How to Write a Basic, Easy Résumé
March 20th, 2008 Jamie
It’s hard to know how to start a résumé when you haven’t had a lot of job experience. Luckily, there are some handy tips and tricks that can help you make your resume look healthy even if you haven’t had a lot of jobs.
Check out the steps below, and you’ll have your own résumé written up in no time. (Check back next time for a downloadable .doc copy of this sample résumé!)
- Primary Contact Info
This is easy-just your name, your primary contact number (cell phone is fine) and your email address. TIP: Make sure your email address & voicemail are professional! It’s easy to set up a new email account, and an inappropriate email address could cost you the job!
. - Addresses
Usually you could just put your address with your primary contact info, but college students have a unique situation. Your “Current” address should be wherever you live now-your dorm, apartment, or wherever. Your “Permanent” address is probably going to be your “home” address (parent’s house, grandparents, etc.).
. - Education
Even if you are just out of high school, you should still list this. If your GPA isn’t so hot, you can leave it out.
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High School: Make sure you at least mark down the school name and grad year.
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College: Write down your current grade level, Major & Minor (if you’ve chosen them), and school. If your Major GPA (the GPA listed for all the courses in your major) is higher than your overall GPA, you might want to list both.
. - Paid Experience
This is your previous work experience. You can enter anything relevant-even if you’ve maintained a website for your mom and only gotten $20 for it, that’s still paid experience!Try to use “active” verbs, and use specifics if they help you seem more capable. Instead of “Was in charge of answering phones” you “Managed call center with 4 lines.” Especially write down anything unique or valuable that you did to change your workplace for the better.
. - Extracurricular Activities
Use this space to list your unpaid activities, like volunteer work, club participation, honor society, etc.
. - Computer Skills
Employers are very interested in computer skills, so feel free to write down things that seem very basic or easy to you (like “blogging,” for example. I wrote that on a resume and it was one of the key things my employer wanted to talk about during the interview).
Next time I’m going to be offering a downloadable copy of this sample resume, plus I’ll write up some more résumé tips (like how far back to list, how long it should be, etc.) so don’t miss out!
(Update: Here’s a link to those extra résumé tips–you can also find the free download there!)
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2 Comments Add your own
1. Surviving College Life &r&hellip | March 25th, 2008 at 10:03 am
[...] How to Write a Basic, Easy Résumé [...]
2. Katy S. | June 28th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Hi Jamie. Great post! As a recent college grad, my resume is by far the most important document I have ever written.
I think it’s also good to remember that it isn’t necessary to include everything you’ve ever done. A concise resume probably looks better than one with random filler fluff, like awards you received in elementary school.
Also, many colleges have career centers that offer resume building classes, which can be really helpful.
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