Resume Guide

A resume provides recruiters with a summary of your education, experiences, and qualifications. Recruiters typically spend less than 30 seconds reviewing your resume; therefore, it should be easy to read.

 

Business Student Resume Basics

Formatting

  • Keep it concise o Limit your resume to 1 page
    • Adjust the margins of the page to allow more content
    • Keep bullet points to one line (maximum two lines)
  • Keep it simple o Use standard fonts like Time Roman, Verdana, and Ariel
    • Main text font should be between 10–12
    • Do not include any graphics, photos, colors, and images
    • Avoid overuse of lines, borders, bolding, italicizing, etc.
  • Be consistent o Keep dates right aligned throughout your resume
    • Format choices should be the same across the entire document Structure
  • Keep it focused o Customize your resume for each position
    • Use bullets to make your resume easier to read; No paragraphs
    • List each section in reverse-chronological order

Content

  • Use bullet points o Begin each bullet with an action verb in the past tense
    • Each bullet point should be a complete sentence that
    • Share accomplishments and outcomes, not just job duties/descriptions
  • Remove Summary of Skills and other paragraphs-like sections

 

Sections of a Resume

Name and Contact Information

  • Your name should be the first and biggest thing on the page (~16 font)
  • Use professional email address (e.g. first.lastname@gmail.com)
  • Include your customized LinkedIn profile URL Education
  • List most recent education first
  • Include the name of the university, the degree, and (expected) graduation date o Include GPA if 3.0 or above
  • Remove high school starting Junior year

Experience

  • List most recent experience first
  • Aim for 3-5 bullet points per experience
    • Be specific with examples of accomplishments, skills, and results
    • Quantify results whenever possible (e.g. “increased sales by 10%”)

Skills

  • List computer, technical, and/or language skills
    • Include specific computer or language skills mentioned in the job description
  • Do not list soft skills (e.g. communication and critical thinking)
    • Soft skills have more impact as examples in bullet points of the experience you used them

Additional optional sections

  • Projects
  • Clubs and Organizations/Extracurricular Activities
  • Leadership
  • Volunteer Experience
  • Awards
  • Certificates

 

General Tips

  • Proofread carefully for grammatical and spelling errors
  • Do not include personal information (e.g. religion, marital status)
  • Customize your resume to match the job and employer
  • Upload your resume onto VMock for immediate format corrections and tips for improving your resume: www.vmock.com/CSUNNazarian

 

Click this resource to review the writing guide for business student resumes. Samples included.

View Resource