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Career Advice -- Resumé Development
RESUMÉS . . . Marketing Yourself
Effectively for a Successful Job Search
What Is a Resumé
. . . Really?
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A resumé is a marketing tool to
help you "sell" yourself to prospective
employers. It provides an integrated snapshot
of your past experience, current skills
and abilities, and future capabilities.
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A well-prepared resumé is clear,
concise and attractive to read.
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Strong resumés present not just
where you've worked and what you've done,
but your concrete accomplishments and how
you've benefited your employers.
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The goal with your resumé is to
get you in front of an interviewer.
Employers will spend no more than 20 to
30 seconds scanning your resumé. So make
sure that you:
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Include significant information to support
your career interests and communicate it
effectively.
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Know and stress the skills and abilities
you've acquired through your experiences.
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Use descriptive job titles, strong action
verbs and keywords/language common in your
career field to highlight your experience.
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Resumé form and content are important.
Be organized and concise in your presentation.
Do . . .
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Expect to write several drafts for the
best result.
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Make your resumé visually appealing
with strategic use of "white space."
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Focus on accomplishments and results,
not just activities.
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Edit judiciously and proofread carefully.
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Keep to two pages maximum. One is even
better.
Don't . . .
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Simply recite your job responsibilities
without addressing the outcomes
of your efforts.
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Use words or phrases that don't "sell"
you or add value.
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Forget to include dates of employment.
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Include references.
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Rely on your computer's spell-check or
other people to proofread for you.
Creating Your
Resumé: What to Include
1. Your Name. Center your name at the
top of your resumé and use all capital
letters and bold type. Use your full name as
you want to be known professionally.
2. Current and Permanent Addresses.
It is best to include both addresses, as prospective
employers may try to contact you during a break
from school, or even after you've graduated,
in which case they may not be able to reach
you at your local address. If you plan to stay
at your current address until you find a job,
however, a single address is acceptable.
3. Career Interests. List specific career
fields or areas of specialization relevant to
your academic preparation and career goals.
Your identified career interests set the
tone for the rest of your resumé; therefore,
the information that follows should support
them.
4. Education. List all degrees that
you've earned (in reverse chronological order)
and include school name, graduation year, major(s)
or concentration(s), honors/awards received,
study abroad and campus organization involvement.
You can also list classes of particular relevance
to your career.
Optional Information for Your Graduate
Education
a. Master's project title. Capitalize
only the first word in the title and any proper
nouns. End the title with a period. Do not
use quotation marks.
b. Course work that has particular relevance
to your career. List courses in order
of importance to your career interests, and
consider describing skills gained instead
of simply listing them. You can also group
courses by functional areas, such as quantitative,
science, business, etc.
Post-baccalaureate Study
Format as with other academic information,
between your undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Include only if you completed significant
course work (i.e., classes other than those
required as Nicholas School prerequisites).
Optional Information for Your Undergraduate
Education
a. Graduation with honors. Insert summa
cum laude, magna cum laude, or
cum laude in italics (all lower-case
letters) between your degree and date received.
b. Relevant course work that complements
your graduate program and supports your career
interests.
c. Senior/honors thesis title. Follow
format as outlined above for your master's
project.
5. Professional Experience. Include
both paid and unpaid work experience, teaching
and/or research assistantships, and relevant
volunteer activities. Focus not just on what
you did in each position, but also on what you
accomplished and how your work benefited the
organization. Quantify the results of your efforts
as much as possible.
Documenting Your Accomplishments: Examples
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You solved an overlooked problem.
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You saw an opportunity for improvement,
developed a plan and successfully implemented
it.
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You created a new function, program or
service to fill an important need within
your organization.
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Your ideas helped increase the performance
of a team or group.
6. Related Experience. Include other
positions you've held in which you acquired
transferable skills such as communication,
teamwork, organization, problem solving and
time management.
7. Publications. Use appropriate citation
format.
8. Additional Information. Focus on
"value-added" skills important in
your career field and other relevant information
about yourself as an environmental professional:
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Knowledge of specific environmental acts
and regulations
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Technical equipment and field skills, computer
application and programming proficiencies
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Certifications and/or special training
completed
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Professional memberships and conferences
attended
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Foreign language competencies
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