Resume Writing
A resume sells YOU! It is a personal summary of your experiences and
qualifications for the position you are seeking. Often the first
contact you have with employers is your resume. It informs them of
your accomplishments, educational and personal background, work
experience, and interests. Your resume tells an employer:
- Who you are;
- What you know;
- What you have done.
Begin by filling out a resume worksheet. It will help you organize the
information you will be using in the resume. A good resume will include:
Education College:
Include: Area of concentration; major and minor; indicate you are
a candidate for a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science; expected
date of graduation; academic achievements, honors, awards;
extra-curricular activities (sports, clubs, committees).
Education High School/Secondary School:
Include: Name and location of your high school; year of
graduation; major programs studied; academic achievements; honors,
science fair awards; all of your extra-curricular activities.
Pertinent advanced courses such as drafting, computer technology,
physics, calculus, machine shop and/or electronics should also be
included.
Computer Background:
List all computer languages you know and computer systems you
are familiar with. Also, add special computer related experiences,
i.e. owning a personal computer, writing programs, etc..
Work Experience:
Include all work experiences, full or part-time, paid or
volunteer. In reverse chronological order, the most recent being
first, list the position you held, specific duties, place of
employment and location, and dates of employment. The description of
the duties of each job should emphasize the tasks performed,
indicating specialties learned, skills developed, scope of
responsibility, and results achieved. Of particular importance are
experiences illustrating leadership potential, organizational ability,
communication skills, ingenuity, and teamwork. Use Action Verbs! Answer the question "What did I
do?"!
Interests/Hobbies:
Include all hobbies that you have and are involved in outside
of school; Model Building, Chess, Auto Mechanics, Debating, Painting,
Kits, Training Aardvarks.
Community and Service Activities:
Include all community and service related activities you were
involved with in high school or are presently involved.
References:
Under the heading "References" the statement, "References will
be supplied upon request" will suffice. (It is important, however,
that you are prepared to give at least three references when filling
out your company application form).
A good resume is brief and concise, typed neatly in block form with no errors.
It must be easy to read. When preparing your resume, cover the following
points:
- Limit yourself to one page only. As a rule, two page resumes are
acceptable when you have over ten years of experience. Employers
prefer to read only one page.
- Put your resume on a floppy disc and print it on the best letter
quality printer available. Have an offset printer make copies or use
a good, clean duplicating or photocopying machine. Do not mimeograph
your resume!
- Type or print it on 8" X 11" plain white bond paper in block
form. Avoid erasable bond - it smudges. Use 1 inch margins on both
sides and 1/2 to 1 inch margins on the top and bottom of the page.
Double space between each section of the resume.
- Spelling must be accurate. Use your dictionary or your spell
check.
- Use clear and concise statements describing your experiences.
Use proper grammar and punctuation.
- Use a heading at the beginning of each section. Set it off by
typing it in all caps or underlining the heading.
- Under the headings "Education" & "Experience," the most
recent should be listed first.
- Have someone review your resume before you type it in final
form.
- When describing your experiences use action verbs that will stand out and tell the
employer that you have really done something.
Added Developed Investigated Researched
Administered Devised Laid-out Restored
Analyzed Directed Leveled Revised
Applied Documented Maintained Saved
Assembled Drafted Measured Shot
Assisted Drew Observed Sold
Attained Earned Operated Solved
Bought Edited Ordered Sponsored
Built Established Organized Spread
Calculated Evaluated Performed Stapled
Compiled Explored Planned Studied
Conducted Fabricated Planted Supervised
Constructed Filed Prepared Taught
Coordinated Hammered Produced Tested
Created Implemented Programmed Traced
Debugged Improved Provided Trained
Delivered Increased Purchased Transmitted
Demonstrated Initiated Remodeled Verified
Designed Installed Repaired Washed
Developed Invented Reported Wrote
College of Computer Science,
Cooperative Education