Résumé Tips

This is a simple way to organize your thoughts and assemble basic information about your work history. It is of utmost importance that you include the scope of your responsibility for each of your jobs, as outlined below. The enclosed sample résumé is for a human resources professional but can easily be adapted for any profession.

REQUIRED

At the top of the first page:

Name, certification (SPHR, PHR), home address, home phone, personal e-mail address.

For each EMPLOYER include

Company name and location (city, state)
Dates employed (format in month and year—for example, May, 2004)
What the company does (product or service)
Company statistics (annual sales, number of branches or plants, domestic or international locations, etc.)
Number of employees (total employees and/or the number at this location) Note: this is very important because it is the key to define the scope of your responsibilities.
Organizational level (for example, headquarters, division, region, plant)

For each POSITION include

Job title and dates in this job (format in month and year)
Job description. This is the most important information you will provide to the reader. The easiest way to think about what to put in this section is to separate your job responsibilities away from projects and accomplishments—those will be included next. Think about how you spend 75% of your work day or week and include those things here. It’s not important to include something that you only do periodically.
Title of immediate superior
Number of subordinates managed

List PROJECTS and ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Include one sentence descriptions of significant:

projects (distinguish from responsibilities)
teams you participated on
awards you received
quantify savings you were able to achieve
note statistics you assisted in improving (for example, turnover, absenteeism, large number of hires in a period)
List above with simple bullet points—fancy formatting doesn’t e-mail well.

EDUCATION and PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Include Colleges or Universities attended.
List each degree including major and graduation year.
List recent involvement with professional associations and note any participation with committees or boards.
If you are just out of college, put education first, otherwise it goes at the end of your professional experience.

OPTIONAL

An objective section at the top of the resume—this statement is often phrased with “canned” words. For example, “seeking a challenging position with a growth oriented company.” I recommend omitting an objective unless your background is very diverse and you want a job that focuses on just one area of interest.
Include your GPA from college only if it was exceptionally high (3.5 or above). After a few years of experience GPA should be dropped but continue to list your academic honors.
List training classes or seminars on a separate sheet. If you have attended a program relevant to your next job, perhaps include it a bullet under accomplishments and projects.
Since a resume cannot possibly describe all of your work history, keep a separate list of information about your work experience. Write brief paragraphs describing the items and your specific involvement. If you keep this updated it is an excellent tool to preparing for an employment interviews.
Leisure activities and hobbies—I like these items listed at the end of a resume. I use them often as ice breakers to start a face to face interview.
Omit “References Available Upon Request.” We presume they are.

ALWAYS

If you send your résumé via e-mail, use a normal template on Word or Word Perfect format. Special résumé formats do not universally convert.
Use a simple, popular font like Arial or Times New Roman.
Check your document for spelling and grammar errors—don't rely on spell check. Have other people read it or proofread it backwards.
If you have more than two years of work experience, keep your résumé on two pages. One page if your experience is less than two years.
On the top of page two, repeat your name and include the page number
Include graduation honors If you received Magna, Summa or cum laude.

NEVER

Never use your work e-mail address at the top of the resume. Instead, get an address from a free service (for example, yourname98@hotmail.com). Don’t use a cute address and don’t use another person’s address.
Avoid including all personal information which suggests your status (for example, marriage, age, health, children, race, religious or political group.).

As you often hear, there is no standard format for résumés. I believe the above chronological style format is logical and designed to highlight your experience in a format that is easy to understand. Remember, the final product should be a document that accurately represents you and you can be proud of.

I hope these tips help you. Please let me know if you have comments or questions.