College Information

Skills and Experiences

Identify and acknowledge all your skills.
List all personal qualities, characteristics and skills.

1.  Begin your statements with strong action words.
2.  Highlight your skills with strong descriptive words.
3.  State the skill clearly, indicating how or where you used it.
4.  Convert all statements to past tense.

Work History
Education
Personal Additions
References
Letters of Reference
Optional Information
Sample Resume

Work History

List in reverse chronological order all jobs for the past 15 years.  Use accurate dates, company names and job titles.

     1981 - 1999  
     ABC Company, Inc.
     Program Manager

     1979 - 1981
     John Jones, Inc.
     Office Manager

Education

If a position requires a specific educational background, make sure to include an education section on your resume.

List in reverse chronological order all education history.  Use dates/years education acquired, name of institution city and state.       

1975 - 1979  Bachelor of Business Administration
                     Business Administration
                     University of Central Arkansas
                     Conway, Arkansas

1971 - 1974  High School Diploma
                     Little Rock High School
                     Little Rock, Arkansas

Personal Additions

Personal additions can include statements about your suitability for the position, as well as statements about your experience for the job.

You can also include volunteer experience you might have.
    - Begin with most relevant reasons an employer should hire you.
    - Illustrate with strong personal and /or work related characteristics
      you may include personal interests, activities or hobbies.

References

Create a list of individuals who would present you positively to a prospective employer, preferably choose those who can discuss your work habits.

Three references are ideal.

Possible references: supervisors (past or present)
                                 co-workers
                                 volunteer coordinators

Do Not include family members or relatives as references.

Note: Call your references and ask for permission prior to giving their name. Also, verify their current employer, title and phone number.  If your reference has changed jobs, include their current title, company and phone number, in addition to the company where you were employed together.

Letters of Reference

Attach positive letters of reference to your resume.  Choose the three best.

Optional Information

Include additional information only if it would provide insight to your character and is pertinent to your job objective.
     Example: Associations
                    Awards
                    Interests
                    Special Qualifications
                    Future Goals

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Tailor each resume so the information included is relevant to the
particular position you are applying for.

Consider all of the following when printing your resume:
Paper quality:   Look for a good quality of paper.
Paper color:  Subtle, white or beige are good options.
Print quality:  Use dark ink, make sure your printer cartridge prints dark.
Print style:  Readable, different print styles are okay, but make sure you can read them.
Layout:  Be creative.
Spacing:  Leave spaces for a break on the eyes.

Have someone check your resume once you think it's ready.

Have them look for:
Your correct address and phone number
Spelling Errors
Capitalization Errors
Consistency
Grammar Errors
Punctuation Errors
Spacing Errors

A professional-looking resume MUST be done on a computer or typewriter.

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Examples

The following are examples of sample layouts for resumes. After you have all the information you would like to include on your resume, look through theses examples and find the one that best fits your information. At the bottom of the page is a sample resume that we've put together for you to look at. Good luck with your resume!