Below are some tips, and information that can help you develop an effective graduate-level resume. Simply choose a section that interests you or scroll through everything you need to know about resume development.
Format Generally there are two resume formats that we suggest you use. Click on the links below to see samples of each format.
The Chronological resume is a listing of your work experience and education history in reverse chronological order. This type of resume tends to be used by individuals who are entering the job market as well as those who are changing jobs within a career field that requires documentation of continuous activity.
The Combination: Chronological/Functional format takes elements of the Chronological resume and also combines a functional approach. The functional approach involves organizing your experience according to specific skills or functions. Some major skill categories can be Marketing, Project Management, or Technology. Both the job changer and the career changer can use this format to present capabilities and transferable skills combined with work experience.
Content Your resume is a marketing tool and should be designed to catch the attention of prospective employers, leading to an interview. Therefore, you need to develop your resume with the employers' perspective in mind. What are they looking for? What skills or qualities do they desire? What is the most important to them? And how have you demonstrated (in previous experience) these characteristics? Creating your resume with these questions in mind will increase the effectiveness of your resume. Here are some other general tips on the content of your resume:
Only use a professional summary if you have a significant amount of experience and would like certain qualities, skills, or experience to stand out.
Avoid using an objective in your resume. Your objective is more appropriate for cover letters, interest statements, or interviews.
Demonstrate you achievements with numbers. Quantify the claims on your resume using #, $, and %'s. Numbers, dollars, and percentages stand out in a body of a resume and show your impact on an organization.
Include only the most relevant information to that specific industry, function, or even employer. Employers do not want to spend a lot of time reading about things that do not apply to them!
Do not include hobbies on your resume unless the activity is relevant to your field or highlights a relevant quality (i.e. competitive nature or professional development).
Do not include ethnic or religious affiliations.
Incorporate key words into your descriptions, but do not overuse "buzzwords". Include enough technical terms to show you familiarity with an industry.
Do not show weakness. Don't include GPA, GMAT, or other information that you don’t feel comfortable sharing.
Gain an understanding of what employers want and highlight those attributes, skills, and experiences in your resume.
Begin you descriptions with Actions Words and avoid phrases in the passive voice such as "responsible for" and "duties included".
MAKE SURE TO CATCH ALL ERRORS IN YOUR RESUME. DOUBLE AND TRIPLE CHECK SPELLING AND GRAMMAR. Have at least one other person review your resume.
Listed below are the typical sections within your resume. You may include other sections that best highlight the skills and experience that are of interest to employers in your industry of interest. Keep the interest and needs of the employer in mind when deciding on section headings. Your section headings will then catch the employers' attention.
Name, Address, Phone Number, Email
Make sure your name stands out by using a larger font or bold type (just for your name).
In most cases, use your local address. However, you may also include a permanent address.
Your phone number and email address are extremely important, as an employer must be able to reach you.
It is common for people to use a line to separate this section of the resume from the remaining sections.
Education
Education should appear first as you are most likely using your advanced degree as leverage into a position. Identify your degree, when you expect to complete it, the school and location of the school. Include your GPA and GMAT or GRE score of it makes you stand out. Below are the standard Carlson School wordings for the education section.
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, Minneapolis, MN
Carlson School of Management
Candidate for Master of Business Administration, To be awarded May 20xx
Emphasis in [Marketing, Finance, Operations, etc.]
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, Minneapolis, MN
Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies, Carlson School of Management
Candidate for Master of Arts in Human Resources and Industrial Relations To be awarded May 20xx
You may also list any academic honors, scholarships, teaching assistantships in this section. List all graduate schools, professional schools, and undergraduate schools. Avoid listing your high school.
Experience
Research your industry and relevant position descriptions. Learn as much as you can about the skills that are sought after by prospective employers in your selected area of interest. You can then emphasize these desired skills in your descriptions of previous experiences.
Experience should be listed in reverse chronological order, with your current position listed first.
If you are currently employed, write about your current position in present tense. Write about former positions in past tense.
Effectively communicating your strengths, skills, and experience can be difficult. Follow these guidelines when writing your Experience Descriptors and use these terms to communicate your Personality Descriptors .
Visual Appeal and Paper When it comes to resumes, details count. Below are some suggestions that will help you cover all the basics.
Be consistent throughout your resume with spacing and highlighting.
Use plenty of white space and avoid "crowding" your resume with information.
Use bullet points to highlight key information.
Use sans serif fonts. As a second choice, choose popular serif fonts. Examples of good typefaces include: Times, Helvetica, Futura, New Century Schoolbook, Univers, ITC Bookman, Optima, Palatino, ITC Avante Garde Gothic
Use a font size of 10 to 14 points
Avoid italic text, script and underlined passages
Avoid using graphics and shading
Use horizontal and vertical lines sparingly
Avoid compressing between letters
Always send originals
Do not fold your resume to mail it
Minimize the use of general abbreviations
Maximize the use of industry jargon and abbreviations (i.e.,CAD for computer-assisted design)
Use traditional resume structure-double columns do not work well with some systems
Your name should be the first text on the resume
Select quality paper for your resume (24 lb. bond is recommended)
The most popular colors are white, off-white, of light gray.
We ask that all Carlson students put their resume into the Carlson format. You can use the resume builder to create a resume in this format. See the instructions below to download it. Should the builder not work for you, please review the samples below and follow this format. Follow the samples for format, spacing, highlighting text, etc. Should you have any questions, please contact us.
Because this file is a .dot with macros embedded, you need to follow these instructions for it to download and function properly:
In Firefox
1. Click on the Resume Builder link
2. Choose to SAVE the file. (Choose Open if you do not have the SAVE option.) Be SURE it saves with a .dot extension and not ".dot.doc"
In Internet Explorer 7
1. Click on the Resume Builder link
2. Choose to SAVE the file. (Choose Open if you do not have the SAVE option.)
3. The Save As dialog will open. In the File field, replace .doc with .dot (Be SURE it saves with a .dot extension and not ".dot.doc"
Open the Downloaded File
1. To run the builder, double click to open
2. If it tells you macros are DISABLED
In Office 97-2003:
--Go to Tools --> Macro -->Security...
--On the Security Level tab, select MEDIUM
--close the document (no save necessary)
--reopen the document
-- If it asks you, choose to ENABLE macros
In Office 2007:
--Press OK when the macro warning appears
--Under the menu ribbon there will be a Security Warning
--Click Options and select ‘Enable this content’ from the dialog
3. Run the wizard to create your resume
4. Office 2007 may prompt you to save the resulting file in its format. Choose the option best for your situation. The formatting should be preserved in either version.
Resume Samples Below are a few resume examples that incorporate the suggestions of the GBCC in writing an effective resume. You may find it helpful to follow these samples when creating your own resume.
