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Resume and Curriculum Vita (CV) Writing
Resumes (curriculum vitaes or CVs outside the US) are typically how you introduce yourself to employers. As such, they are essential components of your job search.
Resume/CV Writing in Three Easy Steps
Utilize this step-by-step guide for building an effective resume or CV:
- Identify a career goal. If you are still unclear on that goal, visit our Career Planning webpage.
- Research positions and determine where you fit in:
- Search job search agents for position descriptions in your field. Don’t worry about job location yet – this is for informational purposes, not applying.
- Read multiple job descriptions. Look for similarities and differences.
- Develop a list of things you have done that are reflective of the skills that are similar across job postings.
- Modify your base resume to include things unique to a posting or include those skills or characteristics in your cover letter.
- Review your professional experience. Be sure to include:
- What makes you a good coworker or employee.
- Additional skills and knowledge you possess that employer should know.
Chronological format
The most traditional and widely used format.
- Information is presented in date-order, from most recent to least recent.
- Other than the professional profile, skills are presented in connection to specific experiences.
Functional format (skills based)
Most commonly used by career changers.
- Rather than attributing your skills and knowledge to specific experiences, focus on the skills and knowledge you offer. List your work and academic experiences.
- Skills are grouped under descriptive headings and are not attributed to specific experiences.
- Following your profile:
- Identify 2 to 5 skill headings directly related to your field. For example, someone applying for a human services position, might choose:
- counseling and human services experience
- client relations experience
- administrative skills
- Under each heading, list the specific skills you have for each but not what experience helped you build those skills.
- Arrange the skill descriptors based on relevance to the job you are seeking – not based on how much time you spent on them.
- Identify 2 to 5 skill headings directly related to your field. For example, someone applying for a human services position, might choose:
- Follow the descriptors with an ‘Education’ section listing your degrees and dates, as well as a ‘Work History,’ indicating the positions you’ve held and where you worked. Your Work History and Education section should be in reverse chronological order and should not include skill descriptors.
Combination Format
Allows you to prioritize experiences by groupings. This is useful when your relevant experience is not reflected in your most recent position.
- Skill categories are arranged based on relevance to the type of work you wish to do.
- Experiences are categorized into skill headings, organized as most recent to least recent.
- Skill descriptions, other than those in the professional profile are formatted under specific experiences.
Resume Templates and Resume Builders
Many people seek online resume builders or resume templates to facilitate their resume development. If you choose to use this type of service, be sure they use a format that is ATS friendly and compatible with American resume standards, unless applying outside the U.S. Things to look for/avoid:
- To avoid discrimination concerns, American resumes do not include your profile photos. European resumes include personal profiles, on a standard basis.
- Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) often cannot read text presented in tables. Many resume builders/resume templates use tables as they make aligning text easier. If you are not sure, download your resume and open it in a Word document. That will show if there is a table. Most formats that have text on the right side and text indented and aligned are using tables.
- ATS also can be challenged with the use of headers/footers, graphics, text boxes, italics and ampersands. Avoid resume builders/templates that use these in their format.
Follow these formatting principles
- Avoid resume templates. Find a resume you like and try to mimic it.
- They use table and text box formatting that is incompatible with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
- They are difficult to update.
- Use margins that are between .5 and 1 inch
- Incorporate spacing that makes the resume easier to read
- Use highlighting to make information stand out (bold, italics, caps, small caps, varied font sizes)
- Font sizes
- Your name should be between 18-20 points.
- Headings should be one font size larger than the text.
- Text should be between 11-12 points (absolutely no smaller than 10 points).
- Length
- Resumes should be one page minimum and as close to one page as you can while still communicating your qualifications (experienced job hunters should expect to have multiple pages)
- If you feel you need more than one page, have your resume reviewed by Career Development. We can help you format the resume to its maximum potential and ensure that all data is necessary.
Include the following content areas as well as any other information you feel the employer needs to know about you.
- Your name. If your field requires licenses and degrees that you have (not working toward), put the abbreviations next to your name (e.g., James Smith, BSN, RN; Mary Jones, BS, RRT)
- Mailing addresses are not required.
- Include your city and state if you are applying to a commutable distance
- If you plan to relocate, omit your location
- Include the following:
- A professional-sounding email address. Avoid email addresses from “old” platforms - AOL, Hotmail or Juno).
- Phone number (be sure your voicemail message is appropriate)
- LinkedIn profile and/or electronic portfolio link
- Format your contact information with your name at the top of the page; multiple formats are available for additional data
Note: if you are having trouble keeping your resume to one page, try to restrict your address, phone, other contact information to one line.
Profile statements are 21st century “Objectives.” They let employers know how you can make an immediate impact on their organization. Rather than focusing on the type of employment you seek, profile statements focus on how you see yourself professionally. There are two typical formats for Profile statements:
- Option One:
Lead with a headline, followed by 1-5 short statements summarizing why you see yourself that way. For example:
Aviation Professional (the role you see yourself in)- Experienced pilot with strong leadership skills and knowledge of…
- Innovative problem solver, skilled in using cutting-edge technology to…
- Option Two:
Lead with a category heading. For example, "Experienced Aviation pilot with strong leadership skills focused on problem solving and cutting-edge technology." - Profiles can change with each position, to reflect the specific areas of emphasis associated with the position; or they can reflect what you have to offer in support of that headline, regardless of what position you seek. Either way, the cover letter you write will be tailored to the position. If an employer requests resumes only, tailor the profile to the position. If you have multiple points, bullet them. Bullets allow employers to skim text easily; paragraphs must be read.
From this point, resume sections are organized by relevance to your professional goals.
- If your experience is directly relevant to your goal and your degree is a necessity that does not distinguish you from other candidates, lead with your experience.
- If your education drives your qualifications for the position, whether or not you have directly related experience, lead with your education.
- Within each section, organize your experiences/degrees in a most recent to least recent format.
- In a Functional format, after the profile, go immediately to skill headings and skill descriptors. The education, work history and community engagement sections should be organized based on their relevance after the skill areas.
- Include your degree, major, college/university, and college location. If you received your degree within the last 15 years, also include your degree date.
Note: If you graduated more than 15 years ago, omitting degree dates deters age discrimination in the hiring process. - Be sure to record your degree accurately. Associates, bachelors, masters and doctorates are degree classifications - record the actual degree in that classification that you have received or are working towards (e.g., Bachelor of Arts - notice there is no "s" at the end of bachelor in the actual degree).
- In addition to your degrees, you are able to include GPA and honors.
- Include your GPA if 3.0 or above (or a 2.8 in technical fields). Employers looking for GPAs may assume that if it is not indicated on the resume, it is below a 3.0.
- With relevant experience, GPAs are less important.
- If you have multiple honors, create a separate section for the honors (scholarships, dean’s list, honor societies, awards)
Experiences can include work experiences, volunteer experiences, research experiences, etc. They can be separate sections or included under a broad “Experience” section.
Each experience should include:
- Position title
- Employer/Organization
- Employer/Organization location
- Dates of employment are optional. If concerned about age discrimination, omit.
- Experiences within the last 15 years tend to be safe from age discrimination. Omit dates for experiences older than 15 years to avoid discrimination.
- Young workers concerned that they will be considered too young/inexperienced can also omit dates.
- Skill descriptors:
Using the list you compiled prior to writing the resume, think about each experience. For each experience try to provide examples of skills and characteristics you used that relate to the skills and characteristics you listed that employers in that field.- Using the language in the job descriptions you identified, describe the skills or characteristics you determined in your research; provide context to the skill or characteristics from your job. Do not assume employers know your skills based on job titles.
- List in order of relevance to the job you are seeking (not based on what you did most).
- Follow with other skill descriptors that complement your background in relationship to what you want to do (auxiliary skills).
Grammar matters. Be sure to follow these grammar rules:
- Resumes should be in in first-person, though personal pronouns should not be used. Start each descriptor with an Action Verb in first-person.
- Descriptors should be recorded in the active voice. In the active voice you own the skill. DO NOT USE the passive voice, including phrases like, "responsible for" or "duties include," verbs with "ing" at the end. and forms of the verb "to be."
- You have three options for verb tense:
- All descriptors for all experiences in present tense;
- All descriptors for all experiences in past tense; or
- All descriptors for current positions in present tense, with all descriptors for past positions in past tense.
- DO NOT change tense within one experience.
Does your education and experience fully represent you? Consider if any of the following are right for you:
Research, Publications, and Presentations
If entering a field that requires research and you participated in research projects, include a research section, with:
- Topic
- Research lead (if other than you)
- Description of work
If published, include a publication section. In that section, include:
- Authors
- Title
- Publication
- Date
If you presented your work, include a presentations section. Include
- Presentation title
- Presenters (if you had co-presenters – include yourself as well)
- Conference or presentation event
- Date
Laboratory Skills and Knowledge
Include relevant laboratory skills, equipment and procedures or technology regardless of whether you developed them from classes or in a workplace.
Technical Skills
Include hardware, software and programming language proficiencies, or equipment/technology you have used.
Foreign languages
Include proficiency levels.
- If you indicated “fluent” or “bilingual,” be prepared to interview in that language.
- Indicate “proficient,” if strong, but not bilingual or fluent.
- Indicate “basic” “general knowledge of,” “familiarity with (oral or written)” for minimal to moderate proficiency.
Community Service
- Title (if no formal title, “volunteer”)
- Organization
- Optional: Dates (if recent or current)
- Skills: If relevant
Note: If you have not volunteered in some time, only include if directly relevant to your professional goals.
Skills
Avoid skill listings. Incorporate the skills you have into your skill descriptors or into your profile section.
Specialty Resumes
Curriculum Vita (CV) - in the US it is a more extensive resume usually used in academia.
Government Resumes - The government expects candidates to provide information that is not typically included in a standard resume and that you will only apply if you meet ALL MINIMUM qualification.
- Contact Information, include:
- Full contact information - use your legal name and full mailing address
- Job Announcement Number (JOA), job title, and job grade
- Special Hiring Authority (Veterans or those with Disability Schedule A)
- Clearances - current or expired
- If you are not a US citizen, your citizen ship status
- Don’t include websites (including LinkedIn), photo, social security number, or personal identifiers (age, gender, religious affiliation, ethnicity, or political affiliation)
- Experiences, include:
- Job Title, Series and/or Grade (if federal job), Employer
- Dates of employment (month and year), hours per week
- Supervisor Name and Phone Number
- Salary - if you worked outside the federal government
- A summary of the experience and how it prepared you for the next role (not a summary of the department and/or employer)
- Specific descriptors that include your experience level and amount of experience at that level and quantify your achievements with numbers, percentages, and/or dollar amounts
- Follow the grammar rules for all resume writing (verb tense, voice and person)
- Don’t use acronyms unless you are 100% sure they will be understood or personal pronouns.
- Education, include:
- Degree (use exact title), Major, Institution granting the degree, and date degree was/will be confirmed (month/year)
- If degree is in progress, include the number of credits you have earned and the number you are currently taking with when they will be completed
- GPA
- It is optional to include honors and awards, relevant coursework and research projects
- Additional Categories and information
- Computer, laboratory or technical skills
- Foreign languages (with competency level)
- Certifications
- Professional Affiliations
- Community Service
- References (for government resumes only this should be included on the actual resume
- 3-5 people who have agreed to serve as references
- Contact information - phone and email
- How the individuals know you (avoid personal references)
Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Compatibility
- Avoid Templates
- Do not use tables and columns. Most ATS read in a strict left to right format. If you want to list items, tab separate without wrap around lines
- Use standard fonts that will translate to any machine. Arial, Bookman (or New Century Schoolbook), Calibri, Cambria, Helvetica and Times (or Times New Roman) are most common.
- Do not use headers or footers - put all information in the main text of the document.
- Do not use text boxes or graphics.
- Avoid special characters like "&" or check marks (though bullets are not a problem)
Tips to avoid the biggest resume and CV mistakes:
Resume Critique
Once your resume is composed, have it critiqued by Career Development.
We will perform a thorough review of the content and the format, making suggestions to strengthen your document, within three business days of submission.
Email your resume or CV to careerdevelopment@tesu.edu in a Word or PDF format (Word format is preferred).
Toni M. Terry, BA
"I am 67 years old, soon to be 68, and to be able to say I did this at this day in my life is just gratification for my own self."