Resumes & Cover Letters
Create an Effective Resume
The resume’s purpose is to showcase your talents and skills to an employer - clearly, convincingly and quickly.
A resume is: 
  • An individual summary of your background, experience, training and skills
  • A way to tell employers what you have accomplished in the past and what you can do for their company now
  • Your most important job search tool that can get you an interview, and leaves a lasting impression on a potential employer
  • A guide for you and the employer during an interview
Make sure to create a resume that fits the job you're applying for and shows off your strengths. Tailor and update it for each specific job to meet the employer's needs.
Types of Resumes

Choosing the best resume format is extremely important because there are many factors to take into account. These include the length of your resume and your accomplishments, as well as possible shortcomings. Whichever resume format you choose, make sure to include examples of accomplishments that benefited your previous employers.

The common types of resumes are:
  • Chronological
  • Functional
  • Combination
  • Targeted
Keep in mind that businesses prefer either a chronological resume or a combination resume.

Chronological resumes highlight consistency. This format stresses what you accomplished in each of the positions you held. A chronological resume focuses primarily on the history of your work experience and education. It also shows your progress and advancements in your career. This resume format is popular among businesses.

Functional resume focuses on your skills and experience, without including chronological time and job titles. It presents a profile of your experience based on professional strengths or groups of skills. Your work history usually follows, but in less detail than in a chronological resume. It is used most often by people with gaps in their work history, those who are changing careers and individuals with limited work experience. Employers generally do not prefer to receive functional resumes as they do not show your work history or career progress.

Combination (or combined) resume combines the best features of the traditional chronological (where the dates are in reverse order) and functional (where skills are listed in the beginning) resumes. A combination resume can also be referred to as a skills-based resume.

Targeted Resume can be chronological, functional, or a combination but is “targeted” specifically to the position for which you are applying. The sections for work history, skills, and education are carefully constructed to emphasize the job requirements using exact keyword matching from the description.
Information for the Resume

No matter what type of resume you choose, you will need to gather specific information in order to write your resume.

Key Components of a Resume:
  • Header - Tells the interviewer who you are and how you can be reached. Be sure that the header is visible – most headers are at the top of the resume. Include all contact information. Use a professional email address. Do not use a nickname.
  • Objective Statement - Tell the interviewer your goals regarding the type of employment desired and how your skills are a good fit for the position (Usually 1-2 sentence). A one size fits all approach will not work. The more specific you can be, the better. Do not write a paragraph
  • Education and Certifications - Education and Certification information will inform interviewers of your background, which can be helpful in understanding more about your fit for the role. You can also include your high school education. You can also include the degree you are working towards. As well as Clubs, Accomplishments, Awards, etc.,.
  • Skills - Skills make a huge chunk of a potential employer’s decision to hire you. Skills are the various abilities and attributes that you bring to the table when you’re applying for a job. Your skills can be your ability to do a specific task or solve a problem with some level of proficiency, and they’re typically divided into hard skills and soft skills. If you want to create an effective resume that catches the hiring manager’s attention, you need to mention both hard and soft skills.
    • Hard Skills = Specific, teachable knowledge and abilities that can be defined and measured.
    • Soft Skills = Character traits and interpersonal skills that characterize a person’s relationships with other people.
  • Experience - Any experience gained while working in a specific field or occupation – this can also apply to volunteer experience. List all relevant work experience. Use volunteer experience if you do not have work experience or stating the volunteer experience will be beneficial.
Job Search Challenges


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Samples and Templates


A resume’s primary function is to showcase your talents and skills to an employer-clearly, convincingly and quickly.
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Cover Letters