Your résumé advertises you as a candidate for a job, internship or other position. Résumés are used as a primary screening to determine the most qualified applicants. The first step to catch the recruiter’s eye or pass through an electronic screening system is creating a résumé that effectively shows your experiences and skills.
Your résumé should highlight your knowledge, skills, abilities, experiences and accomplishments as they relate to your career goals.
Chronological Résumé
Functional Résumé
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Federal or State Government Résumé
Your résumé connects your experiences and skills to the position you apply for and shows why they make you the ideal candidate. Elaborate on the skills you gained from your experiences, don’t just list them. Tailor each résumé to a specific opportunity. Every company and field is different; get advice on résumé norms from a professor, advisor or someone working in the industry.
Education
Work Experience
Study Abroad
Volunteer Experience
Projects
Summary of Qualifications/Professional Summary
Leadership and Involvement
Skills/Languages
Awards/Acknowledgements
Relevant Coursework
Additional Section Examples
Power statements create a more powerful résumé. They highlight your achievements, illustrate your tasks, quantify your results and show your impact in a role. Jobs, internships, community service, club involvement, military experience and projects should all be backed up with power statements. A power statement should be no more than two lines.
A power statement is made up of an action component (an action word plus a concise description of a task), followed by a results component (quantified results and other concrete evidence).
Action component: Describe your actions to complete a task or solve a problem by using an action word.
Results Component: Your results illustrate how your efforts can translate to the organization to which you are applying.
Baseline
On Your Way
Finish Line
Advertised
Collaborated
Explained
Informed
Presented
Represented
Synthesized
Achieved
Coordinated
Developed
Expanded
Generated
Managed
Streamlined
Adapted
Designed
Engineered
Modeled
Programmed
Restored
Specialized
Authored
Composed
Created
Customized
Illustrated
Invented
Photographed
Assigned
Completed
Incorporated
Organized
Processed
Scheduled
Updated
Accommodated
Assisted
Counseled
Encouraged
Guided
Served
Supported
Appraised
Audited
Calculated
Estimated
Invested
Maximized
Minimized
Analyzed
Collected
Conducted
Documented
Experimented
Identified
Synthesized
Advised
Counseled
Educated
Evaluated
Individualized
Instructed
Trained