Writing Your Resume

What is a resume?
A resume is a simple, well organized summary of your personal, educational and occupational experiences, accomplishments and skills. It is essential to your job search.

What is the purpose of a resume?

1. The major purpose is to organize your goals, skills, experience, knowledge and background in a manner that will interest the reader and help you secure an interview.
2. It serves as a written introduction to accompany your letter and/or application.
3. It will help to facilitate an interview. When your assets are organized on paper, they are easier to discuss and you will be more confident in your skills and background.
4. It will serve as a visual reminder to the employer of what was covered verbally during the interview or conversation.

Your resume is a tool to secure a job interview. Resumes maybe screened for 30 to 60 seconds in order for an employer to identify the people they wish to interview. MAKE SURE THAT READER KNOWS WHAT YOU HAVE TO OFFER!!!

Do I need a resume?
Whether or not you go to work right after graduation, you will need a resume. If you are a junior or senior you will need a resume for on-campus recruiting interviews. You may need resumes for internships or your summer job search.

How can we help?
Attend a resume workshop - These are scheduled throughout the semester. Check the Calendar through eRecruiting.

Meet with a Counselor
Drop In hours are on going throughout the semester. No appointment is needed. Call ext. 4081 for the schedule. These hours a counselor is available for quick questions. Bring a draft of your resume for the counselor to review. If more time is needed an appointment can be scheduled.

Getting started with a resume
Before you write your first draft, make a list of all your significant experiences, paid work, volunteer positions, activities, and internships. Think back to senior year in high school.

Write a paragraph about each significant experience. Describe duties and accomplishments for each experience. Include if you have supervised others and handled decisions about resources and programs. Give specific quantitative information where possible if you think it will strengthen your resume. (E.g. monitored budget, number of individuals you supervised.)

Identify skills you have used (communication, leadership, analytical, problem solving, organizational skills.)

There is no single proper format for a resume. Choose or create a format that will allow you to emphasize your strengths. Click below to review sample resumes.

Accounting Resume
Engineering Resume
General Resume 1
General Resume 2
Nursing Resume

General Guidelines

Heading - List your full name, present and permanent address, phone numbers, and e-mail address.

Objective - (optional) If you are unclear on your career goals, you probably should not include an objective on your resume. You should work with a counselor in the CPC to focus your interests.

Education - should follow the "Heading" or "Objective" if you include one. Include Fairfield University, 1073 North Benson Road, P.O. Box XXX, Fairfield, CT, your degree and major and expected graduation date. If your GPA is 3.0 or better, please include it. Also include study abroad experiences, academic honors or awards (name the granting organization and title or name of the award).

Experiences - this section may include paid work experience, volunteer work as well as key extracurricular activities. They should be listed with most recent experience first. Identify each of your experiences with organizations name and location, your title and duties of involvement.

Additional information - You may wish to include other organizations in which you were/are a member but not necessarily had/have a leadership role. (If you are a member of a varsity sports team, you may wish to consider a separate category "Intercollegiate Athletics").

Special skills such as computer skills, fluency in a foreign language also may be listed under a separate category. Or you may include it under Additional Information.

Other Tips

Emphasize results - don't just provide job duties. Try to specify what you accomplished; what you achieved in your job or function.

Language - Do not write in the first person. No "I's". Begin each statement with an active verb. Eg. Supervised camp activities.... Organized volunteer programs for ... etc.

Proofread your resume - No typos, no misspellings, no grammatical errors. Do not rely on spell check to catch all the errors. Your resume should be letter perfect.

Create a good looking resume - Resumes should be visually appealing. One page, even margins and a sense of visual balance. Final copy should be printed in off white bond paper.

Truthfulness - Employers may check out the information you provide. Include only accurate information on your resume.

Use reverse chronological order - Highlight your education, jobs activities starting most recently and working backwards.

Have you resume critiqued - Have a counselor from CPC or a professional in your chosen career field review your resume and make suggestions for improvements.