Resume Writing:

Dos and Donts

Road Map
What is the number one purpose of resume.
Some statistical data.
Resume writing dos and donts
Resume of Tracy Q. Graduate -evaluation

What is the number one purpose

of resume.

To win an interview.

Some statistical data.

A job often attracts 100 to 1000 resumes.
One interview is granted for 200 resumes.
10 to 20 seconds is all the time you have to
persuade a prospective employer to read
further; i.e. the top half of the first page of
your resume will either make you or break
you.

Dos of Resume Writing

Keep it simple and hard-hitting. WHY?
Use action words. WHY?
Lead off with work experience. WHY?
Stick to two pages.WHY?
Customize.WHY?

Donts of Resume Writing

Forget the fancy stuff. WHY?
Avoid career objectives (unless you know
very well what is available and what you
want) WHY?
Dont place information that you cannot
back up with evidence. WHY?
Absolutely no errors! WHY?

More Tips
Focus on employers needs, not yours.
Plan first
Put two sections in your resume:
Advertising section (your abilities, qualities and
achievements)
Evidence

The Objective
Should convey why you are a perfect candidate for this
job.
If you place an objective your resume has to target your
objective.
Sample format:
An xxx position in an organization where yyy and zzz would
be needed.

Sample objective:
An entry level position in the software industry where a
background in software development process and in technical
writing would be needed.

Summary Section
Consists of several concise statements that
focus readers attention on the most
important qualities, achievements and
abilities you have to offer.
Use action words:
such as: improved, solved, redesigned, planned

Skills and accomplishments

More detail than summary
Results that you produced
Flesh out the most important highlights in
your summary
E.g.
Developed a scheduling software using Access and
VB.
Received an Senior Project Award from CSUF for
development of scheduling software.

Evidence -Experience
List jobs in reverse chronological order.
Focus on the most recent jobs.
Decide what is the most impressive: your
job title or the companys you worked for
and consistently begin with the more
impressive.

Evidence - Education
List education in reverse chronological order.
Degrees or licenses first.
Set degrees apart so they are easily seen.
Include GPA only if over 3.4.
List selected courses if necessary.
No degree received yet? Include the degree and
the expected degree date (e.g. expected Spring,
2002).

Exercise
Read the resume of Tracy Q. Graduate and
rank its quality on the scale 1 to 4 (1 poor,
2 satisfactory, 3- good, 4 excellent.)
Explain your answer list good and bad
points.
Resume.doc

References
www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/careers/ccre
sume.htm
www.rockportinstitute.com/resumes.html
www.collegegrad.com/resumes/quicksort/co
mpsci.shtml