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by Randall S. Hansen Ph.D.
There really is not a whole lot of mystery behind developing and writing a good resume. It does take some time and effort -- and a good set of eyes to spell-check and proofread it -- but if you are serious about making a statement as a job-seeker then use this worksheet as a guide for creating your resume.
1. All About You
- Discern Your Skills Talents and Abilities (Note: talking to people about yourself taking some assessments and other self-discovery activities may help you with this section.)
- What do you do best?
- What are some of your favorite activities?
- What qualities do your family members mention when they brag about you?
- What types of things do you do for your family?
- What types of things do you do for your friends?
- What are your best subjects at school? Why?
- What awards have you won?
- What honors have you received?
- Education and Training
- List high school and all training (most recent first)
- Identify certifications honors awards
- Experience/Work History
- List all work experience paid or not (most recent first)
- Include any jobs working for family business
- Include part-time and summer jobs
- List any entrepreneurial experience and odd jobs
2. Identify Resume Goal and Conduct Research
- Job -- research job descriptions requirements skills etc.
- Education/Scholarship -- research requirements values etc.
3. Associate Yourself to Resume Goal
- Demonstrate abilities skills and strengths through specific examples
- Focus on accomplishments
- Use action verbs
- Quantify whenever possible
4. Develop Summary/Profile and a Headline indicating the type of job you seek (Optional but Recommended)
- Summary should be brief list (up to five) of attributes that make you perfect candidate -- shows your unique characteristics
- Summary statements must be supported by material in body of resume
- The headline should be one short line identifying your goal.
5. Assemble Your Resume
- Develop resume
- Name and Contact Information
- Summary and/or Headline
- Education and Training
- Honors and Distinctions/Awards
- Experience/Work History
- Skills
- Activities/Volunteering/Community Service
- Spellcheck and proofread
- Ask for feedback
Try Building Your Own Resume.
Resume Development Worksheet
1. What's the purpose of this resume?
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2. What are some of your unique talents strengths and abilities?
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3. What are your educational experiences?
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4. List each work experience including two to four key examples of what you accomplished in each job. Include all work experiences.
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Job #2:-----------------------------------------------------------------
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5. Once you have written a draft of the resume check off each of these:
--- used action verbs
--- used specific examples
--- used bullets phrases
--- used reverse chronological order
--- used clean design
--- used research
--- used feedback
--- used spellcheck proofread
See also Ten Easy Ways to Improve Your Resume.
And if you are seeking even more free resume advice tips and tools go to our Resume Resources page for tons more resume-writing tools including some great sample resumes.
See also the Job and Career Resources for Teenagers section of Quintessential Careers for more job-hunting tips articles and resources to help you get a job.
Questions about some of the terminology used in this quiz? Get more information (definitions and links) on key college career and job-search terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms.
