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Begin Well
Should I include my physical address on my resume?
It depends. A physical address can benefit you, especially if you live in the city in which you’re job searching, by sparking fewer questions/reservations in an employer’s mind. If you’re worried about security and you’re posting your resume to online job boards, though, a physical address isn’t always necessary anymore. If you choose not to list your address, be sure to include your telephone number, email address, and perhaps a LinkedIn URL.
What else can be listed in the heading?
Some applicants list their MBTI type or their five StrengthsQuest strengths. These are particularly relevant if you’re applying to positions within student affairs and you know, based on networking or informational interviews, that this information is important to your potential employer. Otherwise, it is fine to stick with just the basic contact information.
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Education: Publicizing Your Degrees
Which should I list first - education or experience?
Unless you are a career advancer with several years of relevant experience, andyour MSHE degree is simply an added bonus, “Education” should probably be the first section of your resume. You’ve invested time and money in this degree; it’s important to market it!
How should I write MSHE?
Write out the full name and include the university, city, and state. Also include your graduation month and year even if it is anticipated graduation for the future.
Should I include anything else?
Master’s Project: Title or, if title isn’t relevant to job target, use a description of the project, written with your desired audience in mind
Relevant courses: List only if particularly relevant to target position and only if you’re willing to talk about them in an interview.
GPA: Typically, GPA is unnecessary at this point in your career. If you choose to include it, do so for both undergrad and grad school so that you don’t raise a question in the employer’s mind by including it in only one place.
Honors: Feel free to list honors. If you list cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude, these Latin words should be in lowercase and italicized.
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Experience: Telling the Story of What you Want to Do
How do I know which jobs to include, and how do I organize them?
Include employment since your undergraduate graduation or the last 10 years – whichever is shorter.
Typically, recruiters like to see positions listed in reverse chronological order. To ensure that all your relevant experiences are seen first, you may choose to group experiences under two headings – Higher Education Experience and Additional Experience. If you have enough experience in your targeted career area, you can make your heading even more specific (e.g., Career Services Experience, International Education Experience, or Enrollment Management Experience may precede Additional Experience).
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Bulleted Descriptions: Proving Your Abilities and Achievements
How do I write compelling bullet points?
- Start with powerful, action verbs. Avoid repetition and phrases like, “Responsible for…”
- Quantify your work whenever possible.
- Include the impact and/or results of your work. Bullets written as accomplishments, rather than duties, pack a bigger punch.
- Prioritize bullets not according to how much time you spent on a particular task or the order of importance to your current job, but according to each bullet’s relevance to your desired position.
- Omit any tasks (e.g., answered phone, input data) that you do not want to do in the future or that brand you as a lower-level employee if you are applying for an upper-level position.
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Research & Presentations: Conveying Your Analytical Skills
Do I have to list research and/or presentations?
No! This is a great section to include if you have done research of which you are particularly proud and/or if you’re applying to research-oriented positions. It’s not, however, a necessary section of a resume. Be careful about including a long list of research and presentations, in fact, as that might make employers think you were hoping to go the academic, as opposed to administrative, route.
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