Basic Information

1. Your name as you want to be referred to professionally (Jon Baker, Jonathan Baker, Jon E. Baker)
2. Current address and phone number with area code , cell phone is best
3. Email address (professional addresses only)
4. LinkedIn profile link

Objective

A clear objective is critical to resume development because it helps focus and select information. Although you may wish to make your objective broad, do not make it so broad that it says nothing. If you are pursuing employment in more than one field, simply create different objectives for each field. Your career objective should answer this question, “What do I want to do?”  Is it for graduate school, a part-time job, an internship, a professional position after graduation, a scholarship?  Make sure your objective makes this clear.

Some sample objectives are:

1. Research position in biochemical laboratory
2. Position teaching science or social studies at the secondary school level
3. Editorial or research assistant in a public affairs organization
4. Acceptance to College Student Personnel Administration graduate program
5. Internship position to explore career options in the health field
6. Summer job in the field of physical therapy

Educational Background (for each degree-conferring institution, most recent first)

1. Institution                                                                                           
2. City, State
3. Graduation date                                                                
4. Degree or certification obtained   
5. Major/Minor/ emphasis area (how to properly write your degree and major)                                
6. Any areas of Concentration                                                            
7. GPA (if proud of it)
8. Additional certification or licensure                                             
9. Relevant coursework                                                                       
10. Specialized instruction

Experience

This part of your resume may include several sections such as work experience, volunteer experience (internships, community service, and student teaching), campus leadership, and any area in which you may have significant experience, such as publications/ presentations or knowledge.  You may divide this between Career Related Experience and Other Work Experience.

Briefly describe for each position:

1. Job title, dates, organization name, location
2. List your responsibilities for each position using a variety of Action Words to describe situations and achievements
3. Unless necessary, avoid definite and indefinite articles in descriptions such as “a”, “an”, “the.”
4. Include scope of responsibility such as: Trained eight student workers
5. Concretely outline any outstanding results such as: Developed new computerized customer listing using MS Access software to improve output by ten percent

Honors/Activities/Leadership/Special Skills

Front load these with those most important or most pertinent to your objective (career goal).  You may want to use specific headings such as professional organizations, computer skills, and leadership positions. Include any honors, scholarships or recognition awards that you have received. If you were actively involved in any clubs, teams or committees while in college, those may be included also. The key to this section is keeping it brief. If you feel you need more detail, use the guidelines for Experience and make it a complete section.

Interests

The trend is to keep away from any extraneous information that does not clearly connect to your career goal. However, if you are applying for a position in which you have experience through a hobby or leisure activity, you may want to consider adding it to your resume. For example, if you are applying for a forest ranger position and you enjoy hiking in the wilderness, include it by stating: Skilled in all-terrain hiking, camping and navigating. What you need to ask yourself is, “Will this information help the potential employer learn more about how well I can do the job?” If your answer is yes, then be sure to include the information.

Polishing It Up

After you get all your information down on paper, go through and decide which experiences are directly related to your objectives, which are definitely not related, and which are questionable. The questionable information can be used only if there is room.  Otherwise stick with the directly related experiences.

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Additional Resume and Cover Letter Writing Resources

1. Sample resumes
2. Functional Resumes for Experienced Professionals
3. Marketing your Study Abroad Experience
4. Electronic Resumes
5. Sample Cover Letters
6. Understanding how to write your degree
7. Curriculum Vitae
8. Portfolios
9. References and Letters of Recommendation

Personal resume critique assistance:

1. Walk-in hours with a career intern
2. Appointment with a career counselor
3. Verify your profile and upload a resume to MU Career Manager {current students}