Contents of Effective Professional Resume

Assumptions

• Accept the value of custom resumes
• Know position titles and type of vacancy
• Do your homework

Do Your Homework

•  Analyze the job description for skills and abilities.
• Do you have at least 60% of what they are asking for?
• Create your list of accomplishments.
• Analyze experiences for relevant skill areas.
• Write in descriptive phrases. Use action verbs.
• Choose an appropriate format (Chronological vs. Skills/Functional)

Decision Points

• Highlight the job title or the place of employment?
• Which duties to list first in a string of bullets?
• Do you note accomplishments? Include numbers, dollars, cost savings, impact?
• How much credit should you take for work performed not on your job description? SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

•  This is the top ¼ of your resume which is the first thing recruiters see and read. This section will spark their interest. (The rest of your resume will back this section up.)

• Purpose of this section is to summarize your resume; your relevant key accomplishments, results, actions, and benefits.
• Try to address each requirement of the job opening in this section. Use the language in job opening to describe your skills and accomplishments.
•  Focus on your strong selling points, your value, your achievements, your industry, and your career goals.
• Include language proficiencies or security clearances if relevant
• Include education if relevant or recent graduate
• Keep bullets to 1.5 lines max, use only 5-8 bullets

For Technical Resumes

•  List Certifications, Platforms, and Tools
• List all that are relevant to your current job search
• Include Technical Skills up front if you are seeking an IT/Technical position, if not include your technical skills at the end under Skills and Abilities

Professional Affiliations & Membership

•  Member/Office, Organization, City, State, YYYY-YYYY
• Founder, Organization, City, State, YYYY
• Founding Member and President/Chair, Org Name, City, State, YYYY – YYYY
  • Education COLLEGE/INSTITUTION (City, State)
  • MOST RECENT DEGREE FIRST
  • Awarding Institution (City, State)
  • 3.7 GPA Graduation Honor
  • DEGREE (BS/BA etc.)-Major Emphasis YYYY
  • If you are expecting to graduate, may state:
  • “expected in December,2013.”

• Training and Addition Education
• Training completed, sorted by type
• Title of course(s) school/organization/vendor,
• MM/YYYY completed
• Supervisory/Leadership Training
• Basic Supervision, The Graduate School, 2012
• Name Technical Expertise Area
• Course Name, Vendor, YYYY

Special Skills and Abilities

• Proficiency in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, ACCESS)
• Bilingual and Bi-literate in [Language]
• Project Management Professional, Project Management Institute, YYYY
• CPA, The [Named] State Board of Accountancy, YYYY
• Emergency Medical Technician, [Name of College Attended], YYYY

Honors and Awards

•  Name, achievement, by whom, when awarded
• Group types of honors and then list the month/year, for example
• Time Off Awards: 2012
• Cash Awards: 2005-2009, 2011

Community Service and Volunteer Experience

•  Title, Organization, City, State
• YYYY-YYYY
• Board of Directors, Non-Profit Org Named, (Washington, DC), YYYY-YYYY
• Volunteer Divisional Lead, Combined Federal Campaign, USDA (Washington, DC) 2011 to present

References

• Do not list references, however complete on the USAJobs.gov site
• Naming them may limit who you may use to best validate your experiences
• It may also bias the search committee members, if the contact listed has a reputation that precedes him/her

Overall Format

•  Unlimited number of pages. Ensure header with name and contact info., on each page. Number the pages.
• Must be consistent throughout with bolding, punctuation, and phrasing.
• Do not use 1st or 3rd person (I, she/he, Mr./Mrs., Sally/Tim)
• Make sure computer friendly, have 2 versions one MS Word version for interviews, and another plain text version for Internet correspondents
• Use Times New Roman, Arial, or Verdana 10 to 12pt font
• Make sure to “ignore all” on red and green squiggles (after checking) or recruiter will see them, too
• Name resume “First, Last Name Resume.doc” NOT Resume.doc
• Have a personalized cover letter attached to all submissions