How to Make a Resume

A resume is a self-advertisement that, when done properly, shows how your skills, experience, and achievements match the requirements of the job you want. This guide provides three free samples on which you can base your resumé. It will also walk you through setting up and laying out the content to highlight your skills and grab the reader’s attention.

Method 1

Formatting Your Resume

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   Format your text. The first thing that a possible employer will see on your resume is the text. For that reason, it is very important that you make the right first impression. Choose a professional font in size 11 or 12. Times New Roman is the classic serif font, while Arial and Calibri are two of the better choices for sans-serif. Even though sans serif fonts are more popular for resume, Yahoo cites Helvetica as the best font to use for your resumé.
   

   • Many individuals find that Times New Roman is a little hard to read on a screen. If you are emailing your resume, consider using Georgia instead for a more readable serif font.
   • You can use multiple fonts for different parts of your resume, but try to limit it to two. Instead of changing between fonts, try emboldening or italicizing specific selections of text instead.
   • The font size for your header and the introduction to a section may 14 or 16, but otherwise you should choose 11 or 12.
   • Your text should always be printed in solid black ink. Make sure to deactivate any hyperlinks (like to your email, address, and phone number) so that they don’t print in blue or other non-black color.
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   Set up the page. Your page should have one inch margins all the way around with 1.5 or 2 point line spacing. The body of your resume will be aligned to the left and your header should be centered at the top of your page.
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   Create your heading. This is the section at the top of your resume which gives your contact information including your name, address, email, and phone number. Your name should be in a slightly larger size - either 14 or 16 point font. List your home and cell phone numbers.
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   Decide on a layout. There are three general formats for creating a resume: chronological, functional, or combination. Your work history and the type of job you are applying for will determine the layout style you should use.
   

   • Chronological resumes are used for showing a steady growth in a particular career field. These are best used for someone applying to a job within their career-path to show an increase of responsibility over time.
   • Functional resumes are focused on skills and experience rather than job history. These are best used for someone who may have holes in their work history or who have gained experience from being self-employed for a time.
   • Combination resumes are, as it sounds, a combination of both a chronological and a functional resume. These are used to show off specific skills and how they were acquired. If you have developed a specific skill set from working in a variety of related fields, then this is the best resume option for you.

Method 2

Writing a Chronological Resume

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   List your employment history. As this is a chronological resume, your jobs should be listed in reverse chronological order with your most recent employment first. Include the name of the company, its location, your title, your duties and responsibilities while working there, and the dates that you were employed there.
   

   • It may be beneficial to list your title first, to show off your position in each job. You can also choose to list the company name first. Regardless of what you choose, be consistent down your entire list.
   • For each listing, write a “major achievements” or “accomplishments” section with a brief description of something important that you accomplished for that job.
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   Provide your education history. Same as with your jobs, you should list all of your education in chronological order with your most recent schooling first. Include any college degrees, trade schools, or apprenticeships you might have participated in. If you graduated with a degree, list the name of the degree as well as the year you received it. If you have not yet graduated, simply state the years you have attended the program as well as an expected graduation date.
   

   • For each listing, give the university/program name, their address, and your degree or area of study.
   • If you had a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher, be sure to list it along with your school/degree information.
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   Give special qualifications or skills. Once you’ve listed the most important information - your work experience and education - you can essentially choose to list anything else you find important. Create a section titled “Special Skills” or “Unique Qualifications” with a list of these things.
   

   • If you are fluent in more than one language, list the multiple languages here. Be sure to make note of your level of knowledge - for example, beginner, intermediate, novice, advanced, fluent, etc.
   • If you are well versed in a special area of work that other applicants might not be - such as computer programming - be sure to include your level of expertise here.
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   Provide your references. You will need to provide 2-4 professional references (people who aren't family or friends)with their name, relationship to you, and contact information including their phone number, address, and email.
   

   • The best references to use are a manager or superior to you in your work, or perhaps a college professor whose class you did well in.
   • The place you are applying to may contact these people, so always call them in advance to let them know that you are using them for a reference and are currently applying for a job.

Method 3

Functional Resume

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   Detail your education history. Just like you do with jobs, you should list your education in reverse chronological order with your most recent schooling first. Include any college degrees, trade schools, or apprenticeships you might have participated in. If you graduated with a degree, list the name of the degree as well as the year you received it. If you have not yet graduated, simply state the years you have attended the program as well as an expected graduation date.
   

   • For each listing, give the university/program name, their address, and your degree or area of study.
   • If you had a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher, be sure to list it along with your school/degree information.
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   Provide your awards and achievements. If you were ever given a special award or recognition, list it here with the name, date, and purpose of the award. A common thing to list here is your presence on the "deans list" for high GPA at a university. Make yourself sound as successful and hardworking as you can by adding as many awards as you are able.
   

   • If you had a job in which you were given a special honor, make note of that here.
   • Even if you received an award for volunteering, you are welcome to place that under this section. Highlight the wondrous things you've done and been recognized for no matter the circumstance.
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   Note your special skills. Whereas your 'awards and achievements' section was very specific, your skills section is much more general. Create a short list of positive personality traits that you exemplify. For example: timeliness, outgoing, enthusiastic, diligent, or team-player.
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   List your employment history. If this isn’t the strongest part of your life history, you’ll want to list it at the end so that the recruiter reads through your more impressive accomplishments first.
   

   • You should include sub-headings for the type of experience each job provided you with, such as “Management Experience,” “Legal Experience,” or “Financial Experience.”
   • For each job, be sure to include the name of the company, the city in which the company is located, your title, your duties and responsibilities, and the dates of employment for each employer.
   • Optionally, under each job description you can include a bold heading, which reads “Major Accomplishment” or “Achievements,” and list two or three achievements or a major accomplishment for that position.
   • Make sure to quantify your job descriptions, meaning that you place numbers of import on your experiences and achievements (e.g. Ramped production 23% over six month period). Providing numbers makes it easier for hiring managers to grasp the extent of your past experience and achievements.
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   List volunteer experience. If you have done a lot of volunteering, make a list of it here. Include the name of the program, the dates that you worked there/the total number of hours you volunteered, and your responsibilities.
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   Give your references. The last thing on your resume should be a list of 2-4 professional references. These are all people who you are not related to, but whom you've dealt with in a professional manner. You might consider a previous employer, professor, or volunteer coordinator to include on your references page.
   

   • Include the name of the reference, their relationship to you, mailing address, email, and phone number.
   • The place you are applying to may contact these people, so always call them in advance to let them know that you are using them for a reference and are currently applying for a job.

Method 4

Combination Resume

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   Choose how you want to format your resume. Because you are writing a combination resume, there is no strict format guidelines or boundaries which you need to follow. Multiple people will have very different looking combination resume, so focus on what you're good at. In addition to your work and education experience, you can choose to include skills, awards and achievements, volunteer history, and special qualifications.
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   List your employment history. This can be done in one of two ways. If your work history includes positions in more than one field, you should list your jobs under functional sub-headings, which categorize the skills you used at each particular one. If you can demonstrate that your evolving work history highlights the key skills you want to promote, you may want to list your work history in chronological order, without including any sub-headings.
   

   • Be sure to provide the general information for each employer/position including the name of the company, location, your title, your duties, and the dates that you worked there.
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   Provide information about your education. The details you include about your education will be the same as the details you’d include in other resume styles; the difference is in where you present the information on the resume. For each college, university, or trade school you have attended, list the name and location of the institution, the degree or certificate you received, and the years you attended.
   

   • If your grade point average (“GPA”) was 3.5 or higher, you may want to list it as well.
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   Supply other pertinent information. After you've made note of your education and work history, give a list of any other information you feel like might be helpful for your employer to have. Choose to include any of the additional sections such as special qualifications, skills, awards and achievements, or volunteer service.
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   List your references. Include 2-4 professional references (not family or friends)along with their contact information. Be sure to include their name, your relationship to them, and their email, address, and phone number.

Method 5

Make Your Content Shine

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   Create titles that will catch the employer’s eye. Take a look at job position. Are they interesting and descriptive? Instead of saying you were a cashier, say you were a customer service professional, or rather than saying that you’re a secretary, say you are an administrative assistant. Do not use a job title that is misleading, however. Simply think about how well the job title describes the work, and how interesting the title is.
   

   • For example, “Manager” does not describe who or what a person manages. “Sales Staff Manager” or “Executive Manager” may be more descriptive and desirable job titles on a resume.
   • Visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook for an alphabetical listing of job titles to get ideas on how to make your job titles more descriptive.
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   Use keywords strategically. Because many employers now scan resumes with special software programs to determine the presence of certain keywords as a way of filtering them before a select few get passed along to an actual human being, you want to be sure that your resume contains all of the proper keywords for your industry, and the particular job for which you are applying.
   

   • Look at what words the employer uses in the advertisement. If an employer lists research as a required skill, be sure to include the word ‘research’ or ‘researched’ in at least one job description or skill set you include on your resume.
   • Avoid using every keyword mentioned in the job posting, however, or your resume will look suspicious.
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   Use action verbs and active voice to describe your responsibilities and accomplishments. These will highlight your skills and your ability to do the job for which you are applying. Choose verbs that describe your responsibilities and then make sure to begin the descriptions of your duties with these verbs. For example, if you were a receptionist, you may want to use verbs such as 'scheduled', 'assisted', and 'provided'. You can do this by saying you ‘scheduled appointments’ ‘assisted clients’ and ‘provided administrative support.’
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   Spell check and proofread your resume. This step cannot be overemphasized. Proofread your resume several times. Have someone else proofread it. Then, have another person further removed from you read it. Spelling and grammar errors in a resume will get it discarded regardless of your skills and experience.
   

   • Watch out for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, incorrect contact information, typos, and misuse of apostrophes, plurals, and possessives.
   • Double check to make sure that your formatting is correct, and that you didn't forget any important information.

Tips

• Get creative. This does not mean you should use colored fonts or spray perfume on your resume before placing it in the mail, but some bulleted lists, bold font, capital letters, and thoughtful organization of information can go a long way in making you stand out from other applicants. Remember, employers will view a resume for an average of seven seconds before deciding to actually read it, or pitch it in the trash. You need to draw the employer’s attention to the skills and achievements that make you the best choice in that small window of time.
• Tailor your resume for each job. Analyzing the advertisement for the job you’re applying for will help you understand what the employer is looking for. If a job specifies that potential employees should have 3 to 5 years experience, be sure that the version of the resume you send to that employer clearly reflects the fact that you meet their desired qualifications.
• Sell yourself. Don’t just tell the potential employer that you ‘answered phones’ at a previous job. Instead, tell them you ‘managed a five line telephone system in a timely and courteous manner.’
• Show, don't tell. When writing a bullet point of a skill or qualification anywhere on your resume, always include metrics that show what you've accomplished. This will help an employer realize the value that you could bring to his/her company.
• Make your resume realistic and refrain from "too-good-to-be-true" bragging.
• Purchase good quality, white paper and matching envelopes if you opt to send your resume out in the mail. Make sure to print the mailing address and return address on your envelopes; this is especially important when applying for a job such as a secretary, administrative assistant, or paralegal, where you will be expected to know how to prepare and print envelopes for mailing.