The Basics of the Résumé
A résumé is often the first impression a potential employer makes of a candidate. Statistics indicate that an average
recruiter or hiring manager will spend only 20 seconds reading a résumé. Therefore, tailoring your resume by choosing
the right content such as skills, professional experiences, educational background, and using strong, relevant keywords is
more important than ever!
A resume should list the most recent, last 10 years or so, of work history.
Many companies now utilize some form of an online applicant tracking system (ATS) to handle job applications and to
manage résumé data. Often the ATS will provide an employer with an initial online screen of a candidate, by searching for
keywords in the résumé and matching job requirements to advance to a recruiter or hiring manager.
*Read more about ATS on our resource page in this handout.
This Résumé Guide will detail common sections of a résumé, describing professional experiences and accomplishments,
résumé examples and sample résumé templates to use.
Formatting Matters:
• Length of a résumé: For professionals with less than 10 years of experience, a 1-page résumé is sufficient. 10+
years of experience should limit the résumé to 2 pages with either all experiences or selected experiences.
• For professionals applying to academic or specialized professions, a curriculum vitae (CV) may be
required which includes additional information such as publications and presentations and may be up to
20+ pages long depending on what professional experiences and activities one has had.
• Formatting your résumé: Résumés should be easy to read, 10-12-point font. Recommended fonts are: Arial,
Georgia, Tahoma, Trebuchet, Calibri and Verdana. Ensure consistent formatting (font and font size) throughout
your résumé.
• References: Adding references or the statement, “References furnished upon request” is no longer necessary.
• Ways to save your résumé: It is important to note that there are various ways to save your résumé, especially for
online applications. Those include:
• .doc or .docx [Microsoft Word Document]– Most online application systems will ask a candidate to upload
a document, Microsoft Word is a common software system to use.
• .txt [Plain Text] – Ideal for copying and pasting résumé content into an online application system.
• .pdf [Portable Document Format] – Some applicant tracking systems experience difficultly when scanning
keywords in a PDF document, however, this format would be recommended for e-mail résumé
submission as most cannot edit a PDF document. This would be the recommended format to use if you
submit your resume using your smart phone.
• Things to avoid adding to a résumé: borders, shading, photos, age, birth date, marital status, hobbies, salaries,
text color, and graphics unless otherwise suggested. For example, it is not abnormal for a Graphic Designer to
add some creative flare to their paper or electronic résumé/CV.
Other Helpful Tips:
• Use a variety of strong action verbs to begin bullet point statements (*see attached list in handout).
• Describe accomplishments or achievements, showing where value was added to the department,
organization and/or community as a result.
• Make it a practice to incorporate profession or industry keywords where applicable. Refer to job
descriptions and occupation information from sources such as, “The Bureau of Labor Statistics” or
“O*NET Online to get more details about keywords
• Sentence fragments are acceptable, complete sentences are not required in résumé writing. The
preference is to NOT use the words, “I” or “My” in describing your job functions.
• Check action verb tenses for all positions. Current position should be in present tense while previously
held positions should be in past tense.
• Use numbers and characters to draw the eye, instead of writing out words. For example, 6 instead of six.
• Check your spelling and grammar! PROOFREAD, PROOFREAD AND PROOFREAD!!