Components of A Resume
Although you may think resumes are just for graduating seniors, you also need a resume for competitive summer jobs and internships. Writing your first resume is similar to developing an advertisement. You are responsible for concisely selling your qualifications to potential employers in a manner that is positive and honest. A mere listing of your education and experience is not enough; you must market your skills and convince the employer that you will be an asset to their particular organization.

Resume Preparation 
Before you begin writing your resume, you must decide what you want to do. Are you interested in teaching? Banking? Sales? Management? Whatever your plans, you must develop a resume that markets you for the position you desire. Your liberal arts degree prepares you for many career options, and you may be interested in pursuing several career opportunities. You should note, however, that a resume developed for a human resource position would not work effectively for an advertising position. In order to earn the competitive edge, you must analyze your skills, determine the traits necessary for success in your chosen field, and then develop a resume that demonstrates your ability to perform the responsibilities of that position. If you are interested in both human resources and advertising, you should develop two resumes, each asserting the unique skills you offer for the two positions. For example, you would not turn in the same paper for your English class that you would submit for a chemistry class. Likewise, you should not submit the same resume for different types of positions.

To begin, make a list of your qualifications. Start with several sheets of paper with the headings: Education, Work Experience, Leadership, Activities, Honors and Special Skills. Prepare a list of your accomplishments in each of these areas. On the education sheet, include significant courses, related course projects, foreign language proficiency, study abroad, and computer skills. Under Work Experience, list summer jobs, internships, and volunteer experiences. Be sure to list your responsibilities and accomplishments in each position. When listing your activities, include both campus and community organizations. If you held a leadership position, include the responsibilities that you performed. Finally, develop a list of your skills not previously noted, along with a list of your honors and awards.

This preliminary work will help you develop an effective resume. Next, think in terms of the skills an employer may seek in your chosen profession. Can you demonstrate your ability to perform these skills based on your accomplishments? As you begin to work on your resume, keep your objective in mind; you are writing an advertisement and the product is you! Listed below are sections that should be included on your resume.

Identification
Included in this section are your full name, address (current and permanent if applicable), telephone number(s), and Email address (if applicable).

Objective
Typically the most difficult section to write, the objective states your career plans and goals. This statement should be targeted and concise. An objective should identify the type of position desired (e.g.. Accounting, broadcasting, social work) along with a list of skills you possess for the position. Some job seekers find the career objective too limiting; however, research indicates that well-written objectives greatly enhance one’s resume. When writing your objective, keep in mind the "advertising" concept. In other words, your objective should focus on what you have to offer the employer, not on what you want the employer to offer you.

Examples

A summer position in public relations which will utilize my communication skills as well as my sales and management background.

An internship in banking which utilizes my accounting and financial skills and leadership experience.

An assistant editor position in a magazine publishing organization which will utilize my writing and editing skills.

Education
List your degree (Bachelor of Arts), the name of your institution (Rollins College), city and state (Winter Park, FL), your major(s) and anticipated date of graduation (month and year). You may also find it advantageous to list significant courses or course projects, especially if you do not have very much related work experience. Study abroad experience(s) may also be listed in this section.

Include your GPA if it is a 3.0 or above. Scholarships or other academic awards may be included in this section as well. If you have taken responsibility for personally financing a portion of your education, you should also include a statement similar to: "Personally financed 40% of college tuition."

Computer literacy is as important as knowing how to use the telephone. List all the computer programs you know.

Example

Computer Skills: Excel, Lotus, Works, WordPerfect, Internet. Familiar with IBM and Macintosh.

Experience
Your experience (full-time, summer, intern and/or volunteer) should be listed in reverse, chronological order. When listing your experience, be sure to include the name of the employer, city and state of employment, your title, dates of your employment, and a summary of your responsibilities and/or accomplishments. Whenever possible, utilize "key action words" to describe your experience.

As you describe experiences, ask yourself these questions, and improve your descriptions to reflect some of this information.

If you are a junior or senior, you do not need to include information from high school unless you believe it is relevant to your chosen career.  Remember that your resume is a marketing tool, not an autobiography.

Leadership/Activities
If you have very little work experience, the Leadership section of your resume can be extremely important. Your involvement at Rollins and in the community indicates your social ability, leadership potential, and energy level. When listing your activities, be sure to indicate the name of the organization, dates of affiliation, and positions that you held. If you were an officer of the organization, be sure to include a brief description of your accomplishments while in office. Again, utilize the "key action words" when describing your responsibilities. Also, try to list specific accomplishments. Numbers can convey an impressive message.

Example

Weak style: As sorority treasurer, managed chapter budget.

Action style: As sorority treasurer, managed an annual budget of $23,000 for 85 members

Skills
This section can be used to list specific, relevant skills such as computer, foreign languages, or research.

Example

Computer: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet research

Language: Proficient in Spanish

Honors
When listing honors and awards, be sure to indicate the nature of the recognition (e.g. scholarship award, leadership award, etc.) and the dates awards were received.

Additional Categories
Some of the sections listed above may be eliminated if they do not pertain to you and other categories may be added. You may want to include sections on "Publications, Presentations, Research, Professional Associations, Accomplishments", or other pertinent categories. Information regarding your age, marital status, health, religion and political affiliation should not be included; this information may be used inappropriately by the employer to discriminate against you.

Reference Lists
Do not include references on your resume.  References should always be separate from your resume.  Many potential employers will ask for a list of your references while a few may request letters from previous employers or faculty. You should always be prepared by developing a typed list of your references. A reference list consists of names, addresses, and phone numbers of those persons who can best attest to your professional characteristics and experiences. Consider these guidelines when preparing your list: