Showcasing Excellence
Whether your next stop is graduate school or the workforce, the application process is how you can separate yourself from other candidates. Use the resources on this page to build the best version of yourself!
Developing a Résumé
A résumé is a targeted personal marketing document that summarizes your education and experiences to highlight your qualifications as they relate to the position (part or full-time jobs, internships, leadership positions, scholarships) you are seeking. It is also a way to obtain an interview.
Design and layout matter! Highlight skills in bullet form rather than burying them within the phrase and keep headers to the left as the reader will scan top to bottom and left to right. Many organizations use an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) when reviewing résumés, before a human would ever see what you have submitted. Then, recruiters may spend as little as six seconds on an initial review of your resume. Therefore, you want to make sure your résumé is aligned with the job description and provides action verbs about your qualifications and experience.
Formatting
- Make sure you’re able to fit everything onto only one page.
- If you have many experiences, it is acceptable to reduce the margins from 1” down to 0.5” if necessary.
- List your name on a line by itself at the top, followed by your phone number, email address, and location.
- Email address: This should appear professional!
- If your personal email is from middle school with a satirical or outdated name, then it’s not a good look.
- Instead, use your @utsouthern.edu address or a personal email that lists some variation of your last and/or first name.
- Note: Be sure the email address you use is one you check regularly! You don’t want to miss out on any follow-ups you may receive.
- Location: List the town of your permanent address and not simply where you are at the moment of application. In certain circumstances, it is acceptable to list both.
- Don’t list your full physical address!
- When sharing out your résumé, you are not really sure who all may see it. Therefore, list only the city, state, and zip code of your primary address.
- Instead of 433 W Madison Street, Pulaski, TN 38478, you would simply put: Pulaski, TN 38478
- When sharing out your résumé, you are not really sure who all may see it. Therefore, list only the city, state, and zip code of your primary address.
- Note: International Students should add the town of their home country in addition to their current location.
- Don’t list your full physical address!
Content
- Prior to creating or editing your résumé, you should first look at the job posting to learn what the employer is looking for in who they hire.
- Most employers today will use an Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) to electronically view applications before a human ever lays eyes on it.
- See the ATS section below for more insight!
- When reviewing a job posting, think about your experiences and education to see what things you need to add as bullet points to your résumé to match what they’re looking for!
- Most employers today will use an Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) to electronically view applications before a human ever lays eyes on it.
- For students seeking their “first real job” after graduation, it is appropriate to begin with your education.
- Once you achieve your bachelor’s degree, your high school education is unnecessary and should be removed.
- If you have multiple degrees (graduate degree, bachelor’s degree, associate’s, etc.), you will list your most recent degree first.
- For specific types of positions (i.e., accountants, engineers, graduate schools), they may be interested in your relevant coursework.
- If the job application requires you to submit your transcript, then you may remove these courses from the résumé itself.
- If you’re not proud of the GPA you have…it is acceptable to leave it off of the résumé as well (so as not to draw unwanted attention).
- Otherwise, listing it is appropriate, “GPA 3.53/4.0”
- For specific types of positions (i.e., accountants, engineers, graduate schools), they may be interested in your relevant coursework.
- Experience should also be listed in reverse chronological order, which shows the most recent first.
- Begin each bullet point with an action verb, then share the task or project you were a part of, and include any relevant metrics or results.
- See the Action Verbs section below for more insight!
- Experience could include all part-time jobs, internships, or work study opportunities you may have had.
- However, if you do not have any experiences (yet), you should list all clubs, sports teams, etc. that have shaped your experiences.
- Note: If you are unsure what should be listed, stop by the Office of Career Development!
- However, if you do not have any experiences (yet), you should list all clubs, sports teams, etc. that have shaped your experiences.
- Begin each bullet point with an action verb, then share the task or project you were a part of, and include any relevant metrics or results.
- Eliminate white space throughout your document.
- When listing out your experiences, ensure there are sentences of information about what you accomplished that fill up the space.
- You do not want to overcrowd the page, but you do want to maximize what they learn about you!
- You may add an optional section about your skills, but you should only list those that would be relevant to the job itself.
- How do I know which skills are necessary?
- Review, review, review the job posting!
- How do I know which skills are necessary?
- Do not list abbreviations, acronyms, etc. without first writing them out fully.
- Use Grammarly or another spell-checking application to ensure you have not missed anything.
- Typos make you lose credibility!
- Use Grammarly or another spell-checking application to ensure you have not missed anything.
- Finally, do not list your references directly on your résumé document.
- This was a practice in the past, but it has been phased out in recent years.
- Some job applications will have a question about references, but the employer will only contact the references of the individual(s) they intend to hire.
- Therefore, most processes wait until their candidate has reached the final stages of the hiring process before requesting you should provide references.
Action Verbs
Since you already know that recruiters will spend just six seconds reviewing your résumé, you want to describe your achievements effectively.
When sharing information about your past experiences, it is paramount that you include 2-4 bullet points that are 1-2 lines long that include what tasks you accomplished along with measurable outcomes.
For example, if you wished to showcase your experiences in leading on-campus events for your fellow students, you might have a bullet point that says, “Organized and advertised networking events each semester with 25+ participants from all majors at UT Southern.” In that case, organized and advertised are your action verbs, networking events each semester share the task or project, and 25+ participants from all majors would be your measurable outcomes.
The file below highlights several types of action verbs you should consider when building your résumé.
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
Applicant Tracking Systems, or ATS, are software used to help individuals sort through piles of applications to filter out those that don’t meet their criteria.
ATS software is not perfect! Many qualified candidates are still filtered out, so this section provides information to help you get past ATS barriers.
- Make sure your résumé can be read.
- Avoid creative fonts or icons.
- Use Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, etc.
- Some newer fonts convert letters to special characters when scanned by ATS!
- Use Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, etc.
- Check to see if your PDF has become corrupted.
- If you cannot highlight everything from your PDF and copy it into a document, then it has become corrupted and can only be viewed as an image.
- ATS software can’t view images!
- If you cannot highlight everything from your PDF and copy it into a document, then it has become corrupted and can only be viewed as an image.
- Avoid columns and make sure your lists of information are separated by bullet points.
- Some ATS software cannot parse your information listed in columns and it becomes a jumbled mess it cannot understand.
- Avoid creative fonts or icons.
- Use standard section titles.
- Make sure your résumé is categorized with words like Experience, Activities, Education, Projects, etc.
- Non-standard sections can make it harder for ATS to scan what’s relevant.
- Avoid sections like:
- “What I’ve been up to…”
- “My work so far…”
- “How I add value…”
- Make sure your résumé is categorized with words like Experience, Activities, Education, Projects, etc.
- Use the right keywords.
- ATS software takes information from the job description and uses it to evaluate application materials.
- If you don’t use the right keywords, it won’t think you have the right experiences for the job!
- If a job lists certain requirements, you’ll want to make sure your résumé lists as many of these as possible in your bullet points about your experience.
- ATS software takes information from the job description and uses it to evaluate application materials.
Review with Others
- You should request for several people to review and critique your résumé before finalizing it for an employer.
- Since you want it to “pop” and grab the attention of the employer, you should gather the opinions of others.
- We all have different preferences, so something that stands out to one person may be uninteresting to another!
- Then, you should use the feedback you get to make a résumé you can be proud of.
- Again, your résumé should be tailored to the position you want, so you should revise it always to match the job posting.
Writing a Cover Letter or Personal Statement
Sometimes, a cover letter will be listed as optional on a job application. Always submit a cover letter that’s tailored to the position to which you’re applying! This provides the personnel in the hiring process to see more about your relevant experiences and skills, which can set you apart from other candidates.
A cover letter is a one-page business letter that expands upon what you may have already shared in your résumé, it demonstrates your writing skills, and it clarifies any issues (experience, GPA) that need to be addressed. It answers (a) why you are interested in the job and (b) why you are qualified for the job. Although some aspects are different, you will approach the development of your Personal Statement for graduate school using the same methods.
First Paragraph:
- Your reason for applying, including the specific title of the job and organization
- An attention-grabbing summary of your personal traits and skills that make you a great fit for the position and organization
Second Paragraph:
- Connect skill listed in the job description with your past work, volunteer, or leadership experiences (focus on past successes and outcomes)
- This section should expand on what is listed on your resume, so refrain from directing them to your resume
Closing Paragraph:
- Appreciation of the reader’s time and attention
- What do you want the next step to be (i.e., your hopes for them to follow-up)
- End the letter with Sincerely, three spaces, and your name
Typical Cover Letter Mistakes:
- Sending a resume without a cover letter
- Appearing generic, not tailoring how your skills/experience match the specific needs of the job/company
- Allowing misspellings or incorrect grammar/punctuation
- Rambling, focusing on your whole story instead of just the relevant part (you have the interview to expand)
Sample Résumé Downloads
To help you get started on your résumé, here is a list of Microsoft Word templates you can download and use that are categorized by specialty: