This presentation highlights HOW to develop a useful resume. What do employer want? How do you shoe them you have it? Used for Business Administration Intro.Course,

1. Resume 101

2. The Basics
A student resume gives a potential employer an
easy-to-understand timeline. It includes:
1. Header
2. Objective (optional)
3. Education
4. Skills
5. Work Experiences
Extras - depending on experience
1. Leadership & Volunteerism
2. Honors & Activities

4. Format Matters
Most career related professionals agree –
Format is probably
ONE OF THE MOST (if not THE MOST) important
parts of your resume
It must USUALLY be:
1.
2.
Formatted so items are easy to find
Look nice enough to SCAN quickly
If not, it will probably never get reviewed by the person
who is doing the hiring.

5. How to Format
Make everything easy to find.
Offer a clean, well-organized, easy-to-read resume.
1.
Help employers find critical information
quickly! A student resume is usually in reverse
chronological order
2.
Leave off irrelevant details that do not directly
relate to a job. If you don’t have one – find one.
3.
Include the necessary items first. Then look for
space to add extras.

6. Multiple sample formats are
available at
The Citadel Career Center’s
Website:
www.citadel.edu/root/career

7. Header
 Name : Use full name to avoid confusion with nicknames
 Address: Use full address with local/school address; include
City, State, Zip)
 Phone Number: Use a professional voicemail greeting
 E-mail Address: Use a professional address that you will
check often
Include a web link for a portfolio (if relevant):
This can be a website or social media site to
showcase work and accomplishments

8. Header Samples

9. Objective Statement
THE JURY IS OUT ON THIS SECTION!
Ask someone who understands or works in a
hiring role if you should include it depending
on your personal situation. If you have one:
Tailor it to the specific position or
organization
2. Keep it short
1.

10. Objective Samples
FOR A SPECIFIC JOB:
Seeking a position at The City of Charleston’s Treasure Office as a
Program Manager.
Applying for a Position as a History Teacher and Women’s Soccer Coach
at Wando High School for Fall 2013.
FOR JOB FAIRS & ONLINE RESUME DATABASES:
Business Administration candidate fluent in Spanish seeks a Sales and
Marketing Internship position
Engineering Major with coursework in Computer Design and
Management seeks Internship position with an RF Engineering Firm

11. Education Section
Education typically appears at the top of the resume for new graduates.
Once you have job experience, it can move down.
Include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Full Degree/Major (not abbreviated) and Minor or Concentration if
relevant
Full Name of Institution/Location,
Graduation Month ad Year (you do not need “Anticipated”)
Study Abroad can be added here as well
GPA EXTRA!
Adding a GPA can be tricky! Some employers use GPA as a screening tool.
Discuss this with someone who knows before you add it (Career
Center, Advisor, Professor, a connection in the company)

12. Education Samples

13. Skills Section
Provide a brief summary of skills
RELATED TO A SPECIFIC POSITION
O This section is easy to include when applying to
multiple jobs through online systems because it can
be easily and quickly changed.
O It is typically provided as a series of bullets or in a
column/table format.
O It may include “Relevant Coursework” or industry
specific “Skills” from a job experience.

14. Skills Samples

15. Experience Section
This is a very important section. It may make
me want to hire you if it is well done!
Job Title, Organization Name , Location, Dates
O Skills
O Skills
Internships, summer jobs, volunteer work can all go
here.
2. Action verbs start the bullet and describe specifically
and concisely what skills you gained.
3. Include keywords that match a job description.
4. Quantify your accomplishments as much as possible.
1.

16. Experience Sample

17. More Experience Samples

19. Leadership & Volunteer
Section
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
ITEMS TO CONSIDER:
Excelling in a course or earning an achievement
Holding an office or leadership position
Study abroad or a cultural involvement
Volunteering in the community
Participating in student organizations or club
Playing on a team
Organizing an event or developing an idea for a
project

20. Leadership and Volunteer
Samples

21. Honors and Activities
This section is optional, but it may be very
important to you. Employers will look at this section to see
if you are well-rounded.
Include those that are:
1.
Relevant to the job,
2. Demonstrate achievement, or
3.
Provide evidence of your skills.
Do not just list activities that you showed up for because
is was required, but add ones in which you were truly
engaged!

22. Honors and Activities Sample

23. Resume Dos
1.
Confirm that your contact information is correct! “Yay! I can get in touch!”
2.
Use consistent formatting and fonts. “They took some time on this!”
3.
Use proper grammar, correct verb tense, and triple check for spelling errors
and/or typos. – “This resume looks like it is coming from a professional.”
4.
Highlight what makes you stand out by including information specifically
requested within a job posting. “They know what I want and have done
research!”
5.
Save as a PDF to preserve formatting – “They took time to make sure it came
across correctly.”
6.
When sending, include your NAME in the subject line. – “Now, where is that
person’s I wanted to hire, Page Something?”

24. Resume Do Not's
1.
Use personal pronouns (I, Me, My) – How did this person not know this?
2.
Make it so generic it in no way relates to a job – Do you know what you want?
3.
Write resume in paragraph format – No one has time to read this!
4.
Include photos/personal bios like age, gender, marital status) - TMI
5.
Leave gaps in your work history- What has she been doing all this time?
6.
List high school diploma if you are a Senior (exception - unless you seek
employment in the district to which you are applying) – What have they done
lately?
7.
Include references on resume. – I’ll let her know when I need her references.
8.
Repeat the same action verbs over and over again – How many times can you
“Manage something?”

25. Develop Your Own Resume
Your Career Center can offer support and
critique services to help you.
 A resume helps you define and showcase what you have
to offer. Don’t turn the responsibility over to someone.
 Your resume is a guideline for a future interview.
 Do not wait until the last minute to write it, a rushed
resume will not represent you well.