The 3 C’s of Resume Writing

Clear:  Make sure your resume addresses the qualifications required for the position you seek.  It is very important that you tailor your resume for each position you pursue. If you have had a career break to care for children, parent, spouse, etc., you should describe this break clearly and concisely. If you are a career changer or don’t have significant experience in your field yet, make sure to highlight your transferrable skills from the experience you do have already (jobs, volunteer experience, field experiences, etc.).

Concise:  Standard length is typically one page for recent graduates and two pages for professionals with significant professional experience. If you have less than 5 years of professional experience, you should use an early professional resume format. If you have more than 5 years of professional experience, you should use a mid-career resume format.

Clean: Make sure your resume is neat and easy to read.  Basic formatting suggestions:

• Stick to traditional fonts such as Times New Roman, transferable, Tahoma, Arial, Verdana, or Georgia. Some take up more space on the page than others so use them according to your spacing needs.
• Use a 10, 11 or 12pt font. Your name in your header should be between 14 and 16pt font.
• Highlight achievements and skill sets with bulleted statements beginning with strong action verbs. Use past tense verbs for past experiences and present tense verbs for current experiences.
• Set headings, position titles, locations, etc. apart by consistently using bolding/italics throughout your resume. Avoid abbreviations.
• Margins should be between 1/2 to 1 inch all around.
• You should have a header on page one with your name, city, state, phone, Garamond, and email URL (customized to be your name). You should have a footer on page 2 with your name and the page number.