Follow These 5 Steps to Build Your Resume
If you ask ten different people how your resume should be structured, you will likely receive ten different perspectives. The bottom line is that there are many ways to craft a compelling resume. Most employers look at a resume for an average of only six seconds to determine if they want to invite you for an interview. The resume should be a concise showcase of your skills and accomplishments. To begin crafting your resume, download the resume template and follow the 5 steps below.
The Guide to Professional Success has more detailed information and examples on page 8.
Always include your name, email, and phone number. It is optional to include your full address or you can include the city and state only. You may also include a link to your LinkedIn, portfolio, or website. Your name should stand out, but not detract from the rest of your resume. It can be bolded and in the largest font on the page (e.g. 16-24 font). For the rest of your resume, use at least 11-pt. font and .75 or .5 margins. It is also important to ensure your email and the voicemail for the number you provide are professional so that you make a good impression with recruiters who may contact you.
List your education in reverse chronological order with the most recent listed first. Include your anticipated or earned degree and minor(s) (if applicable), major, university, and expected year of graduation, and your GPA (optional). You can also include any honors and awards if applicable (e.g. Dean’s List, scholarships, honors program, etc.). You can add study abroad programs and/or relevant coursework if applicable.
Be sure to include relevant experiences including employment, internships (including unpaid experiences), or others that relate to the opportunity in which you are applying. Volunteer work may also fall in this section if it applies to the specific field or industry. When listing your experiences include your title or role, name of organization, location, and dates (e.g. May 2020–June 2021) for each position. Begin each bullet with a strong action verb. See the chart of strong action verbs below. If you have relevant experience in the field, you may title this section to be more specific to the position (e.g. “Non-Profit Experience” or “Public Relations Experience”). Remember that you may also feature highlights from your coursework such as group projects, research, presentations, or other notable achievements.
If you want your resume to stand out amongst the crowd, you must construct bullet points to explain more than just your tasks and responsibilities. Essentially, you will want your reader(s) to be able to picture the experience you are describing. You can use the following formula to create bullet points making your experiences unique to your story.
Keyword / Action Verb + Task + How or Why or Result = Achievement
| HOW? | Talk about the method or process you used. |
| WHY? | What was the purpose or motivation behind your actions? |
| RESULT | What happened? Results may be external, tangible changes. They may also be internal and related to your personal growth. |
EXPERIENCE
Marketing Intern | Yelp Indy May 20XX– October 20XX
- Managed three social media platforms by posting engaging content and interacting with followers [HOW]
- Managed three social media platforms to promote local businesses and drive traffic to Yelp.com [WHY]
- Managed three social media platforms (Facebook, X, and Instagram) which resulted in a 25% growth in followers over the course of 16 weeks [RESULT]
Treasurer | Leading Women of Tomorrow April 20XX – May 20XX
- Coordinated film screening event of the movie Frida by acquiring the space, allocating a budget for catering, and sending out communications [HOW]
- Coordinated film screening event of the movie Frida to discuss opportunities for change within the Butler community and beyond that support the rights of young women and nonbinary folks [WHY]
- Coordinated film screening event of the movie Frida using targeted communications via social media and email which resulted in the highest attended even for the chapter [RESULT]
Remember that a resume is a professional piece of writing. There should be no typos. Remember to run spell check and proofread your document. Do not include personal information. This includes your age, relationship status, siblings, etc. If you use acronyms in the document spell them out when you first introduce the topic and use the acronym in parentheses.
Additional section headings should be tailored to the opportunity as much as possible. These sections showcase experiences and skills outside of your work experience.
- Leadership
- Relevant Projects
- Community Service
- Activities
- Memberships
- Presentations
- Campus and Community Engagement
- Skills (should focus on technical/specialized skills, such as software, languages, etc.)
You could also combine these into sections such as Leadership and Activities, or Relevant Projects and Presentations.
In conclusion, the resume is a professional document that is tailored to your unique experiences and the opportunity for which you are applying. If you follow the 5 steps listed above, you will have a working document that you can customize. If you have additional questions regarding how to build your resume, you can always schedule a meeting with a career advisor via Navigate or email career@butler.edu.