Resume Sections

There is no consensus about what constitutes the perfect resume; each resume reflects the style of the person who wrote it. Some good criteria for a successful resume are accuracy, how well it communicates your intentions, whether it is easy to read, and whether it makes a good skill match between you and the position for which you are applying. Your own background, as well as the job you want, may require that you leave out some components or include additional ones.

Examples of resumes can give you an idea of content and layout. In addition, there are excellent resume writing guides available in the Career Center library. Your resume is a personal statement, so avoid copying one of our models.

Required Sections

Most people agree that every resume should have the following components (optional sections are discussed later):

• Heading (Identifying Information)
• Education
• Experience

Heading (Identifying Information):

• Name (use larger font and/or bold to make it stand out).
• Current address and telephone number (include both local and permanent address if in transit; use dates to signify time of transition).
• E-mail address

Examples

Education

Begin with your most recent college degree and work backward. (Generally, high school information is omitted.) List only the institutions from which you have earned degrees. For example, if you completed two terms at Washington State University, a year at a junior college, then came to the University of Oregon to graduate, it is best to list only the UO degree to be more efficient with the space on your resume. An exception would be if you pursued a particular area of
study that is relevant to your reader.

Include the following information:
Degree(s) (initials or fully written out), major(s), name of college, city, state (can be abbreviated), and (anticipated) date of graduation

Optional information

Optional information could include minor, grade point average (GPA), related course work, special training/workshops, certifications, scholarships, special projects, academic honors, languages, or study abroad. Be sure these items are relevant to your intended reader and tied to your job objective. See pages X-X for more information about optional sections.

Examples

Experience

The experience section can and should include any relevant experience to establish that you have the background the employer is seeking. Experience is the key word, not employment. Full-time paid experiences should be listed, but remember to consider all types of part-time and unpaid experiences too.

The key to getting an interview is to include key words and phrases in your resume that are important to the position or in the industry. If you have included these terms in your resume, it will attract attention whether it is being read by a hiring manager, scanned and searched by a computer, or indexed on an Internet site.

As with education, your experience list is usually arranged in reverse chronological order, with your most recent experience listed first. An alternative to one Experience section is to divide your experience list into topical headings, such as "Teaching Experience," or "Sales and Marketing Experience." More about resume formatting 

Remember, you are organizing the resume information in order of interest to your reader. The information should establish that you have the knowledge, skills, abilities, or personality traits that an employer is seeking. Use the following steps to develop more in-depth descriptions of responsibilities, skills, and accomplishments.

Step 1.
Identify your most relevant experiences. Keep in mind that even though a previous experience may not be in the same industry, the relevance may shown by the transferable skills you demonstrated.

Step 2.
Create a list of your responsibilities. Consider the following guidelines when writing the experience entry:

• Start the listings with the position title, name of the organization, the city, state, and dates.
• If your job title is not descriptive, consider replacing it with a functional title (Student Worker II = Laboratory Assistant).
• Put dates on the right side of the page.
• Use ACTION verb phrases instead of lengthy sentences.
• Omit all personal pronouns (e.g., use "Developed..." rather than "I developed...").
• Use an exact figure whenever you can: $9,870, 7 clients, 45%; estimate if necessary.
• Use a superlative whenever you can: first, best, fastest, largest.
• Focus on accomplishments, not routine duties – accomplishments sell, duties bore.
• Avoid wordiness and strive for conciseness.
• Be consistent with formatting.
• Be honest. Don’t misrepresent your work and accomplishments.
• Write long on your first draft – you can edit down on later revisions.

Example

Optional Sections

The following examples of optional sections can help highlight information pertinent to the reader.

• Objective
• Profile/Summary
• Honors
• Coursework
• Campus Involvement
• Community Service
• Skills (e.g. languages, computer proficiency, etc.)
• Interests

Objective (optional)

An objective is a short and concise statement. It can take many forms, but generally include some combination of the following:

• Job title (either very specific or more general) that you hope to obtain.
• Industry in which you hope to be employed.
• Skills that you have to offer relevant to the position

When you know the type of job you want, an objective can convey that clearly. Some employers say the career objective is a very important item on the resume because it gives them a sense of your self-knowledge, goal orientation, and motivation. Therefore, it can be worth the time and energy it takes to create a well-written objective that tells the employer what you want to do.

If you include a cover letter with you resume, you will also include your objective there. More about cover letters 

A generic objective can be a disadvantage because it shows a lack of direction.  For example, "To obtain a position in a progressive company that will provide a challenging work environment and offer advancement" does not direct the employer as to what kind of work you want to pursue within the organization. Avoid the use of this type of statement.

Examples

Profile/Summary (optional)

Some people include a "Profile" or "Summary of Qualifications" section. This works well if you have a great deal of experience in a given area and it allows you to highlight areas of expertise and experience at the very beginning of your resume.

This section lists your expertise and strengths that you can apply on the job. It can also include information such as title/functional area, number of years of experience in a particular type of work, industry, advanced degrees/certifications, and specialized skills such as languages and technical. It is an advertisement of the skills you most want to utilize.

Example

Academic Honors (optional)

Honors may be listed in the education section, under your degree/school attended. If you have many honors, you can create a separate category called "Honors" or "Awards" that may follow the Education section on your resume. Be judicious when choosing the honors you want to include. Remember for whom the resume is intended and include appropriate honors. Prioritize awards that are going to be recognized by your reader.

Coursework (optional)

The goal of this section is to identify specific knowledge gained through your academics that is relevant to your objective. You can include course titles, key concepts of understanding, or course projects to highlight this information. First, consider what may be most relevant to your career objective. Create a separate section, with a title such as "Course Highlights", or include as a subsection or bullet under your education. If you choose to list courses:

• List course titles, "Consumer Behavior", rather than course numbers, "MKTG 345". Also, do not state the obvious. If you majored in Economics, do not include "Introduction to Economics." 
• Summarize content rather than course title if it better serves to explain what you have learned, e.g. Political Systems and Leadership or Advertising Design and Layout.
• Do not create an entire section for one or two courses – include elsewhere, such as under education.

If you list course projects:

• Include a title for your project and describe briefly what you accomplished.

Examples

Campus Involvement or Community Service (optional)

Employers are interested in your activities outside the classroom; activities demonstrate your leadership, teamwork, motivation, and well-roundedness. Identify organizations to which you belong and the role you play in each, particularly those for which you have held an office
or served on committees.

Your role in the organization and whether it matches the skills you wish to highlight will determine whether you list the experience in a Campus/Community section or expand upon it under the Experience section.

Example

Skills (optional)

Skills relevant to the job you are applying to and not immediately apparent from your education or experience descriptions can be included in a separate category of related skills. Here you can mention computer literacy (including programs you know), languages, writing, technical skills, etc.

Examples

Interests (optional)

There are at least two schools of thought about the inclusion of personal interests on a resume. Some people follow a philosophy that says resumes are professional documents with no place for outside, non-career related interests, while others believe personal interests imply a well-rounded individual.

If you choose to include interests, try not to include mundane activities such as reading or sports. If you want to include them, be specific so they are more interesting to read, e.g. "Reading early American fiction" or "Wilderness trekking."

Personal Data

Since about 1975, domestic resumes in the United States have not included, for legal reasons, pictures, dates or place of birth, marital status, names and ages of children, height, weight, or social security number. This information is irrelevant to your job performance. Remember, you are presenting information intended to persuade an employer to interview you based on your skills and experience. If your additional information does not contribute to that goal, leave it out.

Students needing visa sponsorship from an employer might choose to discuss this in the interview rather than the resume and cover letter. Visit the Office of International Affairs in 330 Oregon Hall for more information on visa status and your rights and responsibilities.

Special Note for Applying Internationally
If you are applying internationally, personal information may be expected or required on resumes. Research the expectations of the company and country to determine whether including this type of information is appropriate. The Career Center library has resources to help you get started.

References

The statement "References available upon request" on the resume is no longer used. It wastes lines that could be used to better represent your skills. However, for some job postings, employers may ask you to send three to five references. In this case, include a separate reference sheet with your resume and cover letter.

Here is a format to consider for a reference sheet: Name, Title, Organization, Address, and Telephone number. Your relationship to the reference is optional.

Example

Contact each person, prior to listing them, to verify their willingness to act as reference for you and their current contact information. A reference should be able to talk about how you interact with others, your work style, and job strengths.

Your reference sheet should have the same heading (identifying information) as your cover letter and resume and be printed on the same type of paper.