While there are some necessary categories to include in your resume—such as contact information, education, and professional experience—you have some leeway with the other categories you include, as well as the name you present for your categories. For example, you could list your work history in a general category, such as Professional Experience or Work Experience. Or, if you’ve always worked in one particular field that you would like to emphasize, you could label it Research Experience, Political Experience, or something else. Categories outside of the professional realm could include Volunteer or Leadership Experience, Computer and/or Language Skills, Presentations, Publications, and others. Volunteer and other unpaid experiences can be just as important to include as paid jobs. Use the best approach for you based on your experience and the job (or internship) you want.
Contact Information: You should list your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail (without the hyperlink). Try to list only one telephone number to make it easier for the employer to know how to reach you.
Objective: There are very few occasions when you will need an objective on your resume. If you are sending a cover letter, that will more than suffice for providing context to your resume, which is the basic mission of an objective. An objective might be useful for recent undergraduate alumni. If you decide to write an objective, it should be specific enough to have meaning (and be targeted for the specific job/organization), but not so specific that it potentially locks you out of other possibilities. It’s a balancing act. Plus, you want to keep it concise. Beyond the position itself, don’t mention anything that you want to get out of it (such as “growth” or a “challenge”). If anything is mentioned at all, you want to talk about the types of skills you’ll contribute. Too often, people use vague, meaningless objective statements (such as “A challenging position providing growth opportunities”) that are more of a space taker than anything helpful.
Profile/Summary of Qualifications: Again, if you are sending a cover letter, that will more than suffice for providing context to your resume. However, for people with experience (generally 10+ years), you might consider adding a profile or summary of qualifications on your resume.
As an undergraduate you may have utilized an objective statement on your resume. Once you have gained significant experience in your industry/field, however, a summary statement may be a better way to highlight key skills and strengths. A professional summary allows you to pick out the most significant information from your resume that is quantifiable and specific-skill driven. Summary statements may be adjusted to correlate with the particular job description you are applying for (e.g., include industry “buzz words” and particular organization needs).
Your personal summary should present you clearly and succinctly. Include information such as your profession, areas of expertise, types of organizations/environments you have worked in, and unique skills.
Example of a Professional Summary:
- Higher Education administrator with more than eight years in the field.
- Extensive experience in programming, planning, and implementing strategic goals.
- Volunteer management expertise and supervisory skills.
- Professional association annual conference planning experience.
- Increased student appointments by 25 percent over a two-year period.
Professional Experience: An entry does not have to be a paid one to be included in this section. You don’t have to include everything you’ve ever done. However, now is not the time to be modest either (but you must be honest, of course). Always think about your content in terms of what’s relevant.
You should include five elements for each entry—title, organization, location, dates, and description (but not necessarily in that order). When describing what you did, use meaningful active verbs that communicate the skill involved, such as “organize,” “manage,” coordinate,” and “research.” If you are actively doing such activities, you should use present tense verbs. Verbs should be in the past tense for anything done in the past or any fully completed tasks at a current job. Avoid any descriptions beginning with generic statements such as “Responsible for” or “Duties included.” Think about the skills required at the job that you want. Indicate (honestly) where you have demonstrated these skills throughout your experiences. Be concise; always think about what is relevant and what message each item is communicating. Use a minimum amount of words to maximize what you’re communicating.
Quantify information whenever possible if it will enhance the description. Doing so can provide a context and scope for the skill involved. You can quantify your description in many ways—amounts (e.g., budget size, number of pages/reports written/articles published), numbers of people, levels of people (e.g., corporate executives, board members, interdepartmental), how often, and more. If the dates occur in the same year, you only need to list the year once. You should consider including the five elements for other experience-related categories on your resume (such as Volunteer or Leadership).
You can use bullets or a paragraph format to present this information. It is easier to see a person’s skills when using bullets. However, paragraph format saves space, which may come in handy.
An example would be:
Sales Representative
XYZ Company, Philadelphia, PA (March 1999-present)
- Met with doctors in both private practice and hospital settings to promote the awareness of gastrointestinal drug innovations.
- Covered three states and more than 110 clients.
- Increased sales revenues by 20 percent within the first year.
- Awarded citation for excellence in customer service (2001).
- Aided in the implementation of new software for sales representatives to track effectiveness and provide more extensive pharmaceutical background.
- Extremely familiar with FDA approval methodology and regulations.
- Founded monthly networking group for new sales representatives to share information and learn from experienced company leaders.
Other Experience-Related Categories: If you include additional categories—such as Research, Leadership, or Volunteer—try and use the same format (or at least one that is very similar) as the one you used for your work/professional experience. It makes it easier for the person looking at your resume. Consistency is key.
Presentations/Publications: If you have any presentations or publications, it would benefit you to highlight them in a separate section. These serve as demonstrated proof that you have good communication skills, something every employer wants in an employee.
Affiliations: List any relevant professional associations of which you are a member or serve in a leadership capacity.
Related Training: If you have completed relevant specialized training or professional development, you may want to highlight it in a separate section. You could also include it in a job description or in your education section. Include any professional associations you are a part of and any leadership roles or involvement in those associations. For example, did you help plan a conference, serve on a board, co-chair a committee? Also, include any relevant training you may have undergone within and outside your company. Languages, licenses, certifications, military experience, publications, and/or technical skills also should be listed.
Skills: This is a very important section. You can list computer and language skills separately if you want to emphasize each or combine them into a general skills category with computer and language as sub-headers. For computer skills, you can simply list the applications you know or you can divide the applications into the levels at which you know them.
If you list language skills, do not present the years you studied the language. Rather, you want to list the level at which you can speak, read, and converse. If you can do all three at the same level, you can just list the language and the level (such as “Spanish: Fluent” or “Proficient in Spanish”). If you have different levels, you may wish to write them out.
Education: List your undergraduate and any graduate degrees in reverse chronological order. Include the degree, university, location, and the date you graduated (not necessarily in that order). You do not need to list the dates during which you attended.
If you have studied abroad, present that experience as a stand-alone entry. Other items you may wish to include in the Education category are concentrations, minors, honors, related awards, certificates, relevant coursework, and a thesis. If you are applying for a consulting job, put your GPAs (undergraduate and graduate) on your resume, unless they are under 3.0. Even if you use bullets in other sections, you typically don’t use bullets in the Education section. Do not include high school unless you know it would be highly relevant to the employer. For a thesis, you can list it with the title in italics—Thesis: This is the Title of Your Thesis. In most cases, the Education section will be at the end of your resume. However, if you recently graduated or your degrees are the most important message of your resume (for a career transition, the Education section can be listed first).
Honors/Awards: In general, it usually makes sense for these entries to be presented under the related category rather than a separate one. For example, education-related honors and awards would be included with the specific school entry where the item was received or achieved. Awards received at jobs would be listed with that job’s description (such as “Received employee of the year award in 2000”).
Interests/Personal: Including an interest section should be considered thoroughly before doing so. Some people have items that are always noted positively during an interview. Those are interesting items you probably want to keep. However, listing your general interests rarely involves anything relevant and just takes up space. You should avoid listing personal information unless it is specially requested; you should only provide it if the employer is credible.
References: Don’t include references on your resume nor a mention of providing references, such as “References available upon request.” In doing so, you’re just taking up space. If you want the job and the employer asks for references, you’ll provide references.