A resume is one sheet that represents you and starts the conversation! It doesn’t need to (and, frankly, shouldn’t!) tell your entire life story but it does need to effectively and efficiently represent your experiences and skills.
Your resume should look well formatted and it should be easy to scan all useful information in 6-8 seconds – the average length of time a recruiter will look at it!
Resume Structure
A well-structured resume is essential to make a strong first impression. Here’s a recommended format:
- Full Name
- Contact Information (Phone Number, Email Address)
- LinkedIn Profile (if available)
- GitHub Profile or Personal Portfolio (especially for technical roles)
- Location (city, state) only if looking for a local company
While not always necessary, an objective can be useful for first-year students or those with very limited experience to express their career aspirations and goals. Objective must be tailored to the specific application. It can show unique passion or key skills and be parmount for students that are looking at a less predicable career path such as a Mechanical Engineer looking for a role in finance.
Because your educational background is your most saleable feature, we begin with this section. List:
- School, Graduation Date
- Majors, Minor
- GPA
- Honors
List the most recent institution first – reverse chronological. If you are a first-year or sophomore, you can add your high school.
Add relevant coursework specific to the job listing.
List your work, internship, and related experiences in reverse chronological order. An experience does not have to be paid for to be included. Don’t forget summer jobs such as camp counselor, barista, or food server!
Include company name, position, location, and date. Highlight the skills and contributions with detailed bullet points.
This is where you can demonstrate all of your applied knowledge. Projects can be personal projects or they can be classroom assignments. Remember to include your capstone research project, your CAD design project, and any other applicable individual or team project. This is an excellent way to get experience on your resume before you have an internship!
This is where you can list all of your hard skills. This includes computer languages, spoken and written languages, machine shop or laboratory skills.
Don’t forget to list your experiences in campus organizations. Did you plan and budget for a campus event? Employers want to hear about it.
Are you a varsity athlete? Some employers love the work ethic and time management of an athlete and specifically look for this.
Resume Examples
Here are several examples of resumes below. Remember while there are specific wrong ways to write your resume, you will see in the examples below many options (and there are more that are not included). Your resume represents YOU! You should be proud of it.
By following this comprehensive guide, you’ll be well-equipped to create a polished and professional resume that effectively showcases your technical skills and experiences. Remember to tailor your resume to each position you apply for and continually update it as you gain new experiences and skills. Good luck!