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How to Write a Resume

A well-written and organized resume will create a successful professional image of you to potential employers, as well as demonstrate your written communication and organizational skills. The information you present regarding your experience and qualifications is of course the most important part of your resume, but there are other factors that contribute to a successful resume. The effectiveness of your resume depends on how you choose to organize your information; a clear presentation of the important details will make it easier for the reader to learn (and remember) what they need to about you.

Every resume should include this basic information:

your name, contact information, and relevant experience (professional, academic, and otherwise). Your name and contact information should be at the top of the first page of your resume. Centering, bolded font, and/or a slightly larger font size are formatting techniques that make this information easier for the reader to find and keep track of. How much or how little contact information you include is up to you and the requirements of the application; usually your mailing address, phone number, and email address are sufficient. Continue reading for tips on choosing and organizing the rest of your information.

Choosing information for your resume.

Deciding the information you include in your resume has a lot to do with what exactly you have to choose from. A recent college graduate will naturally have less experience than someone who’s been in the workforce for a decade or two, and, generally, the less you have to choose from, the less you leave out. When choosing which experience to include, keep in mind the job you are applying to. Will they care that you volunteered at the nursing home when you were nine years old? Or will they care that you have a college degree, five years of experience at your job, and know how to create an Excel Spreadsheet? (For more information on this process, see Tailoring Your Resume, below).

Organizing information in your resume.

As a rule, the information on your resume should be organized to into broad categories of experience, such as Education, Work Experience, Volunteer Experience, Publications, Skills, Interests/Hobbies, etc. When organizing the categories, put the most important and relevant experience first: if you are a recent college (or high school) graduate without a lot of work experience, then your educational information will likely be the first on your resume. If you have plenty of relevant work experience, then this will come first, followed by any additional professional skills and success (such as publications), and finished up with your education.

A note about References is always a good final piece of information to put on your resume. You can include the names and contact information for your resume, but it’s usually sufficient to just say you’ll provide this information upon request.

Within each category the information should usually be arranged chronologically, from newest to oldest. For categories such as Skills or Interests, organizing the information by relevance to the position you are applying to is a good idea.

Formatting your resume.

When formatting your resume, you can choose to create your own format, build off of others’ suggested formats, or use ready-made formats, so rather than give you a point-by-point set of rules on how to format your resume we’ll just give you a few solid guidelines. The first and most important thing to remember when formatting your resume is to keep it simple. Potential employers need to be able to read your resume quickly and easily; this means as few as possible extra lines, boxes, fonts, numbers, and bullet points.

A few simple formatting changes, such as bolded (or bigger) font for category headings, indenting and italicizing certain information within each category (like job titles, descriptions, and dates). Formatting your resume in a way that presents your information simply and effectively will not only help your reader, but will say a lot about your written communication skills as well.

Including "extras" in your resume.

Adding “extra” information about things like your personal interests, hobbies, and accomplishments to a resume can be a bit of a grey area. If your resume is pretty short, it won’t hurt to add a small section detailing any personal interests that may accentuate your desirability as an employee (for example, mountain climbing can show determination, or knitting can show an eye for detail). If you have personal accomplishments that are relevant to the job you’re seeking, than by all means include them, and don’t be afraid to point out their relevance. Most importantly, if you know that your potential employer would appreciate these details, include them. If not, if the position or company is highly formal, then don’t. If you’re not sure and want to play it safe, stick to professional details when writing your resume.

Tailoring your resume.

You may want to write a “stock” resume, one that includes a more thorough overview of your experience than maybe necessary, then edit this to better fit individual applications. By tailoring your resume like this, you save yourself the time and effort of completely rewriting your resume each time you send it out, and you also make it easier to pick and choose from accomplishment according to the needs of whatever position you may be applying for. For example, a magazine hiring staff writers will be interested to you know that you have a knowledge of various editorial styles, while elementary school tutoring center would rather know that you’ve volunteered in your sister’s third grade classroom.

There is nothing wrong with tailoring your resume, indeed you’re making it easier for the potential employer to assess you by sifting through your information for them. Just be aware that tailoring your resume does not include embellishing details or outright lying; this is wrong for the obvious reasons and will likely harm your chances of being hired in the long run.