Resume Writing Guide

A well-crafted, targeted resume can open doors and give you an edge when applying for internships, jobs, scholars programs and other activities. The tips provided in this guide are to make your resume appealing and easily readable when printed or viewed/scanned digitally by recruiters or application software. Besides using this guide, you may view student resume samples posted in Buttrick G-26.

Consistent and Effective Formatting

Experts say that recruiters spend about 10 seconds scanning a resume before deciding whether to read it closely. For online applications, a computer scans and rates your resume. Therefore, your resume needs one-column formatting, a good amount of clear space and compelling content.

In formatting your resume or curriculum vitae, please adhere to the formatting guidelines:

Margins: .8” to 1.”
Length: Resumes should be one page. Curricula vitae (CVs) are longer and require more sections.
Font: All black, easy-to-read/scan font like Calibri, Arial, Arial Narrow or Georgia.
Font size: 10-12 point for body copy; 14-18 point for your name (centered or left-justified).
Bold: Use sparingly and consistently to emphasize school or organization names.
Italics: Use sparingly and consistently to emphasize position titles and your intended degree.
Avoid tables, columns, text boxes, headers, footers, underlining, graphics or symbols. They are either too informal or are unreadable by online application software.
Bullets: Use solid round or square black bullets. Begin bullets with verbs. Avoid personal pronouns like “I” and “we.”

Professional, Accurate Information

Use an appropriate email address — your Agnes Scott address or one you've created specifically for career-related communications — and a phone number with a professional voicemail message. Make sure you check emails and voicemails regularly and answer the phone professionally. Your physical address is not necessary on your resume, except for federal and some academic applications.

Meaningful Section Titles

Resumes: organize your information into logical categories. Standard resume sections include:

Education
Experience
Leadership (alternately, Campus & Community Involvement)
Skills

Employers no longer prefer an objective on a resume; your cover letter states your internship/job objective.

CVs: If you’re a junior/senior pursuing research positions or grad school, you may extend the document to two pages, if you have significant Lab or research experience, presentations, or publications.

Education:

List the full name of the degree you are pursuing: Bachelor of Arts/Science in major (if decided)
GPA: Include if 3.0 or above. List your major GPA instead if it is higher.
Relevant Coursework: List names of high-level courses (for example, econometrics for economics majors) or elective coursework you have taken/are taking related to the position you are seeking. Separate courses with commas.
Global Journeys/Study Abroad: Describe topics you're studying/studied and what you’re doing/did on your trip.
High School: Remove by the end of your sophomore year, unless you graduated from a top high school in the city where you are searching for a position.

Experience:

Relevant experience comes from many situations, including internships (both paid and unpaid) and part-time, summer and work-study jobs. Review jobs or internships of interest carefully. In your resume, include recent experiences that best showcase how your strengths align with these positions’ requirements.

List the positions you hold/held in reverse chronological order (by end date), beginning with the current or most recent position. Use two to four bullets per position to make it easy for the reader to scan your resume.

Start each bullet with an action verb and describe what you did/do, for whom and why, including the outcome. Do not begin bullets with “responsible for” or “duties included.”
For current positions, use the “I” form of the present tense verb. Use past tense if you’re no longer in the role.
Do not use personal pronouns (I, my, our, etc.) Avoid informal language, slang and unfamiliar acronyms.
Each bullet point must be clear, truthful, and comprehensive. Provide impressive details as opposed to vague descriptions; however, try not to exceed two lines per bullet.
Think Situation, Action, and Results (SAR): each bullet point should describe a specific situation, the action(s) you took, and the results you achieved. Examples:
- Research and organize information on 100+ Metro Atlanta companies’ hiring plans and practices to create a directory of entry-level job opportunities for students.
- Selected by faculty to tutor peers in 200-level Chemistry and Biology courses for four hours per week. Trained to identify learning challenges and teach strategies for improved retention.
- Oversaw team of six orientation leaders to create and execute a schedule of student bonding activities for first-year students, improving program satisfaction ratings by 10% over the previous year.
Under each position, list the most impressive/relevant bullet first. Save “basic” tasks for the last bullets or omit them altogether.

Leadership (or Campus & Community Involvement):

Employers like to see students involved on- and off-campus. List any college-level leadership positions you held and describe your accomplishments in each role. Also, list any activities that may not have involved leadership but show dedication and accomplishment.

Rather than stating the purpose of the club, student government, or other groups, describe the ways you specifically have positively impacted its success or your campus/local community. Examples:

Collaborate with the executive board to plan campus-wide educational events such as ...
Engage children from low-income families for two hours each week in reading and math activities.
Train year-round with 23 team members and compete in seven games per month during the fall season.
Research and write two to three world news articles per month to be published on "The Profile’s" website.
Volunteer several times each semester to support local nonprofits by …

Skills:

Only include hard, testable skills such as specific software, language or lab proficiencies.

Industry-Specific Keywords:

Keywords are typically nouns used by application software to sort/score digital resumes. Recruiters, human resources staff and hiring managers also look for keywords as they scan resumes. Identify your most relevant keywords by reading postings of desired jobs/internships. Use them in your resume when they are genuine and applicable to the role you're applying for.

References:

Unless requested, do not include references. Alternately, you may state “references available upon request.”

If you're asked to submit references, list those names on a separate page with contact information and your relationship to each reference. Label the page with your name and contact information in case it becomes separated from your resume.
Ask supervisors, professors or community leaders who can speak to your dedication, integrity and ability in advance for permission to list them as a reference.

Professionalism

Make sure that your resume is free from any grammatical errors or factual mistakes. Have a skilled proofreader review your resume. To preserve your resume's formatting, save your resume as a PDF before sending it. Don’t send your resume in Word unless specifically requested. If offering your resume in person, print or copy your document on ≥ 20-pound weight white or off-white paper.

If you would like for us to review your resume, you may upload it to agnesscott.joinhandshake.com/login. We can usually provide feedback to you in five business days. You could also meet with us during office hours during the school year (Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:00-4:00 p.m. in Buttrick G-26).

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