Résumés

The Basics

Include the following information:

Contact Information
Education
Experience
Honors/Activities

Contact Information

Make your name the biggest thing on the page. This will be the first thing employers will see when they pick up your résumé, so you want them to remember your name.

In your contact information section, you need to include all of your basic information except which of the following?

A. Name
B. Phone Number(s)
C. E-Mail Address
D. References
E. Permanent Address
F. Local/Campus Address

Education

Now that you are in college or about to graduate college, you only need to include education pertaining to your college career. List the courses you have taken and how they relate to the job you want. If you include your GPA, make sure it is a 3.5 or higher. You are competing with other applicants, so you do not want to hinder your chances. Just leave it off if it is on the low end.

If you are applying for a job as an architect, which of these courses can you exclude?

A. Intro to Algebra
B. Advanced Calculus
C. Intro to Creative Writing
D. Advanced Geometry

Experience

When you are creating your experience section, make sure you put the most relevant experience first. If the particular job does not require that experience, then put the most recent first. List the name of the company, the positions you held, and a brief explanation of the work you did there.

If you are applying for a job at a car dealership, in what order should you list the following information concerning job history?

A. Yard Maintenance – May to July 2008
B. Best Buy Customer Service – January 2009 to Present
C. Lifeguard at Local Pool – June to August 2007
D. GameStop Cashier – September to December 2008

Honors and Awards

Like your work experience section, list your most relevant or recent awards first. Begin with college awards. If you are still involved with an organization you joined in high school however, such as Boy/Girl Scouts or a church organization, include them with your honors/awards section.

Which of these awards/honors would be acceptable on a résumé?

A. Spelling Bee Champion - Winborn Elementary
B. Division 5A State Champions – Katy High School Football
C. Summa cum Laude – University of North Texas
D. Halo Tournament Champion – Vista Ridge Mall

Hobbies/Interests

You might want to include this section, but only if the hobbies and interests are reputable. For example, you might include how you enjoy constructing model airplanes or painting. Include these especially if they can relate to the job you are applying for. You should also avoid including anything that most people do not consider to be a hobby. Take these hobbies/interests for example:

“I enjoy owning n00bs on Call of Duty.” Unfortunately, most employers do not consider playing videogames a hobby.
“I like to read.” While better than “owning n00bs,” this really is not necessary either. Many people enjoy the same thing.
“I spend a lot of time studying.” Even though this is a good practice, employers want to see that you have a life outside of working.

Just remember that you should include hobbies/interests that show you to be a well-rounded individual. If you really do not have any reputable hobbies/interests, then leave this section off all together. More importantly though, go find something if you can.

Appearances

Make your résumé as organized and legible as possible. Keep it balanced, use one-inch margins, and avoid “flashy” fonts such as Curlz MT and Script fonts. You want your reader to be sure of what they are reading and not have to translate. If they do, they will probably just toss it aside.
For headings, you should use a sans serif font, such as Verdana, and a serif font for your body, such as Times New Roman. The word “sans” means “without,” so these particular fonts are without the little feet on the bottom of each letter. They are more “blocky.” Serif fonts are the opposite, so they have the little feet.

Final Points

Keep these things in mind when creating your résumé:

Make it eye-catching
Be clear and concise
Reflect yourself
Make it easy to read
Avoid grammar and spelling errors

Remember that most employers skim through these in less than a minute. If there is an obvious mistake on your résumé, the employer might just bypass it entirely. Make sure it keeps the employer’s interest, and avoid giving them a reason to toss your résumé. You can play with the layout, the fonts, and add color (as long as it is tastefully done) to create an eye-catching résumé, but keep it simple and to the point. Most importantly, reflect your personality and your professional skills in a memorable way.

Answers/Explanations

Contact Information: D
While references are necessary, you should not list them in the contacts section.
Just put “references available upon request.”

Education: C
Because the job you are applying for is most likely math-oriented, your employer
probably does not care how you did in your creative writing class.

Experience: B, D, A, C
Because you are applying for a job as a car dealer, your employer probably wants to
hear about your experience in sales. Since you have two relevant jobs in sales, put
the most recent first. The same goes for the less relevant jobs. Put the more recent of

Honors and Awards: C
Since the correct answer concerns your college career, you should put it down. The
other three are not necessary because A and B deal with high school and D concerns
video games which employers do not care about.