The purpose of a resume is to present your experiences as they relate to a particular job description. Refer to our sample resumes for formatting advice and guidance. Your resume should reflect your personality and grab the employer’s attention. Resume standards can differ across industries, so it is important to review industry-specific examples.

Resume Format Tips

• One page. Keep your resume to one page. Save it as a PDF or print it on resume paper.
• Be concise. Use brief statements in the form of bullets or sentences.
• Keep font size between 10 - 12 font throughout the document and set margins to no less than 0.5 inch all around.
• Use third person pronouns.
• Use past tense in describing past positions and  use present tense for your current position(s).
• Be consistent in your use of punctuation throughout the document. For instance, either use periods at the end of all your bullets or not.
• Use bold, italics and underlining formatting to break up the text and make the document easy to read.

Resume Content

• See our  action verbs page  to find verbs that are more descriptive than common verbs such as “do/did,” “completed,” “responsible for,” etc.
• Customize. Tailor your resume to highlight the work and extracurricular experiences that are most relevant to the job you are applying for.
• Include multiple titles  and responsibilities if you had multiple roles at one organization.
• Do not lie, embellish, or include anything you cannot discuss in an interview.
• Avoid jargon and acronyms without first spelling them out (e.g., ASNMSU, NAMA, ACT).
• Do not include personal data (e.g., birth date, marital status, photograph). If you are applying to a position in another country, find out what the resume expectations are for that country.

Last-Minute Resume Checklist

• Stay organized.  Create a log of the applications you send. Include position descriptions, dates, contact information, follow-up date (if appropriate), and notes on follow-up communications.
• Seek resume review assistance.  A resume reviewer can assist with catching formatting, spelling, and punctuation errors.  Do not rely on spell-check! Remember — review the names of companies and people.
• Save documents as PDFs with appropriate names for easy access. Example: PistolPeteHRRepResume.
• Make sure your outgoing voicemail greeting for the phone number you list on your resume is  professional .
• Is your email address professional? (for instance, no “realhotgirl@gmail.com”)?
• Write a relevant email subject line, such as “Application for HR Rep Position #2265”?
• Print all documents on neutral resume paper and use a laser printer if you’re delivering it as a hard copy.