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General Resume Guidelines

YOUR RÉSUMÉ MAY TAKE HOURS TO PREPARE

Give yourself time to write and rewrite; then have your résumé critiqued by a mentor, friend, trusted advisor, or email it to

a career consultant in the Career Development Center.

Résumé templates or wizards may seem helpful, but it can be very hard to make changes or move things around when

using one. It is important to customize your résumé to best represent your strengths. We recommend using a blank Word

document that will give you the flexibility you need.

CUSTOM DESIGN YOUR RÉSUMÉ FOR EACH POSITION

You should change your objective/summary with each position for which you apply, and if necessary, change the content

and/or the format so that it best compliments each specific position.

CATCH THE READER'S EYE

Readers prefer statements that begin with bullets, bold print, and indentions to guide their eyes quickly to the main points.

contributed to the organization. Quantify your statements with numbers, statistics, and percentages when possible.

USE ACTION VERBS

Most of the résumé is devoted to accomplishment statements. These statements should begin with action verbs (e.g.,

created, delegated, developed) because they are more engaging than passive verbs (e.g., took, had). For activities you

are currently engaged in, use present tense verbs (e.g., supervise, develop, implement). For past activities, use past

tense verbs (e.g., supervised, developed, implemented).

DO NOT INCLUDE

Do not include religion, race, gender, marital status, height/weight, birthplace, date of birth, or a photograph. High school

• Use an easy to read font (10 to 14 pt. font).

• Name should be the only text bigger than 10 – 14 pt. font (up to 18 or 20 pt. font size is sufficient).

• Do not go overboard with bold, underline, and italics.

• Spell things out (followed by its acronym in parentheses).

• Remember to write to the reader – What is important to them? What are they interested in?

• A GPA of 3.0 and above is considered competitive and can be listed. A GPA below 3.0 should never be listed,

unless specifically asked for by the entity/company to which you are applying.

• Once you’re finished writing your résumé, put it away for a day; then PROOFREAD it again!

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Next, you will need to decide which section headers are best to showcase your strengths and are consistent with the

position to which you are applying. In most cases, you will have a section for Education and a section for Work

Experience. If you are applying for a technical position, it may be important to include a section for Technical Skills. In

other cases, Community Service or Campus Involvement may be significant enough to warrant a section. Keep in mind,

you don’t want to have too many sections; four to five are usually sufficient.

Under most section headers, information is organized in reverse chronological order (most recent information should be

provided first). For example, under the Experience section header your current or most recent job is listed first, then your

prior position, and so on. But, for some section headers, such as Computer Skills or Objective, chronological order is

irrelevant.

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on a Candidate’s Resume

817-272-2932 [email protected] uta.edu/careers

Action Verbs

Action verbs are used to compose concise, persuasive, reader-centered accomplishment statements on your résumé.

Below are examples of some commonly used action verbs, but there are many others. All of the verbs here are stated in

the past tense and should be used to refer to past activities. For activities you are currently engaged in, you can use the

817-272-2932 [email protected] uta.edu/careers

817-272-2932 [email protected] uta.edu/careers

experience to the next until you have built a collection of skills in which an employer will be interested. Transferable skills,

incorporated on your résumé and discussed in your interviews, provide an employer concrete evidence of your

qualifications for a position. The ability to identify your transferable skills and communicate them to potential employers

will greatly increase your success during the job search. Below are examples of skills you may use to help you identify

• Make a list of every job you have held, a list of courses you have completed, and activities you have been involved

in. Write down the skills you acquired from your experiences.

• Use a potential job description that interests you to help you identify the skills employers are seeking.

817-272-2932 [email protected] uta.edu/careers

817-272-2932 [email protected] uta.edu/careers

Accomplishment Statements

EXAMPLE:

Developed a new customer service plan, which resulted in a 15% increase in repeat business.

EXERCISE:

projects

policies and procedures

Followed up with customers Communicated with customers to discuss new products and

services during routine follow-up calls, resulting in a 25%

increase in upselling

Operated cash-register Managed cash and credit transactions and balanced register at

the end of each shift with consistent accuracy

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SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

• Margins should be half an inch (0.5) or three-quarters on an inch (0.75) or one inch (1.0) on all four sides.

• Font size of résumé content should be anywhere between 10 and 14 pt. dependent upon font used.

• Use traditional fonts and bullet points.

• The summary should grab the reader’s attention and should include 5 to 7 accomplishments.

• Use action verbs throughout your résumé.

• Omit all uses of pronouns, including “me”, “my,” or “I”; also, the use of “an”, “the”, and “a”.

EDUCATION

Current Degree and Major