Parts of a Resume

The resume is typically organized into sections arranged from most important to least important. The following is a description of the parts of a resume:

1. Identifying Information
   This should include your name, present and permanent addresses, and telephone numbers including area codes. If you have an email address, you should include it.
2. Professional Objective 
   Prepare a brief, clearly defined statement indicating the field or position in which you are interested. Your career objective represents the theme of your resume, with the remaining information supporting your goal. If you are interested in more than one career field or position, you may need to have different resumes for each professional objective.
3. Education
   For each post-secondary degree (most recent first), list:
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     • Your college or university followed by your degree, major and graduation date
     • Your GPA- only if it is 3.0 or better. If your GPA is less than a 3.0, you may want to identify only your major GPA
     • If you have worked during college, consider including the percentage of the college expenses you earned
     • If you do not include the following skills section, include your computer skills in this section
4. Qualifications or Skills
   You may want to include a section which briefly summarizes any skills or qualifications you have gained from work experience and/or extracurricular activities that relate to your professional objective (This is especially helpful if your work experience is not career related). Examples of summary statements are:
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     • Excellent time management skills developed through working 25 hours per week while a full time student
     • Developed leadership skills by serving as a community assistant responsible for 40 residents
     • Knowledge of Excel, Windows, SQL Database and html
5. Experience
   In a consistent manner, list your work experiences in reverse chronological order (most recent first). Experiences may include full-time or part-time employment as well as summer jobs, volunteer work and internships. Follow these guidelines:
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     • Give the names and locations of organizations for whom you have worked. List position, title, and dates you were employed
     • Developed leadership skills by serving as a community assistant responsible for 40 residents
     • If your experience is career related (and you did not include a "qualifications / skills" section ), state the positive aspects of your work, such as your accomplishments, acquired skills, and job growth. Quantify with numbers, such as "cash sales of $9,000" or "supervised 4 clerks."
6. Honors and Activities
   • Honors- List any honors which indicate your strong academic abilities, such as honorary societies, scholarships, awards and dean's list. Also include any honors related to character and/or community service
   • Activities- Employers look for well rounded individuals who involve themselves with extra curricular activities. Include both college and community activities. List offices, committees and responsibilities
7. References
   If you do not have space on your resume for references, it is a good idea to state, "References are available upon request" at the bottom of your resume. Create a listing of your references with work addresses and phone numbers on a second page. Always make sure that you have permission from individuals before listing them as references.