Resume Writing

by Ms. Vanesa Bringas

 Lesson Objectives:

• Create a resume;
• Explore the different parts/sections of the resume;
and
• Understand the importance of a resume
Job candidates use RESUME/S to highlight their
accomplishments, competencies, and abilities. In
the end, resume writers hope to create unique
materials that will accurately represent themselves
(Major, 2022).
 TIPS FOR RESUME WRITING
Answer These 5 Questions Before You Start:
• What role am I targeting?
• What companies am I targeting?
• What challenges are they facing?
• What skills are critical to success?
• How do I add value?
 HOW TO MAKE A RESUME
STEP 1. Before you write a resume, understand how
to start a resume.
TIP #1 To write a professional resume, you need to be
prepared. First, make a list of:
• Major accomplishments from previous jobs;
• Skills: soft, hard and technical;
• Details about past employers, date of hire,
location, job title and responsibilities; and
• Qualifications such as a college degree,
certifications or licenses.
TIP #2 Find time to dedicate solely to writing
your resume.
TIP #3 Sit in a quiet place where you will not be
disturbed and can concentrate.
TIP #4 Write and don’t stop to perfect your
prose along the way. That will happen later.
TIP #5 When you get it all down, step away for
a few hours and come back with fresh eyes to
perfect your resume writing.
STEP 2 UNDERSTAND THE KEY RESUME SECTIONS
1. Contact information
When you write a resume, be sure to include your name,
phone number, professional email address and the city where
you live.
2. Summary statement or resume objective
Present your strongest skills, experience and what you
bring to the job in two to three sentences. If you’re a first-time
job seeker, changing careers or applying for a goal-oriented
job, write a resume objective where you also state your
employment goals.
3. Skills
Include a bulleted list of six to eight skills relevant to the
job for which you’re applying. In some cases, you can
use the “Summary of Qualifications” or “Summary of Skills”
section to discuss a specific set of skills you learned on the
job that qualify you for the new role. Not every resume
will have this section — it will depend on your years of
experience.
4. Work history
Write a resume work experience section in reverse-
chronological order, with the current or latest job at the
top. Include accomplishments in concise bullet points.
5. Education List
Your education credentials. If you graduated
more than 10 years ago, you don’t need to include
the graduation year when writing a resume.
6. Certifications/training
List any additional certifications you possess or
training you have completed.
STEP 3. CHOOSE THE RIGHT FORMAT TO MAKE A
RESUME
1. Chronological resume format
The chronological resume format is the most
commonly used format. It’s ideal for candidates
who want to focus on their work experience
because this section sits front and center.
2. Functional resume format
The functional resume format is a skills-based
resume.
3. Combination resume format
Also known as the hybrid resume, the
combination resume format combines the
functional and chronological resumes.
STEP 4. WHAT TO INCLUDE IN A RESUME’S CONTACT
INFORMATION
All of our resume header for your contact
information. Hiring managers need to know who you
are and how to get in touch with you, so do it the
right way by writing your:
• Full
name: Include your first and last name. The
middle initial is optional.
• Telephonenumber: Where you can be
reached easily.
• Emailaddress: Make sure it’s appropriate
and includes your name.
• Location: Most resumes require the city where
you reside, state name and ZIP code.
Optional information you can include when writing a
resume contact information header, depending on
your industry and career:
• Title
Do you have a professional title? It can be your
position or what you do. For example: Social Media
Manager, Software Engineer or Customer
Experience Manager.
• Professional website, portfolio or blog
Do you have a website that showcases your work
or is relevant to the potential new job? Be sure to
include it!
• LinkedIn handle
If your profile can add value to your application, include
the link but make sure it’s up to date.
What NOT to include in your contact
information:
X Date of birth
X Unprofessional email address
X Headshot
WHAT’S A RESUME OBJECTIVE?
Also known as a career objective, a resume
objective is a two-to-three-sentence summary that
features your top skills and experience and explains
your employment goals. It’s useful for job seekers
who are fresh out of school or applying to their first
job, people who are changing careers and
candidates applying for a goal-oriented job.
STEP 6. HOW TO MAKE A RESUME WORK EXPERIENCE
SECTION
• Your title
• Company name
• Company location (city and state)
• Dates of employment (month and year)
• Three-to-five bullet points with your top work
achievements and duties
Use action verbs to begin your statements.
When describing previous or current job
experiences, always start your bullet points with
action verbs like stating “Was responsible for project
X …” makes less of an impact than “Managed
project X” or “Oversaw project X.”
STEP 7 WAYS TO HIGHLIGHT YOUR TOP SKILLS WHEN
WRITING A RESUME
Your job skills section should be tailored to the job.
When writing a resume, aim to include six to eight
relevant hard and soft skills — and in some cases, a
summary of qualifications.
What’s a summary of qualifications?
A summary of qualifications, or summary of skills,
consists of a couple of short sentences where you
talk about the top set of skills you learned on a job
and the accomplishments that qualify you for the
new role.
STEP 8. WHAT TO PUT ON A RESUME EDUCATION
SECTION?
Here are the basics on how to write a resume education
section:
• The name of your university, community college or
school: Don’t include high school unless you’re a high school
student or didn’t go to university.
• Location of the school: Write the city and state.
• Date of graduation: Include the month and year. If
you still haven’t graduated, then write the expected
graduation date.
• Degree(s): List the type of degree you got and the
program — for example, Bachelor of Science in
Nursing or Bachelor of Arts in English.
STEP 9. HOW TO MAKE A RESUME CERTIFICATIONS,
LICENSES AND HONORS SECTIONS
STEP 10. PROOFREAD, CHECK YOUR FORMATTING AND
SAVE
Typos and grammatical errors are the most common
mistakes in resumes — and a deal-breaker for about
70% of hiring managers. Reread your resume
thoroughly to make sure that everything is written
correctly. There are helpful spell-checking tool that
scans your document and lets you know of any
mistakes.
You should also make it easier for hiring managers to
read your resume by following these formatting
resume tips:
• Make sure that it isn’t longer than a page
(unless
you have 10+ years of work experience. In this
case, it can be two pages long).
• Keep the margins at one inch on all sides of your
resume.
• Use appropriate fonts, like Times New Roman, Arial
or Helvetica.
• Stick to a font size between 11-12 on the body and
14-16 on headers.
• Choose between single or 1.5 line spacing.
• Save your resume as a PDF or a DOC and name it
appropriately with “[YourName]-[Desired Job]-
Resume.pdf.”
 When you leave college, there are
thousands of people out there with the same
degree you have; when you get a job, there
will be thousands of people doing what you
want to do for a living. But you are the only
person alive who has sole custody of your life.
— Anna Quindlen