writing a winning resume - university of missouriludwig.missouri.edu/4990/mu career center resume...

WRITING A

WINNING RESUME

MU Career Center, March 2008

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RESUME WRITING MYTHS

Must include ALL job experience

One acceptable format

Purpose of a resume - get a job

Must be one page in length

Employers spend time reading each resume thoroughly

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RESUME WRITING REALITIES

Provide a summary of relevant experience

Multiple formats are acceptable

Purpose of a resume – get an interview

Recent graduates’ resumes should be 1 to 2 pages

Quick hitting proposal of why you are qualified for a position

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A Marketing Piece

Focus on…

FOR HIRE

o Skills outside of work that make you an excellent candidate for employment

o Information that reveals your individual strengths and personality, not just your work history

o Accentuating the most relevant pieces of your background and most important assets

o Matching keywords/qualifications4

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Contact Information

Degree(s), Education

Professional/Work experience

Volunteer/Community Service

Honors and Accomplishments

Other – computer skills, languages, skill sets (e.g.: certifications, training, etc.)

Optional: Objective, Summary of Qualifications,

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GETTING STARTED

Brainstorm raw materials- previous positions, job duties, volunteer work, skills, accomplishments, education, and activities.

Research the occupations that interest you and find duties/skills they entail.

Think about transferable skills Go to www.HireMizzouTigers.com and click on

“Resume Resources” to check out samples and read about content, do’s and don’ts, verb lists, and other features

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Contact Information

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Contact Information

Truman Tiger Local Address tht678j@mizzou.edu Permanent Address432 Ashland Road, Apt. 6 6579 Juniper WayColumbia, Missouri 65202 Hazelwood, Missouri 63125Cell: (314) 555-9878 Home: (314) 555- 8772

Truman Tiger 432 Ashland Road Apt. 6 Columbia, Missouri 65202 314-555-9878 (cell) tht678j@mizzou.edu

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Education/Training

Education Bachelor of Arts in Geography, emphasis Regional-Cultural Geography University of Missouri Columbia, Missouri Expected Graduation Date: December 2009

• Worked 25-30 hours per week while attending full time• Maintained 3.6 GPA and made Dean’s List last 5 semesters

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Education/Training EDUCATION Bachelor of Arts in Geography Certificate in Geospatial Intelligence University of Missouri Columbia, MO Anticipated Graduation Date: May 2008 Cumulative GPA: 3.2

Education Bachelor of Arts in Geography, emphasis Regional-Cultural Geography University of Missouri Columbia, Missouri Expected Graduation Date: December 2009

• Worked 25-30 hours per week while attending full time• Maintained 3.6 GPA and made Dean’s List last 5 semesters

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Experience

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ExperienceRELATED EXPERIENCE Research Associate/GIS Analyst May 2007 – August 2007 United States Environmental Protection Agency Kansas City, Missouri

• Assessed Superfund Sites utilizing two-dimensional and three- dimensional surface modeling and a variety of sampling techniques

• Compiled and analyzed data from rough sketches, surveyor's field notes, government and private land surveys, aerial photos, and quadrangle sheets to enter information in the central database

• Directed group of six people in two field projects consisting of raw data collection and assigning land use to land parcels

• Collaborated with multi-disciplinary team to conduct mapping projects for Johnson County

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DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE

Capitalize on ALL of your experiences

Use the vocabulary of the profession

Use high-impact action words

Quantify your experiences using numbers

“Presented cultural geography project.”

-versus-

“Conducted workshop presentation, “Imprints on the Land Involving

20th Century Transportation

Systems” to audience of 200+ people at The Applied Geography

Conference.”

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DETAILS, DETAILS

Most important and relevant info should go first

Always focus on the outcome and your contributions to the organization

Example: “Collaborated with five

committee members to organize a Walk-a-thon that raised $3,000 for Big Brothers of Boone County, a 12 percent increase from the previous year.”

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BEEFING UP/SLIMMING DOWN

Overdoing It: “Served the vital role in devising, coding, and

tabulating incredibly important survey of downtown Columbia businesses."

Underwhelming: “Assisted in survey of Columbia businesses.”

Just Right: “Prepared, coded, and tabulated original survey of 65

downtown Columbia businesses to be assessed by the city’s Planning and Development Department."

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Community Activities

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Community Activities

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Volunteer, Humane Society, January 2008 - present.

Publicity Co-Chair, Habitat for Humanity, September 2006 - December 2007.

Student Representative, Ronald McDonald House, June 2005 - September 2006.

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SKILLS & SOFTWARE

COMPUTER SKILLS

ArcView 3.2 & extensions, Fields (Fully Integrated Environmental Location Decision Support), ArcInfo v.7, ArcPad, some Erdas Imagine 8.4, Microstation v. 95-J, Microstation Geographics, MGE, IRASC, IRASB, GeoMedia Professional 3.0-4.0, and AutoCAD R14.

Trimble GPS products; including the ProXR, ProXRS, Total Station, and TerraSync.

Familiar with UNIX operating systems and programming in C.

Access 2007, Oracle 8i, Microsoft Office, Macromedia Freehand 8, Adobe Photoshop 5.0, Adobe Illustrator 8.0.

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Honors & Accomplishments

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Honors & Accomplishments

HONORS & ACTIVITIES

Dean’s List: 7 out of 8 semesters

Senator, Missouri Students’ Association, 2007-Present

Student Athletic Board, 2006 - 2008 President, Chi Alpha Theta, 2007 - 2008

Joe Phillips Scholarship, 2005

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WHAT STAYS OUT… High school Hobbies and interests Avoid/Explain “Mizzou” jargon and

acronyms Abbreviations-write everything out Additional personal information The word “I” Lengthy paragraphs, long sentences…take

out the fluff! Cute symbols for bullet points (i.e. , , , , , etc.)

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RESUME FORMATS

Chronological: lists work experience from most recent to least recent

Skills/Functional: breaks down history and experience into skills sets

Combination: combines the benefits of the chronological and functional formats

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CHRONOLOGICAL RESUME

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CHRONOLOGICAL RESUME

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FUNCTIONAL RESUME

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FUNCTIONAL RESUME

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COMBINATION RESUME

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COMBINATION RESUME

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FORMATTING

Be consistent (punctuation)

Appropriate use of font, font size, and bullets

Clean and easy to read (utilize full page)

Free of erors (Proofread!)

Print on high-quality resume paper (light color)

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LAST TIPS AND TRICKS

• Make sure to match up your resume to the job/industry to which you are applying• Focus on your transferable skills!• Think about an employer reading down, not across• An employer spends about 30 seconds on your resume. You want to get in the “Yes” pile!• Build your resume…go out and get some experience!• Top to Bottom• Be able to talk about anything on your resume

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FINISHING TOUCHES

Show your resume to multiple people

Visit the MU Career Center for a free resume consultation (no appointment needed)

Review sample resumes and upload your resume to www.HireMizzouTigers.com

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SPECIFICS FOR GEOGRAPHY

AAG website-database that identifies geography and general/ transferable skills, along with job search tips, links, and other resources: https://communicate.aag.org/eseries/

scriptcontent/custom/giwis/cguide/opportunity/skill_guide.cfm

University of Missouri Geography Dept. http://www.geog.missouri.edu/links.shtml

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

www.HireMizzouTigers.com/resources/resources Comprehensive Resume Resource Page

http://career.missouri.edu/ Resume Handouts and Checklist

Amanda Nell nella@missouri.edu

Laura Peiter peiterL@missouri.edu

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