Resumes

1. Resumes Tory Nair, Career Advisor Career Development Center, B-119 (773) 442-4685

2. Parts of a Resume • Name and contact information • Objective (optional) • Qualifications summary/professional profile (optional) • Education and relevant coursework • Work experience • Internship experience • Volunteer experience • Extracurricular activities/honors/awards • Computer skills • Language skills • Additional sections for related information

3. The Length Debate • How long should a resume be? • 1 page • 2 pages • Doesn’t matter • It depends • Answer: It depends!

4. Formatting • Margins: ¾ to 1” margins • Consistency: • Dates on right side • How list work experiences • Fonts/formatting • Font: • 10-12 point font • “Professional” font – Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, others • Name & headings should be bolded, larger font size to stand out

5. Formatting • Additional Formatting: • Use special formatting (bold/italics/underlines) sparingly • Colors – black font is best in most situations • No pictures or graphics! • Important tips: • List bullets in order of importance • Do not need to include references on resume • Make sure it looks ok when converted to a PDF file or being sent via e-mail • Avoid templates!

6. Chronological vs. Functional Resumes • What is a chronological resume? • Lists work, internship, and volunteer experience in reverse chronological order (most recent to oldest) • What is a functional resume? • Highlights skills and qualifications vs. experiences • Order of relevancy vs. chronological

7. Chronological vs. Functional NOTE: Can also use the “combination” format – there’s no one right way!

8. Contact Information • What’s wrong with this header? “Snooki” Polozzi 100 S. jerzeeeest Jersey Shores, Nj 07480 Cell: 123-4567 hottiefromnj@yahooo.com No nicknames! Check your grammar! Do not need to write “cell,” just include one number Use a professional e-mail address Watch for typos!

9. Contact Information • How it should appear: Nicole Polozzi 100 S. Jersey St. Jersey Shores, NJ 07480 (555) 123-4567 npolozzi@yahoo.com • Professionalism reminders: • Use a “professional” e-mail address, check it often • Make sure your voicemail message is appropriate • Yes, include your mailing address!

10. Education Section • Should include: • Current institution and location – write it out! • Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL • NOT Northeastern University (Boston), NEIU, NorthEastern… • Graduation date • Degree obtaining, including major(s) and/or minor(s) • Master of Arts in Counseling • NOT “MA” or “Masters” or “Masters of Arts” • GPA (if a 3.0 or above) • Can include GPA in different ways (e.g., major GPA vs. cumulative/overall GPA) • Previous institutions (for Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science) • Can include: relevant coursework here

11. Education Section - Examples EDUCATION Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL May 2014 Master of Arts in Counseling North Park University, Chicago, IL May 2011 Bachelor of Arts in Psychology

12. Education Section - Examples EDUCATION Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL Master of Arts in Counseling May 2014 Bachelor of Arts in Psychology May 2011

13. Work Experience • Include: • Name of employer • Location (city, state) • Dates of employment • Position title • Use bullet points for easy reading • Action verbs should start each bullet point • Content should be specific and in order of importance (as related to position description) • Include skills, achievements/accomplishments vs. job duties or responsibilities • Watch tenses! • Present tense for current jobs • Past tense for previous jobs • Be consistent in formatting! • Can have a separate section for “relevant” work experience

14. Work Experience • How far back should you go? • If you have more years of experience, include up to last 10 years • If you have less years of experience, include all relevant and/or recent experiences • Can include relevant skills section • Does not have to be exactly related, but try to pull out transferable/related skills • Should appear in reverse chronological order (chronological resumes) • Read job descriptions for clues!

15. Additional Experiences to Include • Internships • Can list among rest of work experience, but stands out if it has its own section/heading • Format and write similarly to work experience • Can list on resume as soon as you start! • Volunteer/Community Service Work • Leadership/Student Organizations Any experience is “good” experience, paid or not!

16. Phrases to Avoid in your Resume • “Team player” • “Responsible for…” • “Hard-working” • “Strong communication skills” • “Proven track record for success” • Demonstrate your skills by using specific details: • Show, don’t tell!

17. Additional Sections for Resumes • Computer skills • Write out Microsoft Office products (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Outlook, Publisher) • Include any specific knowledge of social media, software, hardware, coding, programming, and so on • Foreign language ability • Be careful with use of “fluent” or other words to describe extent of knowledge/use in conversation • Activities (extracurricular activities, campus involvement) • Honors/Awards • Any additional experiences you feel are relevant, unique • DO NOT include hobbies, interests! • DO NOT include “references available upon request”

18. On a Separate Page… • 3-4 professional references • Name • Contact information • Phone, e-mail address • Relationship to you and/or position title • DO NOT include personal (family, friends) references unless asked to do so! • Make sure your references have agreed to do this for you!

19. Hints, Tips, & Tricks • Tailor your resume to the position • Place sections in order of relevance and importance • Save your resume with your name in the file name (e.g., “Tory Nair Resume.doc”) • Can also add the position title (e.g., “Tory Nair Career Advisor Resume.doc”) or company (e.g., “Tory Nair ALA Resume.doc”) • Save one file for every position, along with a master • On new versions of Word, you can “save as” a PDF. Many employers prefer this.

20. LinkedIn – Your Online “Resume” • http://www.linkedin.com • Can list this on your resume, but not necessary • Import your resume for your profile • One of the first things that comes up when someone searches for you online • Use it to connect to others and to research companies, people • LinkedIn workshops

21. Come in for a resume critique! • Drop-in hours Mondays and Wednesdays 1-3pm (Building B, Room 119) • Appointments Monday-Friday • Monday-Wednesday hours: 8:30am-7pm • Thursday-Friday hours: 8:30am-4:30pm

22. Career Development Center – Additional • In addition to resume and cover letter critiques, we also assist with: • Preparing for interviews • Writing thank-you letters • Applying to graduate school • Deciding what to do after graduation • Applying for internships and full-time positions • Negotiating salary and navigating job offers • Additional questions regarding your career search! • We host many events, coordinate on-campus interviews and job fairs, and post jobs, internships online (CCN)!

23. Questions? • Career Development Center • B-119 • 773.442.4680 • http://www.neiu.edu/careerservices • Tory Nair – v-nair@neiu.edu