Resumes

What is a Resume?
Your resume is a clear and concise outline of your abilities, experiences, and responsibilities in work, service, extracurricular, and academic settings.

Types of Resumes
There is no universally accepted format for preparing a resume. In fact, there are quite a number of different formats. Some will serve your needs better than others, depending on the job or internship. Choose the resume style that best communicates to prospective employers your relevant experience, skills, and potential contribution. We generally suggest, however, the following three layouts for most students and entry-level candidates. The choice of font or paper is entirely personal. However, a font size of 10-12 point is recommended. And there should be NO ERRORS: no typos, no misspelled words, no grammatical errors.

• Chronological
  The first and most commonly used format, it describes your experiences in reverse chronological order. It is best suited if you have directly related work experience or are targeting positions in industries, such as banking and consulting, where a more traditional resume may be more acceptable.
• Functional
  The second main format is the functional resume, which highlights your marketable skills by organizing your accomplishments by skill or career area. This format is very useful if you have limited related work experience.
• Achievement
  The third most commonly used format is the accomplishment or achievement resume. This is used to highlight prior work or academic accomplishments in your background. It can be used as an alternative to a strict functional or chronological resume when your accomplishments are centered on a particular skill or experience category.

Resume Writing Tips

1. Familiarize yourself with the industry, organization, and position in which you are interested. You cannot write an effective resume if you do not know the qualifications of the job you are seeking or have information about the specific company to which you are applying. Take the time to do the research - it'll pay off. Check out the OCS Reading Room for employer information or search the Internet for the company's web site.
2. Start by writing out all the work, volunteer, academic, and extracurricular experiences you've had, whether or not you think they're relevant at first glance. Then come to a Resume Writing Workshop (see the Calendar for days and times) or walk-in (posted daily in the Reading Room).
3. Most resumes have the following broad sections:
   a) education;
   b) work experience; and
   c) activities, skills, and interests.
4. For chronological resumes, entries are always made in reverse chronological order within each section or subheading, with your most recent experience first. You cannot change this order simply to have your most impressive job appear at the top of the list. Rather, look into other formats to give prominence or focus to some particular experiences.
5. Resumes are not written in prose ("I was a lab assistant and I performed experiments for . . ."). They are written as incomplete phrases ("Lab Assistant: Performed experiments.") Use the past or present tense (be consistent), using strong and clear action verbs, as opposed to weaker or ambiguous verbs that mask your real tasks.
6. It is important to detail you accomplishments. Always be specific and use numbers where possible. (Managed a $10,000 budget; recruited, trained, and supervised 25 volunteer tutors; practiced 4 hours a day with the soccer team.)
7. All work and educational entries in your resume must contain the following information:
   a) the name of the company or school;
   b) the dates of attendance or employment;
   c) the location of the company or school;
   d) your position (not needed in educational section);
   e) the "particulars" of your job (responsibilities & accomplishments) and schooling (concentration, selected courses, awards/scholarships).
8. The length of the resume matters most of the time (but not always). Your target for most job applications at this point in your career will be a crisp, clear one-page resume. It can be done! Just learn to consolidate and select those activities and experiences that are most important and most relevant to the reader (the potential employer) and the job you are seeking.
9. Your resume is not a static document. The information contained in it will change over time as your experience grows. And, you may use different formats and versions depending on the audience you are trying to reach and the job you seek. At any one time, you are very likely have several different versions of your resume, which you will use according to the goals you are pursuing.

Sample Resumes

For samples of all types of resumes come in and pick up a copy of Building a Job Search Toolkit: Writing Resumes on the first floor at OCS.