PREPARING A RESUME


Your resume is a marketing tool to showcase your background, experiences, and capabilities. It is a reflection of you and that first introduction to prospective employers. Take care to develop a clear, concise, and error-free resume. Remember, the goal of a resume is to get an interview.


KEY POINTS TO CONSIDER


„Make it obvious. Employers scan a resume in less than a minute! Therefore, you need to keep yours to one page and use a clear format. Present the most important information (education, work experience) first.


„Know your audience. Employers are interested in your education, skills and experience. As an incoming student, you may or may not have professional work experience, but you have developed valuable skills during every class, extra-curricular activity, volunteer role and job in which you participated. Select and include skills relevant to employers.


„Show rather than tell. Instead of listing skills like communication, or qualities such as hard working, demonstrate these in your work experience and extra-curricular sections.


„Quantify and qualify. Whenever possible, use numbers like #, $, % to illustrate your level of responsibility and the results your work achieved, e.g. increased my lawn care customers by 20%.


„Use an active voice. Share your accomplishments using active verbs that show how you did your work. Do not just list your duties. How did you contribute or make a difference?


USE


Analyzed Created


Implemented Organized Planned


Responded Tested


AVOID Assisted Attended


Experience with Helped


Responsible for Utilized


Worked on


DRAFT A RESUME USING THE SAMPLE ON THE NEXT PAGE.


„Start with a blank Microsoft Word document, select a standard font, 11 or 12 point in size. Do not use templates, headers or tables because they can make future edits challenging.


„Simple formatting ensures applicant tracking systems can read your information.


„Save your resume using your name: Jamie Student, Mechanical Engineering resume, month year


„Meet with your Co-op manager to review resume and receive feedback for improvement.


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