HOW TO WRITE A RESUME

1.  Make a list of your academic credentials, or the components of your educational background, under the name of your current educational institution or college.  In other words, list: your major, any substantial academic project or paper, study abroad, honors, awards, and so forth.  Just make a simple list.

2.  Make another simple list of the jobs you have held: title, place/employer, city, state.

3.  Make another list of your experiences outside of the classroom or regular employment.  This list might include athletic involvement, leadership positions, membership in clubs or service organizations, internships, musical or performance experience, and so forth.

4.  Decide what items on your list (your entire list) are most important to you.

5.  For each important item, ask yourself the questions:

• What did I do well in that experience or position?  What was I good at?
• What did I "get" out of that experience?  What did it teach me?
• What's the first thing I'd tell a prospective employer about that experience?

6. Write down your answers to those questions, next to each important item, IN YOUR OWN WORDS!!  Don't attempt to write in any special or articulate way.  Just make notes.

7.  Go to the "Action Verbs" link on this resume site.  Choose some verbs that truly reflect what you accomplished in the experience you listed.  Include these words in your notes, as above.

8.  Now you've got the beginning of your resume document.  Lastly, look at some of the sample resumes presented on this site for some tips in formatting, and to see how "resume language" actually sounds.

If you get this far, you've made a good start.