How to Write a Resume

By Steve Burt
Certified Professional Resume Writer

Here's a step-by-step, section-by-section guide on how to write a resume. Of course, everyone has different backgrounds and faces different job search situations so use the information I offer as a general guide for how to write a resume rather than rigid rules to follow when writing your particular document. In other words, be flexible. Let common sense rule your efforts. If something seems questionable or unreasonable for your particular situation, don't do it. Note that this guide is designed primarily for those job hunters whose careers are somewhere in between recent grads and executive levels. Those 2 levels require different presentations.

Top Heading:

The heading at the top of your resume should include your name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address. Use an attractive layout with your name as the first item on the page and the rest of your information below it.

EXAMPLE

Avoid using a cell phone number or pager number on your resume if you can. When an employer calls, you want to be able to devote 100% of your attention to making a good impression. That's not always easy to do. For example, you wouldn't want that call to come in while you're fighting rush hour traffic.
Use a personal e-mail address on your resume instead of your work address. Using the boss' email system to look for a new job is generally frowned on by current employers and considered bad form by prospective employers.

Introduction:

The introduction for your resume is the paragraph immediately following your top heading information. The title for this section can vary depending on its purpose. Possibilities include Objective, Summary, Background, etc. My favorite way to handle the heading for this section is to use the type of position you're targeting. For example, if you're targeting a position as a Controller, use that as your heading. If you're an IT person, use "Information Technology Professional". This lets the prospective employer know the type of position you're trying to target with your resume right off the bat.

As far as what to write in this section, do yourself a favor and stay away from statements like, "Seeking an opportunity to put my skills to work for a company where I can contribute to the bottom line." Statements like that don't say anything. There's nothing a prospective employer can learn about you, your background, or your career direction from that. It's just a bunch of words strung together that mean nothing.

Certifications & Areas of Technical Expertise:

(skip this section unless you’re an IT person)

If you’re an IT person, this is the location on your resume where you should showcase your skills and certifications. Set it up on your resume like the following example modifying the headings and substituting your own information as needed:

EXAMPLE

Experience:

The headings, “EXPERIENCE” or “WORK EXPERIENCE” would be the basic titles you could use for this section. However, you may want to use a different title. For example, if you’re an accountant targeting positions in that field, but also have previous background in general business management, you could create 2 employment sections on your resume, one titled “ACCOUNTING EXPERIENCE” followed by one titled “BUSINESS MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE”. This presentation allows you to emphasize both aspects of your background.

If you’ve only held one position with each of your employers, format your presentation like this:

EXAMPLE

If you’ve worked for any companies where you’ve held more than one position, use the following format for all the employment entries on your resume:

EXAMPLE

Work experience has 2 components: 1) duties, and 2) accomplishments. Of the 2 components, the accomplishments are, by far, the most important. These are the aspects of your background that will make you stand out from your competition. By accomplishments, I mean anything you’ve done for your employers that has:

• Gone "above and beyond" the call of duty: Have you delivered superior performance on a special project or had sustained performance over a period of time?
   

• Improved customer service or satisfaction: What have you done to improve the way outsiders perceive the company and its products and services?
   

• Saved the company money: Have you developed ways to trim production costs or perform certain tasks more efficiently?
   

• Made the company money: What specific projects or work efforts have you completed that directly increased the bottom line?
   

• Improved operations and made things run more smoothly: Have you changed office operations, improved employee moral and retention, or increased productivity?

You can also list major projects (either in-house or external client work) in addition to or in lieu of an accomplishments listing.

Typically, you'd want to include specific quantitative information with your accomplishments (dollar value of projects, increased revenues resulting from your efforts, etc.)

Good examples of accomplishments are:

• "Implemented marketing strategies resulting in a 20% increase in annual revenues."
   

• “Successfully lead a team of 5 programmers on a $100,000 software development project.”

Generally, there’s no need to go back more than 10 years with your work experience. Of course, like most everything associated with resume writing, there are exceptions. For example, if you have older experience that’s directly related to the types of positions you’re currently targeting, it would probably be beneficial to include them. One way to handle this older experience is to create a section called “EARLY CAREER EXPERIENCE”.

Education & Professional Development:

Present your schools and continuing education using the following format. If you have more than one school to list, put the most recent one first. Don’t include your high school information if you have college background to list:

EXAMPLE

Computer Skills:

Include a statement like the following:

EXAMPLE

Licenses and Certifications:

(if you’re an IT person, skip this section use the “Certifications & Areas of Technical Expertise” section I described earlier in this article.)

If you have any professional licenses and/or certifications, put them here in a bulleted list. 

Professional Affiliations:

If you have any memberships in professional (job-related) organizations, put them here in a bulleted list. Only include those organizations that are current.

Community Service:

If you have any volunteer work, put it here here in a bulleted list.

Personal Background:

This is an optional section. Omit it if you don’t feel it’s relevant or if you run out of room on your resume.

Now What?

Now that you have a 1st draft of your resume completed, take a look at the length. It’s important to limit your resume to no more than 2 pages. Here are some formatting tips that will help you accomplish this:

• Reduce your font size to 10-point or 11-point.
   

• Reduce the vertical spacing between your lines by specifying a specific point size instead of the default spacing (this can save a lot of space and is barely noticeable).
   

• Change your margins to .5" on all 4 sides.
   

• Limit the detail for your older jobs.
   

• Omit the "Personal Background" section
  

Anything Else?

Yes, get more free tips and guidance for your resume at How to Make a Resume or . . .

. . . Get Personal Help With Your Resume Now

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