Writing A Winning
Résumé
Tips for Success
Ashley Miller
Director of Career Services

What is a Résumé?
 A Résumé is a brief history of your
accomplishments that you prepare for
potential employers.
 Your résumé should be designed with ONE
thing in mind. To get you job interviews

What a good Résumé does:
 A resume introduces you to potential
employers. It tells them:
That you are a well qualified candidate for employment
That you deserve an interview
 Once you’re introduced, your résumé serves
as:
A guide for you and the interviewer to discuss your
background.
A reminder to the interviewer about who you are after the
interview is done.

A Good Résumé is:
 Clear:
 It presents the facts in a clear and easy to read style.
 Dynamic:
 Use action verbs to highlight your past experience.
 Neat:
 Don’t forget! Appearance counts. Your résumé should
show that you are proud of yourself and what you’ve
done.

Headers
 A Heading.
 This should include:
 Your full name
 Your complete address
 (permanent and present if you are a college student)
 Phone number where you can be reached.
 Be sure this number corresponds to a PROFESSIONAL
sounding voicemail.
 Personal e-mail address
 This should be a professional email. For example
 Good: Jane.Smith@lindsey.edu
 Not Good: LilG1992@gmail.com

Header Examples

Objective
 Simple and to the point
 A Job Objective
 An objective:
 Allows employers to determine what type of position you are looking
for. If you do include a job objective, avoid being vague but also don’t
be so specific that you eliminate yourself from other related positions.
 Good objective: A sales position in a growing retail organization.
 Poor objective: A challenging position that uses my education and creativity.

Education and Training
 Education and Training
 This section may include:
 Names and locations of schools or programs
 Dates of attendance
 Degrees, certificates or licenses awarded
 Major
 GPA (grade point average)
 if 3.0 or above.
 Coursework related to the job you want
 Honors, awards, scholarships or elective offices

Education and Training

Certifications
 CPR & First Aid Certifications
 Board Certifications
 List month, year and board certificate number, if
known
 Include national boards and their parts if you
have them
 Professional Licensure
 Indicate state and license number only
 Date is not necessary

Relevant Experience
 Use Action Verbs
 Start off with an action verb whenever possible.
 Verbs such as supervised, planned, developed,
and created tell precisely what you’ve
accomplished.
 Avoid using the same set of words multiple times
however, if needed consult a thesaurus to add
variety to your resume.

Relevant Experience
 What is a “Relevant Experience”
 This can include full or part time, seasonal or
volunteer work, your practicum sites & work study
 Be sure to provide:
 Names and locations of current/former employers
 Dates of employment
 Job titles
 Duties and major accomplishments using action verbs

Relevant Experience
 Formatting Sample

What if I don’t have any
relevant experience?
 Sell your “Relevant Coursework”
 Writing
 Math
 Any Major Courses
 Foreign Languages

Activities and Special Skills
 Activities and Special Skills
 You might also want to mention:
 Interests and activities that showcase job related skills
 ex: leadership and organization.
 Special abilities
 ex: specific computer skills or knowledge of a foreign
language.

Activities and Special Skills
 Athletics
 Treat your athletic team just as you would a full-
time job on your resume

Additional Sections
 Professional Organizations
 Even student memberships
 Military Service
 Branch, Discharge Status, Honors and Awards
 Bibliography
 Any publications
 Professional Development
 CEU Credits
 List Name of the Course, Year & # of Hours

Additional Sections
 Examples

Résumé Format
 Chronological Form
Job experience is arranged listing most recent
job first.
 Advantage:
 This form gives a clear
picture of where you’ve
worked and what you’ve
accomplished. It’s logical
and easy to follow.

Setting the Right Tone
 Use Familiar Terms
 Use appropriate language in regard to the job for
which you are applying.
 Be sure your resume descriptions are clear and
easily understood.

Setting the Right Tone
 Avoid Wordiness
 Use keywords and phrases instead of complete
sentences.
 Eliminate the pronoun “I” from your résumé.
 Be direct.
 Poor: I staged an extensive campaign to cut costs and
increase overall profits from fund-raisers by 10% in the
course of one year’s time.
 Good: Increased profits from fund-raisers by 10% in one
year.

Other Tips for Writing
Résumés
 Do’s
 Be honest.
 A skillful interviewer will be able to spot any
exaggeration or false information. Also, employers
often verify information in résumés and applications.
 Keep it brief.
 Most job-seekers should be able to limit their résumé
to one page.
 Write your own résumé.
 You know yourself better than anyone else does.

Other Tips for Writing
Résumés
 DON’Ts
 Don’t use gimmicks.
 Photographs, unusual formats, loud-colored
paper, etc. This may attract the wrong kind of
attention.
 Don’t include salary requirements.
 If you’re asked for this information, put it in your
cover letter.
 Don’t include unnecessary personal
information such as race, religion, age,
political affiliation, etc…

Putting on the Finishing Touches
 Design an Attractive Layout.
 Leave a 1’’ margin on all sides.
 Use capital letters, boldface, bullets, and indenting to
emphasize important information
 Don’t use smaller than a size 10 font in the body
 Don’t go over a size 16 font for your name in the
header

Putting on the Finishing
Touches
 Proofread Carefully
 Check spelling, punctuation, grammar and word
usage.
 Have someone with good proofreading skills look
over your résumé, too.
 Make High Quality Copies
 Go to a professional printer to have the résumé
printed or copied on a high-quality photocopier.

How can I have my Resume
Reviewed?
 Create an initial draft
 Call 270.384.8065 and make an appointment
 Email millera@lindsey.edu, or
careerservices@lindsey.edu
 Electronic Review

Electronic Resume Review

Visit the Career Services
Office Online

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