A well-written and consistently formatted resume in 11pt font will put you in the leading candidate pool-- if it provides specific details about your education, work experience, leadership activities, skills and interests.
Here are further guidelines:
The Basics of Cover Letter Writing
What Employers Want to See In Your Resume
CVs and Resumes Compared
The American Resume VS the European CV
For more useful links about CV and sample Resume etc
Here are further guidelines:
- If you intend to apply for openings for which your doctoral or master’s research and coursework are important qualifications, include your PhD or Master’s thesis title and list the titles of your relevant and completed PhD or Master’s coursework.
- Pay close attention to the job announcement. It will help you decide where to locate sections of your resume. If your academic honors will carry weight with your prospective employer, include them with your degree information. If specific skills are a priority for the employer, do not bury your skill list at the bottom of the page. Move it up to a prime location in the upper 1/3rd of your resume.
- Reserve the top lines in each education/experience item for the name of each organization, the sub unit, and location.
- Describe your work experience using sentences that begin with action verbs to emphasize your current work activity or past accomplishments.
Why? Employers cannot anticipate your institutional/ organizational affiliations. They will assume your degrees and job titles will match the qualifications listed in their position announcements.
Sample 1:
Duke University, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Durham, NC
MS Biomedical Engineering Expected May 200_
Coursework:
Master’s thesis:
Sample 2:
Triangle Transit Authority, System Planning Group, Research Triangle Park, NC
Planning Intern 200_-present
Inspected and analyzed the 200_ Triangle Activity-based Travel Survey. Selected appropriate statistical software. Constructed bus network for the Triangle area in GISPlus.
- If you have had a variety of work/leadership experiences only some of which are relevant to your job application, subgroup your experience by
Employment sectors ( business, nonprofit, government, education) or their sub types (law, health, media, adult education, biotechnology)
Functions ( writing, research, marketing, management, consulting, counseling)
- Use reverse chronological order within each experience group. Place the most relevant experience group above the less relevant groups.
- Anticipate what your prospective employer will value in your background. Cut information about your high school and college activities only if they add to the specific qualifications of the position.
- Unless you have had several years of experience prior to admission to a Duke master’s program, you should condense your resume to one page.
The Basics of Cover Letter Writing
What Employers Want to See In Your Resume
CVs and Resumes Compared
The American Resume VS the European CV
For more useful links about CV and sample Resume etc
