Resume Checklist

• List degrees in reverse chronological order (most recent listed first).
• Spell out names of degrees (i.e., “Bachelor of Science,” not “BS”).
• Emphasize your university by placing it before your degree and in bold.
• Include the city and state after the institution name (there is no need to include the zip code).
• List the month and year of your graduation. (i.e., if you are graduating in May XXXX, write “Expected: May XXXX”).
•  Include your GPA if it is 3.0 or above or if specified in the job posting, and use “GPA” (not “G.P.A.”). Round the number up (i.e., 3.25, not 3.249). If your GPA is between 2.7 and 2.9, you might want to include it depending on the requirements of your target job.
• If you have completed a study abroad experience, include it in the education section.
• If you financed your education, indicate so. For example, “Maintained a 3.5 GPA while working part-time to pay 75% of college expenses.”
  
  

/ Experience

• List your experiences beginning with the most recent position (reverse chronological order).
• Include full-time and part-time jobs, paid/unpaid internships or practicums, and volunteer work and leadership roles, especially if they relate to your desired position.
• Use bold print or italics to highlight your job title and company/organization name . These should remain consistent throughout the resume.
• Include city and state for employer location, not the complete address.
• When listing dates, include the month and year, semester and year, or just the year of employment, but be consistent throughout the format. It is not necessary to have exact dates.
• Do not include salary, supervisor’s name, etc. UNLESS the job application specifically asks for this information on the resume (example, federal positions).
• List job descriptions/duties using bullet points instead of writing them in paragraph form.
• Use strong action words ( i.e., coordinated, managed, and cultivated) to describe your work experience. Avoid passive phrases such as “responsible for” and “duties included.” Eliminate personal pronouns (I, me, we) and articles (a, an, the).
• Use appropriate verb tense . For example, use present tense action words to describe recent employment experience and past tense action words to describe past employment experience.
• Include numbers to quantify experience where possible. For example, # of employees supervised, $ amount of budget managed, # of workshops taught or projects coordinated, $ amount saved by your efforts.
• Focus on your accomplishments/results and how you were valuable to past employers instead of your responsibilities. For example, instead of “Responsibilities included implementing policies and procedures, training new employees, interfacing with subordinates and vendors,” try “Worked with staff and vendors to increase product turnover by 15% and sales by 23%. Trained 18 new employees, 11 of whom were rapidly promoted.”
• When crafting your job summary bullets, utilize keywords from the job description to increase your chances of being passed through the applicant tracking system.

/ Skills

• Examples of hard skills include a foreign language or an industry-specific software program. Soft skills include communication, problem-solving, and creativity. One type isn’t more important than the other—employers are looking for soft and hard skills in potential job candidates.
• Your skills should show how you’re a good fit for the roles you’re applying for. If you have skills that are mentioned in the job description, list them
• Include relevant computer and programming skills and name the software programs in which you are proficient.
• Include language skills if applicable. (Non-native English speakers should not include English, it is assumed).

/ Additional Categories

You may also include some of the following categories if it will make your resume more marketable to potential employers: