find summer work as laborers, sales clerks, and so forth. If you have not held a professional position, list the jobs you have held, even if they were unrelated to your career plans. If the job title is self-explanatory, such as restaurant server or service-station attendant, don’t elaborate. If you can write that you contributed to your tuition or expenses, such as by earning 50 percent of your annual expenses through a job, employers will be impressed by your self-reliance.

If you have held a number of nonprofessional as well as several professional positions, group the nonprofessional ones:

Other Employment: cashier (summer 2010), salesperson (part-time, 2011), clerk (summer 2012)

This strategy prevents the nonprofessional positions from drawing the reader’s attention away from the more important positions.

If you have gaps in your employment history—because you were raising children, attending school, or recovering from an accident, or for other reasons—consider using a skills résumé, which focuses more on your skills and less on your job history. You can explain the gaps in the job-application letter (if you write one) or in an interview. For instance, you could say, “I spent 2010 and part of 2012 caring for my elderly parent, but during that time I was able to do some substitute teaching and study at home to prepare for my A+ and Network+ certification, which I earned in late 2012.” Do not lie or mislead about your dates of employment.

If you have had several positions with the same employer, you can present one description that encompasses all the positions or present a separate description for each position.

PRESENTING ONE DESCRIPTION

Blue Cross of Iowa, Ames, Iowa (January 2006–present)

As Claims Examiner II, processed national account inquiries and claims in accordance with …. After promotion to Member Service Representative/Claims Examiner II position, planned policies and procedures …. As Internal Auditor II, audit claims, enrollment, and inquiries; run dataset population and sample reports ….

This format enables you to mention your promotions and to create a clear narrative that emphasizes your progress within the company.

PRESENTING SEPARATE DESCRIPTIONS

Blue Cross of Iowa, Ames, Iowa (January 2006–present)

This format, which enables you to create a fuller description of each position, is effective if you are trying to show that each position is distinct and you wish to describe the more-recent positions more fully.

Interests and Activities The interests-and-activities section of the résumé is the appropriate place for several kinds of information about you:

Do not include activities that might create a negative impression, such as gambling or performing in a death-metal rock band. And always omit such activities as meeting people and reading. Everybody does these things.

References Potential employers will want to learn more about you from your professors and previous employers. These people who are willing to speak or write on your behalf are called references.

Some applicants list their references on their résumé. The advantage of this strategy is that the potential employer can contact the references without having to contact the applicant. Other applicants prefer to wait until the potential employer has asked for the list. The advantage of this strategy is that the applicant can assemble a different set of references for each position without having to create different résumés. Although applicants in the past added a note stating “References available upon request” at the end of their résumés, many applicants today do not do so because they think the comment is unnecessary: employers assume that applicants can provide a list of references—and that they would love to do so.

Regardless of whether you list your references on your résumé, choose your references carefully. Solicit references only from those who know your work best and for whom you have done your best work—for instance, a previous employer with whom you worked closely or a professor from whom you received A’s. Don’t ask prominent professors who do not know your work well; they will be unable to write informative letters.

Do not simply assume that someone is willing to serve as a reference for you. Give the potential reference writer an opportunity to decline gracefully. The person might not have been as impressed with your work as you think. If you simply ask the person to serve as a reference, he or she might accept and then write a lukewarm letter. It is better to ask, “Would you be able to write an enthusiastic letter for me?” or “Do you feel you know me well enough to write a strong recommendation?” If the person shows any signs of hesitation or reluctance, withdraw the request. It may be a little embarrassing, but it is better than receiving a weak recommendation.

In listing their references, some applicants add, for each reference, a sentence or two describing their relationship with the person, as shown in this sample listing for a reference.

Dr. Dale Cletis

Professor of English

Boise State University

Boise, ID 83725

208.555.2637

dcletis@boisestate.edu

Dr. Cletis was my instructor in three literature courses, as well as my adviser.

Other Elements The sections discussed so far appear on almost everyone’s résumé. Other sections are either optional or appropriate for only some job seekers.

Among the issues that can pose challenges for applicants who are preparing their résumés are questions of race, religion, and sexual orientation and questions about criminal records.

Many applicants wonder whether to include information—about jobs, colleges, associations, and other topics—that a potential employer might use against them. For instance, if you attend Brigham Young University, most people will know that you are likely a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Being president of the LGBT association on campus probably signals something about your sexual identity.

You are not obligated to reveal anything you do not wish to reveal (although you can’t hide the name of your college or university). If you want, you can write that you are the president of a campus student organization and not specify the name of that organization. If the potential employer wants to talk about it in more detail in an interview, you can decide how forthcoming you want to be.

Many applicants don’t bother trying to conceal factors unrelated to the job. If a potential employer is going to discriminate based on religion, sexual orientation, or race, these applicants reason, there’s no sense wasting time trying to get that job because they wouldn’t want to work there, anyway.

The question of a criminal record is more challenging for applicants. An applicant with a criminal record probably has a gap in his or her employment record, but a skills résumé can make that gap less obvious. An applicant is under no obligation to mention a criminal record in a résumé or letter, but if the potential employer asks in the application itself or in an interview, it is best to tell the truth. Lying would be cause for dismissal—and employers are very likely to discover a criminal record during a background check. Some applicants with criminal records try to delay divulging that information until the interview, at which point they can explain the circumstances directly: they made a mistake, paid the penalty, and now are working hard to contribute positively. Some applicants even figure out ways to discuss skills they acquired—or lessons they learned—that have made them better employees.

A skills résumé differs from a chronological résumé in that it includes a separate section, usually called “Skills” or “Skills and Abilities,” that emphasizes job skills and knowledge. In a skills résumé, the employment section becomes a brief list of information about your employment history: companies, dates of employment, and positions. Here is an example of a skills section.

Skills and Abilities

Management

Served as weekend manager of six employees in a retail clothing business. Also trained three summer interns at a health-maintenance organization.

Writing and Editing

Wrote status reports, edited performance appraisals, participated in assembling and producing an environmental impact statement using desktop publishing.

Teaching and Tutoring

Tutored in the university writing center. Taught a two-week course in electronics for teenagers. Coach youth basketball.

In a skills section, you choose the headings, the arrangement, and the level of detail. Your goal, of course, is to highlight the skills an employer is seeking.

Most companies use computerized applicant-tracking systems, such as RESUMate, Bullhorn, or HRsmart, to evaluate the dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of job applications they receive every day. The information from these applications is stored in databases, which can be searched electronically for keywords to generate a pool of applicants for specific positions. Once a pool of candidates has been generated, someone at the company reads their résumés. Prepare a plain-text résumé so that you can survive this two-stage process.

A plain-text résumé, also called a text résumé, ASCII résumé, or electronic résumé, is a résumé that uses a very limited character set and has little formatting so that it can be stored in any database and read by any software. It will not be as attractive as a fully formatted document created with a word processor, but if you prepare it carefully it will say what you want it to say and be easy to read.

You might want to create two versions of your plain-text résumé: a version using Word Wrap (in Notepad’s Format tab) to be attached to an email, and a version not using Word Wrap to be pasted into the body of an email.

Check each new version to be sure the information has converted properly. Copy and paste the version not using Word Wrap into an email and send it to yourself, and then review it. Attach the new file using Word Wrap to an email, open it in your text editor, and review it.

Figures 15.4 and 15.5 show a plain-text chronological résumé and a plain-text skills résumé.

The writer provides his contact information, including his email address.

This plain-text résumé uses only plus signs to signal new headings. Notice that all information is left-justified.

The writer presents a summary statement. Some applicants find it awkward to praise themselves, describing their skills, but it is important to have keywords such as “analytical skills” in the résumé, particularly if the job ad mentioned them.

The writer chooses to emphasize his advanced engineering courses. For another job, he might emphasize other courses.

The writer wisely creates a category that calls attention to his academic awards and his membership in his field’s major professional organization.

The writer does not include his references or write “References available upon request.” If the reader invites him to proceed to the next step in the process, Carl will send a list of references, with their contact information.

Although fewer and fewer employers request a formatted résumé, some still do. Some applicants send formatted résumés in addition to their plain-text résumés. Figure 15.5.

In a skills résumé, you present the skills section at the start. This organization lets you emphasize your professional attributes. Notice that the writer uses specific details—names of software, number of credits, types of documents, kinds of activities—to make her case.

The employment section contains a list of positions rather than descriptions of what the writer did in each position.

The volunteer position says something about the writer’s character.

The writer believes that the skills required in raising children are relevant in the workplace. Other applicants might think that because a résumé describes job credentials, this information should be omitted.