Resume Guidelines
Your resume is a marketing tool designed to tell a prospective employer:
• who you are
• your accomplishments
• what you know
• what you would like to do
• what qualifications and personal strengths you have to meet their
needs.
1. Emphasize transferable skills and results or
accomplishments.
Examples – Designed and implemented a new inventory control system
that reduced out of stock items 15% in the first month of operation. (effective)
Helped improve inventory control. (weaker).
2. Keep resume to one page—not more than two. Resumes get a
20 second scan. If something catches the eye, it will be read more thoroughly. There are
exceptions to the one-page length, but not often for entry-level.
3. Emphasizing job titles (what you did) rather than where you
worked usually results in a resume that markets your capabilities in the best light.
However, that depends on the types of jobs you have held.
4. Present only the most powerful information--that most relevant
to your stated objective or the job you are targeting.
5. Present your strongest information first in each category or
job.
6. No errors in spelling, punctuation, or grammar. Carefully
proof your own resume and have another person you trust give it a final proof.
7. Give time and thought to preparation, style and layout.
Resumes must be well organized.
8. Design resume for eye appeal—inviting to read.
Attractive, open layout, good white space, bulleting and vertical listing for emphasis.
9. Use letter quality or offset printing. Use high quality bond
paper with attractive texture. White, ivory or very light gray are the best colors.
10. Eliminate extraneous words and information
11. Target resume to reader by using language of the career field
or prospective employer.
12. Use your full name or full first and last name and middle
initial, whichever you prefer.
Resume Review – After attending a Resume Workshop, call us at 218.477.2131 to make an
appointment for a resume review in CMU 114,
or drop in without an appointment at our Satellite Office in CB 101 on Tuesdays and Fridays 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
during Fall & Spring Semester while classes are in Session.