Resume Outline

A.  Name and Address

• Type your name in all caps, in a fairly large font (18, 20), centered across the top of the page.
• Always include all of your contact information.  You want the employer to be able to mail, call, or e-mail you at both your home and school address.  The best idea is to type your current and permanent addresses centered on the left and right respectively.
• Separate the name/address from the rest of the resume with a horizontal line.

Example:

B.  Punctuation

• Your resume will probably be the only place you will ever get away with writing sentence fragments.  Brevity is of the utmost importance.  Get the point accross with as much force and as little writing as posssible.  Employers don't want to file through lots of words looking for what they need.
• Spell your name in all caps.  Separate your contact information from the resume with a horizontal line.
• List the categories (objective, education, etc.) down the left side of the page, in all caps, followed by a colon.
• Use bulleted lists for profile, activities, and experience synopses whenever possible.  Use minimal prose!!
• Underline sparingly.  This is used most often for the position, company, city and state in the "experience" category.
• Bold the section headings, gpa, and anything especially interesting.
• Don't use italics except as they are usually used in publications.  Italics tend to really mess up the overall feel of the resume.
• Try not to change fonts any more than necessary.  You're looking for a uniform, neat, and concise sheet.

3.  Cover Letter

• Always include a cover letter with your resume.  Never send a plain resume to a potential employer.
• This is your chance to use eloquent prose to briefly introduce your resume.
• Individualize a cover letter for each company you apply to.
• The employer will look at the cover letter for about eight seconds, so be brief.

Format:  use block  letter style

applicant's address
applicant's phone no.
date of letter

employer's name and title
employer's address

Salutation:

Opening Paragraph:  State why you are writing, name the position or type of work you are interested and how you heard about the opening.

Middle Paragraph:  Explain why you are interested in working for the employer and specify your reason for desiring this type of work.  If you have relevant experience, highlight it here and emphasize skills.

Closing Paragraph:  Refer the reader to your enclosed resume.  Have an appropriate closing to pave the way for an interview.

Sincerely,

Your name

enclosure(s)
 

4.  References

• You will not have room to list your references on your resume.  Saying "references available upon request" is perfectly acceptable.
• Make sure that you ask your references before listing them so that they aren't caught off guard by calls from potential employers.
• Be careful when choosing references.  Some can be brutally honest when contacted.  Don't assume that they will give you a good reference just because they're affiliated with an institution you are in, had you in class, or like you personally.  Employers are especially interested in your research advisor's comments and may be suspecting if he/she is not listed as a reference.
• List the reference's name, title, place of employment, address at work, and work phone number.   Their e-mail address may also be very helpful to the employer.

5. Samples

6. Resumes On the Web

As the internet becomes a more acceptable professional medium for communication, placing your resume on the web is a good idea for impressing potential employers.  However, an internet edition of your resume is not an acceptable replacement for a well-constructed hard copy.  Always send a hard copy of your resume, even if you have published an internet resume.
Here are some hints about web resumes:

• Make sure your resume prints out in an acceptable format.  You may need to use trial and error.  Print the page and adjust margins and other settings until you get it right.  Employers will most likely try to print out the page after they browse it.
• Internet resumes have a huge advantage over hard copies in that they can be updated on the fly and they are living.  You can not only describe your research briefly but link to a more detailed description.  You can also provide a few other links to your employer(s)' web pages or your educational intitution(s)' webpages.  Don't go too heavy on the links though.  Two or three are appropriate.  Also, resist the urge to type "click here" or "here is the link" or other obvious connections.  Only link a few words, the name of your undergraduate institution for instance, and let that be your link.
• Be sure to include the date of last update so that the employer knows how recent the information is.

7. More information

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