Resume Writing Tips

Contact Information

• Name – use a font size larger than the largest font in the resume to make your name stand out.
• Mailing Address - use your current address.
• Phone Number - make sure this is correct – a terrible thing to have as a typo.
• Email Address – a professional email address such as your name. Stay away from cutesy or unprofessional email addresses. Do not use an email address of your current job. Gmail, Yahoo or personal email is recommended.

• The Professional Highlights or Career Achievements section summarizes your experiences and skills that are most relevant to the position you are applying to. Think of these as impact statements and focus on what experiences you have had and how that can be attractive to potential employers. Did you evaluate a process or procedure which resulted in cost savings or time savings and improved efficiency? Did you successfully meet and exceed sales goals by xx%? Use this data front and center to get noticed. Make sure to use key words that relate to the targeted industry and positions.
• Use one or the other, not both.
• An objective statement should focus on your career goals and what you are looking for. However, it should also make a connection to the position you are applying to.

• List chronologically with most recent first.
• When listing Empire State College, use SUNY Empire State College, or State University of New York, Empire State College.
• Emphasize the name of the college by placing it before your degree and in bold type. Include the name of the city and state of the institution.
• Spell out the names of degrees - Bachelor of Science, not B.S.
• List the month and year of your graduation, anticipated graduation.
• You can include a GPA if you would like. It is recommended only listing if the GPA is over a 3.0.

• List experiences chronologically with the most recent first.
• Use bold print to highlight job title and company/organization name.
• Include city and state only for employer location - don’t list the street address.
• List dates of employment history by using either: XX/2012 – present or November, 2012 - present.
• It is recommended to use a bullet-list format.
• Focus on accomplishments and results of your position.
• Use metrics and quantitative information whenever possible.

• Know the skills of the industry you are pursuing, and make sure to develop your skills in those areas. List these on your resume. For example:

  If you are pursuing positions that are in the graphic design field and you are experienced with the use of Adobe Creative Suites, Quark, etc., list those software programs.

  If you are pursing positions in accounting and are proficient in QuickBooks, Peachtree, Intuit, etc., list those programs.

• Technical/Programming/Networking skills – list programming languages and systems you’ve worked on/with.
• Languages – if you are fluent in more than one language, list the languages.

• Professional Organizations: Belong to a professional organization? It is recommended to list this on your resume. Most professional organizations offer a student rate — take advantage of the student membership rate while you can! Build your network and pursue professional development opportunities that they offer.
• Volunteer Experience: Volunteer and Community Service is a valuable section to include on the resume. It shows investment in your community and can show further examples of your skills. Only include organizations/activities that you are/were involved in on an ongoing basis. You can list past experiences even if you are no longer involved. For example, School Board experience, planning committees for major events (Relay for Life, Ride for a Cure, AHA Heartwalk, etc.).
• Listing of Courses: If you are trying to transition into a new career as a result of completing your degree, but don’t have work/volunteer experience in this area, it is okay to include relevant courses (no course numbers). Additionally, you can list special course projects that are relevant to the position you are applying to. For example: Participated in marketing class projects, including developing marketing plan for a local business to promote their business through different media platforms.
• Activities and Honors: If you have been involved as a student with any clubs, presentations, or honors received, include these in your resume under your education section. SUNY Chancellor’s Award, Dean’s/President’s List(s), Community-based award, Member of the Student Academic Conference planning committee, Student Activities Fund Committee, etc.

• Read the job description of the position. Gain an understanding of what they are looking for and direct your resume to that position. This may include highlighting different aspects of your work or civic experience as they relate to that position. Prioritize the bulleted list under each individual experience to reflect the skills and experience most in alignment with the job description.
• Be consistent. Don’t use multiple fonts in the body content of your resume. List all headings, bold print, in the same formatting — either all caps or upper and lower case.

• Know your audience. Use the style resume that fits that type of organizations. For example:

  If applying to a position in marketing, communications or design, using a creative-style resume is recommended.

  If applying to financial institutions/higher education, a traditional-style resume is recommended.

• Know what the industry key words are. Use them in your resume where applicable.

• Include metrics/quantitative information to show employers the value you can bring them. If you supervise a staff, let them know how many. If you write grants that have been awarded, let them know how successful you’ve been. For example:

  • Successful grant writer
    or
  • Experienced grant writer. Successfully awarded four grants amounting to $75,000 for the ABC Organization to provide after school programs for students in the Empire School District.

• list high school information
• include a photo on your resume
• forget to have someone proofread your resume for spelling, grammar and punctuation after you have proofread it.
• forget to personalize the content of your resume if you are using a resume template to start your resume updating process.
• list references or say “References available on Request.” You should prepare your reference list as a separate document to be submitted with your application. The list should include the person’s name, job title, name of employer, phone number and email address. Make sure to contact the reference to ask if they will agree to speak on your behalf.
• abbreviate — make sure to spell things out (Dept. should be Department; Org. should be Organization, etc.)
• use acronyms — do not assume that everyone knows all the lingo. However, you can spell it out the first time with the acronym in parenthesis, and then, if necessary use the acronym subsequent times. For example, Office of Collegewide Student Services (OCSS).