Career Services

Houghton College                 

Resume Writing Guidelines

What Is A Resume?

A resume is a concise description of your education, accomplishments and abilities as they relate to your employment objective.  The purpose of the resume is to stimulate the interest of a prospective employer, enough so that you are invited to interview for a position.

As such, your resume is a marketing tool for selling a very important product - YOU.  To make the sale, you must show that you have the abilities, education, experiences, and accomplishments to do the job for which you are applying.

Steps For Developing A Resume

Create A Professional Appearance.  Use a heavy bond paper; white, ivory, beige, or gray colored paper is typically the most professional looking. 

Organize A Concise and Clear Structure.  People generally skim resumes before they thoroughly read them.  If your resume is sloppy and disorganized, the content will never be given a chance.  Use margins and good spacing to emphasize important points.  Place the most important things near the beginning of your resume.  When listing work experience, record the information in reverse chronological order.

Use Appropriate Resume Language.  Resume sentences are short phrases or clauses with no subject; most begin with action verbs.  Do not use personal pronouns.  Avoid phrases such “duties include:”  or “responsibilities are:”  Language use is different for resumes that will be scanned.  See appropriate section in this information for advice.

Heed Resume Layout Advice.  Keep your resume to one page; two pages maximum.  Boldface or italic type, underlining, and the use of all upper case letters can aid in drawing attention to key resume points.

Select An Appropriate Resume Format.   Your qualifications can be presented in several different formats. For advice on which to use, consult with someone in the Career Development Center.  Resume samples are provided to give you an idea of each of these formats.  Resume templates are also available in Microsoft Word

Chronological - Here job history is organized with the most recent experience listed first.  Employers and job titles are emphasized; duties and accomplishments are described in detail.  This format is best used when your work history shows progress in a chosen field. 

Functional - Here your skills and accomplishments developed through your education, work, and co-curricular activities is highlighted.

Combination - Here you combine the best elements of both the functional and the chronological resume through the development of a section or heading entitled “Qualifications” or “Profile.

Assistance with resume development and resume critiquing is provided

by Career Services through workshops and personal appointments.

Skills Evaluation

Through your educational and work experiences, you have developed several different types of skills.  Resumes (and interviews) focus on the skills you have to offer an employer.  Take some time to identify those skills that are most applicable to the job you wish to do.  Career Services offers you the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and TypeFocus, a free, on-line assessment tool to help you determine some of your skills and strengths.  Simply ask at Career Services for either of these helpful testing instruments.
 

A skill is an ability to perform an activity in a competent manner. Typically, skills fall into one of three categories:

Transferable or Functional Skills.  These skills can be applied to a variety of work settings.  The following groups of skills are considered to be transferable:  Communication, Humanitarian, Leadership/Management,  Mental/Creative, Mental/Analytical, Physical/Manual, and Creative Expression.  Each of these general categories have specific skills associated with them.

Self-Management Skills.  These skills include strengths of your personality and temperament; they determine how you will perform tasks on the job.  Self management skills may include the ability to work under pressure, willingness to take initiative, self-confidence, orderliness, tact/diplomacy, enthusiasm, cooperation, assertiveness, etc.

Work Content Skills.  These skills relate to specific knowledge needed to perform a job.  Some examples are word processing, editing, desktop publishing, languages, accounting, interior decorating, etc.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It is important that you learn how to demonstrate

specific examples of the skills you possess. 

Take some time to jot down past experiences

where you used these skills effectively. 

Practice talking about them before others by taking advantage

of the mock interview service provided by Career Services.

Writing Career Objectives

What Is A Career Objective?

A career objective defines for the employer the career interests that you have and the setting(s) in which you would like to use your experience and education.

Three Types of Career Objective Statements

Position Oriented:      This is a statement that focuses on a specific job title.

Field Oriented:          This is a statement that indicates the career field desired, not
                                            a specific job.

Skill Oriented:          This is a statement which specifies skills you possess which
                                            you want to perform in your job.

Sample Professional Objectives

Seeking a position in the marketing field focusing on planning, promotion, and development of new products.

            Seeking management trainee position in the retail industry.

Industrial Sales Representative.  Seeking position that utilizes technical background in physics, chemistry, and biological sciences.

Reporter or Copy Editor.

To teach science in a public school setting.

Desire to join a market research firm or market research department as an analyst.

Looking to begin a career in family counseling in an urban social service setting.  Interests in program planning and community development responsibilities.

Seeking staff position with a medium to large public accounting firm.

Lab Assistant in an industrial chemical facility.

What To Avoid When Writing A Career Objective

Avoid excessive verbage like “...with a progressive company”, “...utilizing my strongest skills”, “...with an opportunity for advancement”.

Consult the resume examples in Career Services for ways to write your resume

without using the standard Career Objective heading.

Resume Content

A resume is a very flexible document that can be adapted to a specific job or organization you are targeting.  The content categories you choose for your resume and the order in which you place them may vary from resume to resume.  The following list provides an overview of the typical information categories found on resumes.

Identifying         Name, current address, telephone number.  You may choose to
Data:                 include an e-mail or fax #, but do so only if you regularly access
                        these services.

Career

Objective:         Note section on Developing Career Objectives.

Education:         List your most recent degree or experience first; follow with other
                        educational experiences; include degree, college, location of college,
                        graduation date.

                        Additional information that is typically a part of this section includes
                        your major, minor, GPA, honors.  You may include areas of
                        research, study abroad, or internships, although usually this
                        information will be contained in a separate category.

Work                This section can include paid, volunteer, and part-time positions. 
Experience:       For each position list your job title, name of organization, city and
                        state where the organization is located and the dates that you
                        worked there.  Briefly describe your responsibilities, skills, and
                        achievements for each position. 

                        Typically your work experiences are listed in reverse
                        chronological order.  Sometimes it is best to separate your work
                        experiences into several categories to distinguish between those

                        experiences that are related to what you wish to do and those that
                        are not.  Categor headings often used to separate work
                        experiences include:  Related Experience, Volunteer
                        Experience, Community Service.

Skills:                Computer knowledge, languages, certifications are some of the
                        skills often recorded in this section

Activities:          These can be things you have participated in at college or in the

                        community or church you attend. 

Optional categories or other headings often used include:  Student Teaching, Profile, Awards, Qualifications, Military, Accomplishments, Achievements, Strengths.

References:      Never list the names of your references on your resume.     

                        You can include your references on another piece of paper that you
                        send with your resume.  Include a heading similar to your resume,
                        and the word "References" beneath that.  Include the individual's

                        name, title, address, city/state/zip, telephone number(s) and email
                        address if applicable.  Other appropriate ways to handle this section
                        are as follows:

                        References:      Available upon request

                        References available from
                        Career Services, Houghton College, Houghton , NY 14744

                                                      585-567-9622

                                  (You may only use this version if you set up a credentials file with
Career Services)

Preparing A Resume To Be Scanned

Many companies are using scanning technology to read your resume, particularly if they receive a large number of resumes.  By using resume scanning, employers can identify potential candidates for a position by searching their resume database for qualifications using keywords.  Candidates whose resumes closely match the keyword specifications appear as potential matches for the employer.

Key Points To Remember When Preparing A Resume For Scanning

• Use white paper. 

• Do not fold or staple.

• Faxing a resume can cause problems; send an original resume to the organization.

• Use standard typefaces and a font size between 10 and 14 points.

• Avoid italics, underlining, or anything that condenses the spacing between letters.

• Use bold type or all upper case letters for emphasis, particularly on headings.

• Avoid vertical and horizontal lines, graphics, shading, or shadowing.

• Submit an original resume, printed with a laser printer

• Place your name at the top of the resume on a line by itself.

• Use standard address format below your name; list each phone number on a separate line.

• Use key words to define your skills, experience, and education. 

• Be concrete.  Focus on nouns, not verbs.

• Use common headings such as:  Objective, Experience, Work History, Skills,          
  Education, Publications, Certifications, Honors, Memberships, etc.

• The order in which you place your information is not as important, as your resume will be scanned for keywords.

Typical Resume Mistakes

More often than not, a company’s first impression of you comes in the form of a resume, a simple piece of paper that includes your entire work and educational history, typically on one to two pages.  With such limited space to convey such important information, it pays to make sure you get it right the first time.

To meet this challenge, it’s important to keep in mind 10 of the most common resume mistakes.  While avoiding these mistakes won’t automatically make you a shoe-in for the job of your choice, it will make sure you are on the right track.

Mistake #1:  Writing your resume to sound like a series of job descriptions.

You need to give the reader an idea of what you have done throughout your career, but instead of focusing on the duties you were responsible for at your previous jobs, list your accomplishments along with quantifiable facts to back up your claims.  Saying you were responsible for a 10 percent growth in overall sales is more impressive than simply stating you managed a sales team.

Mistake #2:  writing in the first person.

Your resume is not a personal correspondence, and should not included words such as “I,” “my,” and “me.”  Save the first person pronouns for your cover letter.

Mistake #3:  Including unrelated and personal information.

As mentioned above, you do not have much room in a resume, so why take up valuable space with information unrelated to the position you are seeking?  Leave the details about your personal life, marital status, hobbies and other interests on the cutting room floor.

Mistake #4:  Using passive language or no action words.

Your resume needs to make a bold, strong statement, and the best way to do this is by utilizing action words to describe your accomplishments.  Words like “coordinated,” “achieved,” “managed,” and “implemented” will spice up your resume and make it more interesting and relevant to the reader.

Mistake #5:  Repetitiveness.

While using action words is important, it is also key to make sure you have variety in your resume.  Don’t pick a couple of words and stick with them throughout the entire document.  Break out a thesaurus if you are having problems coming up with new ways to say the same thing.

Mistake #6:  Poor formatting or formatting that is too flashy.

While the most important part of your resume is the content, there is no question that the document’s overall look and feel is also important.  By now, you should be comfortable enough with a word processing program to create a clean, polished looking document.  Use consistent formatting for headings and bullet points.  In the same respect, steer clear of flashy formatting or overly creative resumes with unconventional fonts or graphics, unless you are seeking a highly creative position.  Keep your resume simple, bold, and professional.

Mistake #7:  Sending a resume without a cover letter.

One of the worst things you can do is send a great resume without an official introduction.  Resumes and cover letters should be inseparable.  Make sure you don’t give up your chance to really sell yourself with a cover letter.

Mistake #8:  Sending an unfocused or generic resume.

While your past experience does not change depending on the job or industry you are targeting, your resume certainly should.  If you are seeking a sales-related positions, your resume will included details that are different than those that would be included in a resume for a management job.  Make sure you write to what you are seeking and make it easy for the reader to see why you are a good fit.

Mistake #9:  Typos and other spelling or grammatical errors.

Before you send out your resume, make sure you have proofread it several times.  If a typo or misspelling is found, many hiring managers won’t give a resume a second look and will automatically toss it.

Mistake #10:  Sending your resume to a nameless, faceless person.

Want your resume to get thrown into the recycling bin?  Just send it to the company’s “Hiring Manager” or “To Whom it May Concern.”  Do yourself a big favor and take the time to find a real person at the company who is responsible for hiring in the department you are targeting.  This is often the first and most helpful step to getting your foot in the door.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW A VARIETY OF SAMPLE RESUMES. 

If you don't find a suitable example, stop in Career Services for a personal appointment about your resume. 

We also provide resume writing guidelines and a large volume of resume samples illustrating various layouts, methods of construction, type size and font for student use. Good on-line sources for resume construction and samples can be found at StudentCenter or College Grad Hunter.   However, some organizations charge a fee for this service, so we suggest you check all your possibilities before you agree to use one of them.