Resume Guide

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Your resume is an important marketing tool that advertises the experience, education, skills and accomplishments you offer to potential employers. It is designed to demonstrate to potential employers that you would be a valuable member of their organization. Your resume should present information in a manner and sequence that best connects your background with the requirements of the position for which you are applying.

The resume is not your biography! Instead, it is a brief summary of your skills, knowledge and relevant experience. It is crucial that you ensure that your resume’s form, content and appearance represent you to your best advantage.

Your resume should:

• Have eye appeal (well organized and easy to read)
• Highlight strengths and accomplishments
• Be logically displayed for a 30-second review (concise)

The Student Employment & Career Centre (SECC) houses a wide variety of online and in-house resources to help you with your resume preparation. With technology continuing to change the way employers search for candidates, you may require several versions of your resume—those for computers to read and scan in addition to a version for people to read. Regardless, your resume should specifically target each type of job/position/industry you are seeking. Resumes that are general or generic result in far fewer interviews.

Whether you are writing your resume for the first time or revising you resume, consider following the step by step guide.

• Step 1: Inventory Your Skills & Experiences
• Step 2: Matching Your Experience & Skills with an Employer
• Step 3: Choose a Format
• Step 4: What to Include in a Resume
• Step 5: Final Production of Your Resume
• Step 6: Prepare Your Resume for the Electronic World
• Action Words