What is a Resume for?• Way to evaluate you as a potential candidate• An “advertisement” of your skills, knowledge, and

experience• Can include career goals, education, work

experience, activities, honors, and any special skills

Tips for Winning Resumes• Reduce you resume to one page.• Margins should be .5 inch to one inch.• Choose a standard font; make stylizing consistent throughout• Font should be 10-12 point (larger for name)• Choose a style/format that is unique to you; avoid templates• Use reverse chronological order in each category• Arrange categories in order from most to least important• Use action-oriented phrases (see functional verbs)• Say it once, concise, and quantify• Your resume must be error free!

Before you begin…• Research. Who is your audience & what is the

opportunity?• Desired skills, key words, industry jargon found in job

description and on interviewer’s website.

• Brainstorm. What are your best skills, strengths and qualities? What experiences have you had on the job, in the classroom, and extracurricular activities that show:• Leadership, academic excellence, honors,

service, and work ethic.

Contact Information

Full NameBox 888, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085

firstname.lastname@villanova.edu610-555-1212

Contact information generally resides at the top of the resume providing all current information.

Objective

An objective is optional. • Allows you to explain/clarify what you’re looking for,

not “seeking a challenging and exciting position using my skills”

• Keep it short and to the point• Specify position you desire and skills you possess• Should be re-written for each position

Objective: To obtain a summer internship in a dynamic public relations firm to further sharpen my writing skills and contribute to a variety of client projects.

Education

• Use reverse chronological order• List name of institution, location, degree, graduation date,

minor, concentration• Can list academic awards, honors, coursework• Include all educational experiences including

study abroad experiences• Include your high school information if you’re a Freshman,

Sophomore, or if your high school has a strong network.• List GPA if it is a 2.8 or higher; Major GPA if it’s higher.

Villanova University, Villanova, PA May 2012Bachelor of Science in BiologyGPA: 3.14Deans list: Fall 2010, Spring 2011

Categorize your experiences• Use list to develop separate sections– Work Experience – (______ Related Experience)– Academic Projects/Papers/ Highlights– Activities– Service– Leadership– Honors/Awards– Skills

Experience

• Include work experience, internships, volunteer work, class projects, athletics, etc.

• Use reverse chronological order• The 5 things you need to list:

Title/Position, Organization, City, State, Date• Use action statements to create job descriptions and give

specific details to highlight your abilities/skills, achievements

Shift manager, Gullifty’s Restaurant, Bryn Mawr, PA Fall 2010 – present• Awarded employee of the month in March 2011 for excellent customer service.• Trained 12 new staff members on wait staff etiquette in a fast-paced atmosphere.• Promoted from server to shift manager within three months of start date.

Experience (cont’d)

Descriptions:• Quantify whenever you can– “$9870” “7 clients” “23 days” “45%”

• Use a superlative whenever you can– First, only, most, best, fastest, largest, …

• Rank order your bullets• Focus on accomplishments, not routine duties• Begin with dynamic verbs: “collaborated,”

“managed,” “donated,” “led”

Final Draft of your Winning Resume

• Must be ERROR FREE• If printing, consider printing on resume paper• Choose standard fonts and consider creating your

own PDF before uploading• When emailing a resume, do so as an attachment,

unless told otherwise

Other Tips

• Create multiple versions connecting you to each reader

• Be sure it’s easy to read and appealing

• Know your own resume well

• Ultimately it is YOUR resume

• Register on GoNova: upload & publish your resume

The Career Center is here to help with all your career development needs!

Make an appointment to see a Career Counselor by calling 610-519-4060 or stop by for Walk In Hours Monday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

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