How to Write a Resume

Writing a good resume is very important because that is usually the first thing a potential employer see's from you. Make sure to make it clear, concise and use action words. Let your personality and accomplishments shine through.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Word processing program
• Computer

1. Start at the top of the page by typing your name, address and phone number. Decide whether you would like to center it in the middle of the page or if you want to put it all the way to the left of the page.

2. Next, put your objective, which is usually one or two sentences and details what you wish to obtain or accomplish.

3. Next, type out your education. Include the heading "Education" and then type out your most recent degree/education first and then go backwards. For example if you just graduated with a Bachelor's degree, type out the name of the college, Bachelor's degree in ...., the month and year you graduated, any minors you had and you may or may not want to include your GPA. If you have an Associate's degree or any other type of formal education, put it here.

4. Next, comes the Experience section. Type out all of the career/job experience you have, beginning with your most recent job and going backwards at least a few years or so. Remember to include the name of the place where you worked, the position you held, the years you worked there (ex: 1998-2002) and the responsibilites you had there. Explain in detail the responsibilites and accomplishments at that job.

5. Next, you should include an Awards, Certificates, Associations or Affiliations section. This will show more of your achievements. Do you have any awards or are you certified to do anything? Are you a member of any associations, clubs or organizations? Be sure to include all of these things to show that you are more qualified for a position.

6. Another section you may want to include could be a "skills" section, where you point out any special skills you have or knowledge. For example, you can type 75 WPM, maybe you know several different software programs that most people do not. Can you make anything or are you good at anything in particular? What are your talents? What are your strengths? Point them out in this special section to highlight how you are different from others and what makes you special.

7. You may want to include a seperate page of references if the position asks for it or you may just want to include "References Available Upon Request", at the bottom of your resume. Another idea to include in your resume is a footer that states how recent your resume is, that way the people viewing it see that you've updated it recently and that way you remember how long it's been since your last update to it. Just include a footer stating "Updated" and then the date. Example: Updated 01/01/2009

Tips & Warnings

• Keep it as short and concise as you can. No one wants to read through a long 3 or 4 page resume. Even if you have a lot of education, experience and knowledge you should try to condense it and stick with the points that are most important to get you noticed.
• Use a standard font and standard 12-point size. Be careful when bolding and using italics. Make sure and double check your spelling and grammar. It is a big turn off to a potential employer to see that you have made careless mistakes on a resume. That is a sure fire way of not getting yourself recognized.

[Delaplane]

on 1/8/2009 good article!

[cadence]

on 12/26/2008 Great resume writing tips.