As a mentor with USC CAP, I often help students write a résumé to pursue internships or full time jobs. Twice, I’ve received eye-opening résumé critiques of my own resulting in painstaking re-writes. Luckily, my résumé secured quick interview invitations on both occasions.
Let me share what I’ve learned over the years. Caveat Emptor! If you fully apply the suggestions below, it will take several hours of focussed effort and need multiple revisions. In fact, I iterated over my résumé more than a dozen times before submitting it for my current job.
1 page rule Keep it short, simple and to-the-point. Include only the most important and truly relevant bits of your career. I once reviewed a CEO’s résumé which fit neatly on 1 page. He had ~20 years experience. If he can do it, so should you.
Readability List contact details at the top left of your résumé. People read left-to-write and this is the first piece of information they should check. Be sure to have enough white space because the reader will likely spend no more than 30-60 seconds on your résumé before making up his mind. An easy way to do it is to align all text to the left page-margin. Pick a simple, font like Times New Roman or Arial or Calibri and use font sizes consistently. Highlight important pieces of data, e.g. company names, job roles, dates, locations.
Summary Adding a Summary section is optional if you are a recent graduate. If you have some experience, then you should write-up 1-2 lines which convey the gist of your achievements and highlight your experience.
Education Academic qualifications are most relevant for recent grads. So put this section at the beginning and clearly mention your GPA. If space permits, mention relevant course-work. If you have worked for a few years, academic qualifications will have less impact than your relevant professional experience. So, put the education section towards the end.
Technical Skills If you are a recent grad, mention whatever technical or job-related skills you have acquired in a Technical Skills section. Be sure to put this section immediately after Education. If you have worked for a few years, organize and show your relevant job skills into related groups. This makes it easy for a reader to gauge your level of exposure to different day-to-day tasks that might be required.
Professional Experience As a recent grad, you may not have much full-time experience. Rather than be disheartened, find elements of your prior work-study scholarships or part-time jobs that show willingness to take initiative, attention-to-detail, being open-minded and being ‘coachable’. Be sure to put this section right after Technical Skills. As someone with a few years experience, you should highlight relevant successes that involved job skills you have listed in the Technical Skills section.
Consequences, not actions The résumé highlights results, not day-to-day tasks. So, emphasize business impact and summarize only the significant steps you took leading up to those achievements.
Reverse chronology Begin with your most recent job and go back in time. Include more results for recent or most relevant prior jobs (4-5 bullet points). Fewer details for older or less relevant jobs (1-2 bullet points) are fine. You will receive most interview questions on your relevant past responsibilities. Maintain consistent formatting for job locations & dates. MM/YYYY works very well for dates.
CAR My buddy, Uday S, taught me to write each bullet point in the uniform structure of Context, Action & Result (CAR). Specify the situation or issue (Context), summarize your significant contributions (Action) and highlight the business impact (Result). Quantify the result for each bullet point so the reader can quickly grasp the effect of your achievement.
Stand out If you are a recent grad and received academic awards, mention them in the Education section. If you were in a leadership position on a student body or contributed significantly in some way, include that in a separate section on Extra-curricular activities. If you have a few years’ professional experience and received awards at work, mention them in a Leadership or Professional Awards section. Or, if you have earned a professional certification, include that in a Certifications section. Be sure to include validity dates for the certificate.
Cool Quotient Maybe you read or write blogs relevant to the job/industry or, maybe you are a fluent reader/writer in multiple languages or maybe you volunteer at a relevant business/professional organization/event. Mention this in an Additional Information section.
In essence, focus on your achievements as related to the context. Keep it short, sweet & easily readable. Make them want to interview you.
