Resume Writing 101: Part I

With the current economic struggles and the shrinking of the job market, it is essential that a person understands how to market his/her self appropriately. The first step at marketing one’s self appropriately is “the resume.”

What is a résumé you ask? A résumé is a summary of a person’s skills, experience, and education. It is brief and concise. A résumé is between a page to two pages. The header of the résumé is one’s name, address, phone number and email address. One’s name is usually bigger than the rest of the text on the résumé. The line following one’s name is one’s contact information (address, phone number and email address). Usually I put a line break in between this information and the rest of the text on the resume to separate it.

After typing one’s name and contact information, the next section to add is the objective. The objective states the job you are applying for or the career path you are looking to obtain at a certain company. An example is: to become a substance abuse counselor at Phoenix House, Inc.

Following the section after writing one’s objective is to list one’s education and/or certifications and/or licenses. List each educational institution’s name, the type of degree obtained, location, and one’s graduation date (include month and year). For certifications list the type of certification it is, what institution one obtained it from, the location of the institution, and the month and year one obtained it. For licenses list the type of license, the state the license was obtained, and the month and year one obtained it.

After the education section has been completed, the next sections involves one’s work history. This part diverges into three different styles of resume writing: reverse chronological resume, functional resume, and hybrid resume. Depending upon the type of resume writing style chosen depends upon the type of job/career one is going for and whether or not one is making a career change. This series will explore these different types of resume writing and when it is appropriate to use each one.

 Written by Audrey Haven, Staff Writer