Career Services

The anatomy of a resume

• Contact information
  • Your name should stand out, using large bold lettering, always positioned at the top.
  • Include complete contact information with phone, email address, and mailing address.
  • May require two addresses: permanent and local may be advantageous if applying/relocating in that geographic area.
  • Minimize number of email/ telephone contacts; use professionally appropriate email addresses, and announcements on phone message service.
  • Work authorization means “green card” or ability to legally work in the US; international students are generally in the US on an F-1 or J-1 visa, which allows you to complete 12 months of practical training.
  • If you think an employer might assume you do not have US citizenship or work authorization, you may include it under the heading “Work Authorization” or under your name:
    Odusis Moshibaba
    US Citizen

    -or-
    Odusis Moshibaba
    US Work Authorization

• Objective
  • An objective tells your reader what you want to do, and the remainder of the resume tells her/him what qualifies you to do that.
  • Objectives include either a clearly defined interest, position, industry, organization in which you want to work, or focuses on a functional area (e.g. marketing-related, promotions, or management).
  • Objectives may include skills, experience, qualities directly related to the position.
  • Focus on what you have to offer to the position rather than describing what you want from the position.
  • Objectives work best for new graduates.
    
    
    
• Summary
  • Include either a summary or an objective. Summaries are generally used when you have a depth and breadth of work experiences. A summary includes 3-5 bulleted statements of key qualifications.
  • Only use a summary to demonstrate concrete skills/experience and accomplishments as they relate to the position.
  • Do not simply list personal skills and/or qualities.
  • If the experience/skills warrant it, many employers prefer a summary.
    
    
• Education
  • Spell out degree (as stated or will be on diploma) and major, followed by graduation month and year.
  • Minor, areas of concentration, and certificates may be included.
  • May specify college/school with name of university spelled out.
  • GPA is usually recommended; may use overall/cumulative, major, ASU GPA or GPA from last 3 – 4 semesters as long as it is so noted.
    
    
• Relevant courses
  • Use in cases where you need to demonstrate proficiencies not obvious to the major, highlight concentration areas, fill space, or if you don’t have much relevant experience.
  • If needed, provide information that may clarify course content or skills gained.
    
    
• Athletics
  • Athletics may be included under education or placed in a separate category but should not look like a stat sheet.
  • May be used to demonstrate teamwork, self-management skills, academic and/or athletic performance.
    
    
• Projects
  • May title section Academic, Technical, Relevant Courses, or Class Projects.
  • Focus on task/function, actions, process, resources used and results.
  • Include projects that are relevant to career field/industry and that communicate knowledge, teamwork, presentation, or other skills.
  • Use key words/language of the industry.
  • Define your role on team projects, and the specific tools/applications used.
    
    
• Study abroad
  • Include what you studied, the courses, and location.
  • Illustrate experiences that expanded your worldview; identify skills you developed and enhanced.
    
    
• Activities/volunteer/community service
  • Include position/title, organization name, dates, and contributions.
  • Demonstrate skills and accomplishments gained through your involvement and experiences.
  • May include sorority/fraternity, clubs, organizations, athletics, charity, and community service.
    
    
• Awards
  • Show how the award is relevant to your objective through descriptions of the award and what.
  • Be selective in the number and type of awards and scholarships.
  • May also be included within the context they were awarded, e. g. education and work.
  • Include name and for what you received it.
    
    
• Internships
  • Internships may be included within experience or you may create a separate section for them and set them up the same as experience.
    
    
• Experience
  • Create focused experience sections if possible to emphasize experience and skills in a particular area such as Customer Service Experience, Accounting Experience, and Project Management Experience.
  • Begin with the most recent position, followed by previous positions.
  • Include job title/position, company/organization name, city, state, and dates that include only the month and year.
  • Provide enough information regarding what you did, emphasizing relevant skills and accomplishments.
  • Start each statement with an action word/verb that is a skill.
  • Use relevant tenses for present and past.
  • Quantify accomplishments to demonstrate results and complexity of tasks you performed.
  • If more than one position was held for an organization, place the name of the organization followed by City, State and inclusive dates for the time. Second line is for the position held and the dates for that position. When finished with the skills for that position, put in the next position with the dates.
    
    
• Mission (and additional types of) experience
  • Identifying religious, political, some social, cultural, ethnic, or sexual orientation affiliations in your resume could result in bias even though most of these affiliations are a protected status. If you feel strongly this information is an important part of your identity, and is relevant to the employer and/or position, then include what’s most comfortable for you.
  • Focus on skills, accomplishments, multicultural, and other rich experiences that make you unique.
  • Make decisions about what best qualifies you for the position, and stay focused on the information that will help communicate your ability to do the job.
    
    
• Skills
  • Develop a special skill section for skills that bring value to your resume.
  • Skill sections may include Languages, Computer Skills, Laboratory Skills and others that are relevant to your career field.
  • List the relevant skills under the headings; keep it simple.
    
    
• Certifications
  • Certifications that are part of your degree/major may be placed under Education.
  • CPR, First Aid, and other certifications may be included under a certification section if relevant to the position.
    
    
• Languages
  • Communicate the level of your language skills.
    
    
• On-line resumes
  • Protect yourself by omitting personal contact information.
  • Check privacy policy to prevent your information from being disclosed to anyone other than the companies you select.
  • Avoid sites that charge you a fee.
  • Include key words in the content.
  • May also include key words in a summary at the top of the resume.
  • Use a plain text version so it can be read by most users.
  • Create a resume that will look good electronically.
  • Refresh your resume once a week.
  • Remove your resume when you accept an offer.