Resumes

A resume is a brief document that summarizes your education, employment history, and experiences that are relevant to your qualifications for a particular job for which you are applying. The purpose of a resume (along with your cover letter) is to get an interview. Research has shown than it takes an average of ten interviews to receive one job offer, so your resume needs to be persuasive and perfect.

There is no one right way to write a resume. Every person’s background, employment needs, and career objectives are different, so your resume is unique to you. Every aspect of your resume must start with who you are, what your background is, what the potential employer is looking for, and what your employment goals are. To this end, look at the various resume examples in this chapter until you find one that works to help you design your own resume.

The general purpose resume usually contains four sections:

• Contact info
• Experience
• Education
• Honors, activities, and outreach (optional)

The contact information should include:

• • Full name
  • E-mail address
  • Permanent address (or campus address if applicable)
  • Phone number(s)
  • Web address/URL (if applicable)

The experience section usually includes:

• • Company or organization
  • Location
  • Position title
  • Dates of employment or involvement
  • Descriptions of responsibilities and duties

The education section usually includes:

• • Schools you have attended, such as universities and community colleges, as well as professional and technical schools (rarely high schools, unless somehow relevant)
  • Location of school(s)
  • Date of graduation, actual or anticipated (Anticipated graduation June 2022)
  • Degree(s) earned/Majors studied
  • Grade point average (GPA) (*most experts agree that GPAs should be left off if lower than a 3.0)

An honors and activities section might include:

• • Academic awards and scholarships
  • Membership in campus, national, or international organizations
  • Leadership positions held in campus, national, or international organizations
  • University and community service positions
  • Work-related awards or honors
  • Dates of awards/dates of involvement
  • Volunteer experience
  • Apprenticeships (if not listed under Experience)

Link to Will’s Video on Resumes (must be logged in to LBCC SSO to view)